The Versailles Château is one of the
most impressive achievements of French 18th century art, and it
began quite humbly as a hunting lodge for King Louis XIII. The lodge was originally
used as a get-away for King Louis and his mistresses. However, in 1664, his
son, Louis XIV invited the designers of Vaux-le-Vicomte to expand the château to
the state in which it earned recognition. Louis XIV’s Versailles held a very
different purpose.
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When looking at Louis XIV’s character
and ruling methods, it becomes clearer why he built such a grand structure,
with an expansive garden surrounded by walls, perhaps to keep intruders out, as
well as to keep an eye on those inside. It is important to recognize that Louis
XIV was a very powerful king, who believed he was only accountable to God, but
also that a childhood trauma stayed with him his entire life, and made him wary
of the nobility and upper classes. This fact portrays another motive to
creating the infamous Versailles rather than simply gaining recognition.
Because of King Louis paranoia that the
nobility would one day turn on him, he invited all of those involved in the government
to stay in the palace, and built expansively so that they could comfortably
stay under his watch. The palace and gardens were built to impress, to be a
constant reminder not only to the nobility, but also to peasants or any other
visitor that Louis invited of just how all-powerful he was. He achieved this
image with revolutionary architecture that gave a new meaning to perspective
within the garden, sweeping landscapes of grass and manicured ewes, and
magnificent fountains.
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The gardens of Versailles not only gave
King Louis XIV recognition, power, and control while also making him infamous.
The gardens also gave Louis protection, and peace of mind, two things that such
a powerful leader would have never admit to needing. The massive fountains
showed guests that Louis was the most powerful man in France, with access to
more water than was used daily by the rest of the city, and the walls showed
Louis that he would perhaps be safe from being dethroned.
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You mentioned that King Louis XIV partly build Versailles to "he invite all of those involved in the government to stay in the palace, and built expansively so that they could comfortably stay under his watch." In the video, however, they spoke about how the living conditions at Versailles were actually quite poor. That people often were covered in mosquito bites due to it's swamp location and that the palace was very cold due to the sheer size. How do you this affected Louis' relationships with the nobles? Do you think he achieved his goal of subduing a coup? Really interesting blog post!
ReplyDeleteWhile the video did mention living conditions inside the palace were not that great, I think that King Louis' overall goal of subduing a coup was successful. The nobles were provided with entertainment in the gardens and social events in the palace, and they were kept busy simply by being kept together. Also, I believe that it would have been seen as quite an honor to be invited to live in the king's palace - whether or not it was actually a comfortable life!
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