Louis XVI style
Toile de Jouy printed fabric, with balloon design (1784) | |
Years active | 1774–1789 |
---|---|
Location | France |
Louis XVI style, also called Louis Seize, is a style of architecture, furniture, decoration and art which developed in France during the 19-year reign of
Notable architects of the period included
Superbly crafted desks and cabinets were created for the
The royal tapestry works of
In Hungary, it is known as Copf Style.
Origins and influences
The Louis XVI style was a reaction to and transition the
Louis XVI himself showed little enthusiasm for art or architecture. He left the management of these to
An influential building from the late Louis XV period was the
Another notable influence on the style was the architecture of the Renaissance architect
-
TheJacques Ange Gabriel
-
Music pavilion at theChâteau de Louveciennes (1770–1771) by Claude Nicolas Ledoux
Motifs and ornaments
The decorative motifs of Louis XVI style were inspired by
-
A torch crossed with a sheath with arrows on a railing from the Musée Nissim de Camondo (Paris)
-
Versailles, France), with a ribbon at the top and two festoon-derived hanging ornaments
-
Pendulum clock with ormolu mounts and a porcelain column part
-
Armchair with a pair of cornucopias at the arms
-
Two designs of legs, one featuring straight flutings and acanthus leafs, and the other twisted flutings
-
Barometer - thermometer made of geometric shapes
-
Complex designs of cartouches
-
Railing with an interlace band at the top, flutings and acanthuses on the balusters, and a relief of an urn
Civil architecture
Notable monuments of Louis XVI civil architecture include the
Theatres in Paris and Bordeaux were prominent examples of the new style. The architect
One of the best-known buildings of the period is the small Château de Bagatelle (1777), designed and built by François-Joseph Bélanger for the Comte d'Artois, Louis XVI's brother. The small château was designed and completed in just sixty three days, to win a bet with Marie Antoinette that he could build a château in less than three months. Marie Antoinette had a similar small neoclassical belvedere created by architect Richard Mique, who had also designed the Hameau de la Reine, her picturesque rustic village in the gardens.
Another unusual architectural project was the transformation of the
The most characteristic building of the late Louis XVI residential style is the
-
Stairs in the Hôtel des Monnaies by Jacques Denis Antoine (18th century)
-
Claude-Nicolas Ledoux(1770–1773)
-
Claude-Nicolas Ledoux(1770–1780)
-
Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux by Victor Louis (1780)
-
Stairway of the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, Victor Louis (1780)
-
Château de Bagatelle by François-Joseph Bélanger (1777)
-
TheHotel de Salm, Paris, by Pierre Rousseau(1751–1810)
-
The Belvedere of the Petit Trianon at Versailles by Richard Mique (1789)
Religious architecture
The
Another important church completed in the Louis XVI period was
-
Interior of Eglise Saint-Philippe-du-Roule (1764–1784) byJean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin
-
The Panthéon (1764–1790), by Jacques-Germain Soufflot
-
Interior of the Panthéon
Functional and utopian architecture
The architect
-
Director's house at theClaude-Nicolas Ledoux(1775–1779)
-
Rotonde de la Villette byClaude-Nicolas Ledoux(1785–1789)
-
Project for a monument toEtienne-Louis Boullée(1784)
-
Project for the Royal Library byEtienne-Louis Boullée(1785)
Interior decoration
The Louis XVI style of decoration marked the triumph of neo-classicism, which had been underway in Europe since 1770. It reflected the murals and designs found in the early archeological excavations in
In the early part of the reign of Louis XVI, interior decoration was designed to overwhelm the viewer with its scale, majesty and opulence. Grand halls served multiple purposes, for theatre entertainments, balls, or banquets. An example of the early Louis XVI style is the dining room of the Château de Maisons, rebuilt between 1777 and 1782 by François-Joseph Bélanger for the Comte d'Artois, the brother of Louis XVI. This dining room, inspired by Grand style of Louis XIV and Louis XV. It features columns of the giant order, inches[clarification needed], pediments, consoles, sculpture in relief, and a gigantic fireplace.
