French Renaissance and Baroque

French Renaissance and Baroque

Known for its convergence of patronage and prodigious artistic talent, the Baroque period is interpreted as reacting to other styles, in particular, the reaction to the Renaissance. Furniture began to move from heavy oak cupboards to lacquered cabinets, and the desire for comfort began to increase, resulting in heavily upholstered pieces. Specifically, in response to the French Renaissance, major Baroque buildings took on the role of residences, as opposed to churches.

Louis XIV and The Louvre

Louis XIV blended the development of a French national style with a political program, pushing art and design into the service of an absolute ruler. His portrait, painted by the artist Rigaud, feature Louis in high heeled shoes, a flowing wig, heavy garments, and gold as a sign of the power the ruler held. This portrait communicates to the viewer one of Europe’s most powerful monarchs, through the use of dress and coiffeur, giving off a strong impression.

In addition to art, architecture took root specifically in the eastern portion of the Louvre. This piece of art took on both Italian and French approaches, one of which considered Bernini’s infamous geometrical shapes and central oval, that ultimately ended with a much more restrained, classical building, showing the separation of the French conception of Baroque from the Italian one. This can be seen in the depth of the Louvre’s façade and its rhythmic use of paired columns.

Palace of Versailles

Andre Le Notre designed the gardens as a work of environmental greatness that incorporated earthworks, pools, fountains, topiary, clipped hedges, and geometric flower beds. The whole of the garden relied heavily on symmetry and used an open-ended perspective to symbolized Louis XIV’s ambitions for France. As for the palace itself, Jules Hardouin Mansart inherited the role as principal architect and refashioned the interior space to mark the beginning of Rococo. He tripled the length of the garden façade and filled in the recessed central block to make it flush with the flanking blocks. This allowed him to build the centerpiece of his remodeling: the Galerie des Glaces. The overall façade extended about 600 yards.

The interiors, done by Le Vau, Mansart, and Le Brun, functioned as a central part ofthe French state apparatus. This included new apartments for the king and queen, a grand staircase, a suite of seven public rooms, and the centerpiece, the Galerie des Glaces. The apartments incorporated stucco, gilding, and paint in an effort to create scenes on the walls and ceilings. Marble flooring was used, and velvet was seen as a wallcovering, as well as upholstery. The seven suites combined painted architecture, marble floors, and opulent furnishings. Mansart filled in Le Vau’s terrace to construct the Galeries des Glaces, or Hall of Mirrors, and two adjacent salons, from the help of the grand staircase.

Furniture

Baroque furniture started with Henry IV and the workshops he set up in the Louvre. Seat furniture followed the models of the previous period, but a growing multiplicity of furniture types began expanding in subsequent periods. Under the reign of Louis XIV Parisian furniture was organized into three components: royal workshops, the guilds, and the neighborhood, the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Royal workshops produced varying types of artworks and furnishings destined for royal palaces, whereas the guilds were understood as somewhere between free-trade and regulated manufacturing. The Faubourg Saint-Antoine is where most Parisian furniture makers worked who were not part of the guild or the royal workshops.

The Baroque armchair stayed consistent with the aesthetics of Baroque architecture and interiors. Almost every element of the Baroque armchair has become more complicated in form, position, and decoration, as a response to the Renaissance sedia. The straight back across the top leans back, the arms curve in both their vertical and horizontal expressions, and the legs are continuous with the arms and are richly carved and decorated. A Baroque side chair, however, has no arms, a curved back, severely raked rear legs, and turned, straight front legs. The back of this side chair takes the form of a bouchon.

One Step Further

The Palace of Congresses in Paris, while being a more contemporary structure, draw on elements of classical French architecture, specifically from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Built in 1974 by Jean-Francois Jodry, the grand scale of the building, its decorative features, and the intricate detailing in both the interior and exterior design echo the ornate, dramatic aesthetics seen during the Baroque era. The additional use of symmetry, columns, and formalized space is further reminiscent of the French Renaissance.