Title: A royal passion : Louis XIV as patron of architecture /
Authors: Berger, Robert W.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press,
Year: 1994
Subjects: Louis Contributions in architecture.; Louis; Classicism in architecture France.; Architecture, Baroque France.; Architecture France; Architects and patrons France History; Architecture France History
Abstract: A Royal Passion is the first in-depth study of the Sun King as a patron of architecture. Surveying such monuments as the Louvre, Versailles, the Invalides, and other buildings that are closely identified with Louis XIV, Robert Berger demonstrates why these buildings, gardens, urban spaces, and their decorations were so important to him. Serving as functional necessities, objects of aesthetic delight, and as political statements, his architectural enterprises collectively underscored his absolutist authority. Moreover, by adopting the guise of "builder-prince," Louis XIV reasserted his kinship with the Roman emperors, whose grandeur he sought both to emulate and surpass.
Contents: Introduction -- The Regency (1643-1661) -- The early years of personal rule : the King and Colbert (1661-1671) -- The Louvre and Tuilleries -- A building for the sciences : the Observatoire -- Versailles I (1661-1677) -- Paris I -- A palace for a mistress : the Château of Clagny and the rise of Jules Hardouin-Mansart -- The Invalides -- Versailles II (1678-1715) -- Marly -- Paris II -- Vauban and the architecture of war -- Le Roi-Architecte -- Absolutism and architecture -- Epilogue : the old king in triumph and sorrow.