Later in the reign, the tendency shifted to smaller, more intimate and comfortable salons, studies, dining rooms and boudoirs, as the Cabinet Doré of Marie Antoinette at the Palace of Versailles (1783) and the boudoir of Marie Antoinette at Fontainebleau, in the Pompeiian style (1785). The Pompeiian style featured mythical animals, such as sphinxes and griffons, horns of plenty, and vases of flowers mounted on tripods. The style also was frequently used in
-
The Salon de Compagnie of the Petit Trianon (1762–1768)
-
Staircase of the Petit Trianon (1762–1768)
-
The Dining Room of the Château de Maisons by François-Joseph Bélanger (1777–1782)
-
The Cabinet Doré ofMarie-Antoinette at the Palace of Versailles(1783)
-
The Boudoir of Marie-Antoinette at the Palace of Fontainebleau in the Pompeiian Style (1785)
-
The Game Room in King's small apartments at Palace of Versailles. (1785). Chairs byJean-Henri Riesener(1774).
-
The Salle Marie Antoinette of the Louvre
Furniture
Louis XVI style furniture, particularly the furniture made for the royal palaces, is among the most finely-crafted and valuable ever produced in France. Much of it was produced at the Garde-Meuble du Roi, the royal furniture workshop, directed by Francois II Foliot (1748–1808). Among the notable craftsmen of the period were Georges Jacob, who made a suite of sofas and chairs for the apartments of Marie Antoinette at Versailles and for those of the Comte d'Artois, the King's brother, at the Temple. Oak, mahogany and walnut were the woods most commonly used. The chairs of the early period made for Marie Antoinette were richly decorated gilded carvings, usually with floral patterns. The chairs and sofas were usually upholstered in satin, with more elaborate medallions embroidered in silk attached. Later in the period, more exotic themes, often taken from popular theatre productions in Paris, appeared in decoration of furniture. These included Chinese, Arabesque, and Etruscan figures. A variety of specialized pieces of furniture were created, including lightweight chairs for men sitting at gambling tables, and specialized chairs for boudoirs, dressing rooms, libraries, and antechambers.[16]
The beds, especially in the chambers de parade or ceremonial bedrooms of the royal palaces, were of monumental proportions and were usually separated from the rest of the room by a balustrade. These beds were termed à la Duchesse, and featured an ornate canopy over the bed. The sculpted and gilded wood frame of the silk embroidered canopy over the bed of Marie Antoinette at Fontainebleau, installed in 1787, was so heavy that two additional columns were placed under it at night avoid its collapse.[16]
-
Armchair by Georges Jacob for the apartments of Marie-Antoinette at Versailles
-
Armchair by Jean-Baptiste Séné with Beauvais tapestry upholstery (1780–1785)
-
Armchair by Georges Jacob
-
Tabouret from the Petit Trianon by Georges Jacob (1787)
-
Bed of Marie Antoinette at Palace of Fontainebleau by Jean-Baptiste Séné (1787)
-
Folding stool by Jean-Baptiste Séné
-
Daybed or Lit de repos by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené (1788), Metropolitan Museum
-
Detail of a daybed by Jean-Baptiste Sené
-
Chaise voyeuse by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené (1787)
Cabinet-making and marquetry
The craft of the
Several new varieties of the furniture were introduced, including a commode in the form of half-moon form, and the commode dessert, which had a door in the front with shelves on either side. The commode bonheur-du-jour was a dressing table for a boudoir, with a small armoire on top, with either a mirror or a curtain. The table à la Tronchin, named after Jean Robert Tronchin, was a table with a built-in-shelf which could be raised by a mechanism for reading. Some of the furniture was small and designed to be easily moved, to quickly rearrange salons. These included the table bouillotte, a small round table with four legs and drawer.[18]
The tables and cabinets were usually decorated with sculpted and gilded bronze ornament, often in the forms of stylized roses, knotted ribbons, or pine cones. The surfaces were frequently inlaid with plaques of different colored exotic woods or
-
Writing table made for Marie Antoinette byJean-Henri Riesener, (1780–1785)
-
Corner commode by Jean-Henri Riesener (1785)
-
Table for Marie-Antoinette by Jean-Henri Riesener (1785)
-
Rolltop desk by David Roentgen (about 1785)
Tapestry
The royal tapestry workshop of Gobelins continued to produce high-quality large works for royal residences and the nobility, but tastes had changed. The immense tapestries celebrating historical events were largely out of style. Instead of creating new designs, the manufactures of Gobelins, Beauvais, and Aubusson recycled old designs, such as the Metamorphoses of Boucher.[19] An increasing amount of the work was the creation of designs, especially polychrome floral patterns, for the upholstery of the royal furniture. The other two major tapestry workshops, Aubusson and Beauvais, also oriented their work primarily to furniture upholstery.
-
A tapestry portrait of Louis XVI from the Gobelins Manufactory
-
Sully at the feet of Henry IV, Gobelins Manufactory (1788–1792)
-
Gobelins upholstery for chair backs (1740–1780)
-
Armchair withBeauvais tapestry(1786–1792)
-
The offering of fidelity, An Aubusson tapestry from a design by Jean-Baptiste Huet (About 1780)
Wallpaper and printed fabric
Hand-painted wallpaper had been used since in the 16th century for interior decoration, followed by wood block prints. French aristocrats often used tapestries in the major rooms, but in the antechambers and lesser rooms they often used painted or printed of painted paper designs imported from China, India, and especially England. In 1765, the French government placed a heavy tax on imported wallpaper, stimulating French production. During the reign of Louis XVI, the largest French enterprise for making wallpaper was created Jean-Baptiste Réveillon. In 1784, they received the title of Royal Manufactory, opened a large depot near the Tuileries Palace, and hired a group of noted artists and illustrators, including the son of the painter Boucher, to design wallpaper. They also soon developed a process for printing the wallpaper in long rolls. He also made the colorful paper that covered the balloon that made the first manned flight in 1783.[19] Their factory in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine became one of the largest in Paris, and was an early target of demonstrations at the beginning of the French Revolution.
Another popular style that developed during the period was the decoration of rooms with panoramic scenes, composed of a number of painted or printed panels put together. These were commonly used in boudoirs and bath chambers. The salon of the pavilion of the Countess of Provence in Montreuil, and the country cottage of Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé at Chantilly had a similar panorama installed in 1775.[19]
Another popular form of decoration was printed fine cotton, with elaborate arabesques and floral patterns. The most famous variety was
-
Sidewall pattern (1775)
-
Sidewall pattern wallpaper (1780)
-
Woven Lampas silk on walls of the billiards at Versailles (1779)
-
Toile de Jouyprinted fabric, with balloon design (1784)
Painting and sculpture
The most famous painter of the later French baroque was
The most prominent neoclassicist by far was Jacques-Louis David, whose works well before the revolution expressed the Roman virtues of noble and grave simplicity. His major early works included Belisarius Begging for Alms (1781), Andromache Mourning Hector (1783), and especially Oath of the Horatii (1784), exalting the willingness of Roman soldiers to give their lives for the nation. The painting was so popular when shown at the Salon of 1785 that David was permitted to establish his studio in the Louvre, a particular honor for artists. This painting became a model of the style that dominated French art during and after the Revolution.[20]
-
Two Women bathing by Joseph-Marie Vien (1763) helped launch the wave of neoclassicism
-
Venus. Wounded by Diomedes, is Saved by Iris, Joseph-Marie Vien (1775)
-
Oath of the Horatii by Jacques-Louis David (1786)
-
Marie Antoinette and her children byÉlisabeth Vigée-Lebrun(1787)
Sculpture evolved from the more animated forms of the
-
Table sculpture of a cupid by Étienne Maurice Falconet
-
Bust of Voltaire by Jean-Antoine Houdon (1778)
-
Mercury or Commerce, by Augustin Pajou (1780)
-
Marie Antoinette, by Louis-Simon Boizot for salon of 1781
-
Table centerpiece of Sevres porcelain by Louis-Simon Boizot (1775)
Music
Musical tastes at court were guided by
Revivals
-
Design for the boudoir of the Hôtel d'Adolphe Fould, Paris, by Alexandre-Dominique Denuelle, 19th century
-
Grand salon of the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris, by René Sergent (1910–1913)[24]
-
Postmodern Louis XVI lowboy by Robert Venturi for Arc International (c.1985), Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, USA[25]
-
Louis Ghost by Philippe Starck (2009), various locations[26]
See also
- Louis period styles
- Directoire style
- Empire style
- Liège–Aachen Baroque furniture
- Baroque in Prince-Bishopric of Liège
References
- ^ "Louis XVI style". Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ "Louis XVI style". Marc Maison.
- ^ Droguet 2004, p. 13.
- ^ Droguet 2004, p. 20.
- ^ Droguet 2004, p. 22.
- ^ Renault 2006, pp. 69–70.
- ^ Renault 2006, p. 74.
- ^ Sylvie, Chadenet (2001). French Furniture - From Louis XIII to Art Deco. Little, Brown and Company. p. 72.
- ^ a b c Prina & Demartini 2006, p. 249.
- ^ Renault 2006, p. 77.
- ^ Droguet 2004, p. 25.
- ^ Ducher 1988, pp. 162–163.
- ^ Texier 2012, p. 60.
- ^ a b Prina & Demartini 2006, pp. 250–251.
- ^ a b Ducher 1988, pp. 158–159.
- ^ a b Droguet 2004, pp. 92–102.
- ^ Droguet 2004, pp. 115–139.
- ^ a b Renault 2006, p. 82.
- ^ a b c d Droguet 2004, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Cabanne 1988, pp. 134–136.
- ^ Vila 2006, pp. 92–93.
- ^ Vila 2006, pp. 85–87.
- ISBN 978-1-52942-030-2.
- ISBN 978-1-52942-030-2.
- ISBN 978-0-500-51914-1.
- ^ "Philippe Starck, a pair of 'Louis Ghost' armchairs, Kartell. - Bukowskis". smow.com. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
Bibliography
- Droguet, Anne (2004). Les Styles Transition et Louis XVI. Les Editions de l'Amateur. ISBN 2-85917-406-0.
- Cabanne, Perre (1988). L'Art Classique et le Baroque. Paris, France: Larousse. ISBN 978-2-03-583324-2.
- Ducher, Robert (1988). Caractéristique des Styles. Paris, France: Flammarion. ISBN 2-08-011539-1.
- Fierro, Alfred (1996). Histoire et dictionnaire de Paris. Robert Laffont. ISBN 2-221-07862-4.
- Prina, Francesca; Demartini, Elena (2006). Petite encylopédie de l'architecture. Paris, France: Solar. ISBN 2-263-04096-X.
- Hopkins, Owen (2014). Les styles en architecture. Dunod. ISBN 978-2-10-070689-1.
- Renault, Christophe (2006). Les Styles de l'architecture et du mobilier. Paris, France: Gisserot. ISBN 978-2-877-4746-58.
- Texier, Simon (2012). Paris- Panorama de l'architecture de l'Antiquité à nos jours. Paris, France: Parigramme. ISBN 978-2-84096-667-8.
- Dictionnaire Historique de Paris. Le Livre de Poche. 2013. ISBN 978-2-253-13140-3.
- Vila, Marie Christine (2006). Paris Musique- Huit Siècles d'histoire. Paris, France: Parigramme. ISBN 978-2-84096-419-3.