In parallel with the Baroque style, the classicism style was emerging in France. Classicism architecture in many cases faced the same tasks as Baroque architecture - glorifying the power of the absolute monarch, exalting the ruling class. But the architects of classicism use other means for this. The 17th century represents the first stage of classicism, when the features of this style did not reach their most rigorous and pure expression. The public and palace buildings, city ensembles, and palace and park complexes erected by French architects are imbued with the spirit of solemn pomp; their spatial solution is distinguished by clear logic, the facades are characterized by a calm harmony of compositional structure and proportionality of parts, and the architectural forms are distinguished by simplicity and rigor.
Strict orderliness is even introduced into nature - the masters of classicism created a system of the so-called regular park. Architects of classicism widely turn to the ancient heritage, studying general principles ancient architecture, and above all the system of orders, borrowing and reworking individual motifs and forms. It is no coincidence that religious buildings in the architecture of classicism do not have the enormous importance that they occupy in baroque architecture: the spirit of rationalism inherent in classicist art was not conducive to the expression of religious and mystical ideas. Perhaps, to an even greater extent than in Baroque architecture, the figurative content of the best monuments of classical architecture turns out to be broader than their representative functions: the buildings of Hardouin-Mansart and the park complexes of Le Nôtre glorify not only the power of the king, but also the greatness of the human mind.
In the second half of the 17th century. absolute monarchy in France reaches its greatest economic and political power. Life at court becomes an endless holiday. At the center of this life is the personality of the Sun King Louis XIV. His awakening from sleep, morning toilet, lunch, etc. - everything was subject to a certain ritual and took place in the form of solemn ceremonies.
It is during this period that the blossoming occurs French architecture. In the capital of France, Paris, vast city squares and large palace, public and religious buildings are being reconstructed and rebuilt. Grandiose, expensive construction work is being carried out to create the king's country residence - Versailles.
Only under the conditions of a powerful centralized monarchy was it possible at that time to create huge city and palace ensembles designed according to a single plan, designed to embody the idea of the power of an absolute monarch. The desire to search for a strict and monumental image, compositional integrity and stylistic unity of building structures is more clearly manifested. The architecture of this period had a huge impact on the formation of decorative sculpture, painting and applied art.
In addition to the enormous spatial scope of buildings and ensembles, new artistic features in the architecture of the mid and second half of the 17th century were manifested in a more consistent use of the classical order system, in the predominance of horizontal divisions over vertical ones, in greater integrity and unity of the volumetric composition and the internal space of the building. Along with the classical heritage of antiquity and the Renaissance, the creation of the style of French classicism of the second half of the 17th century. was greatly influenced by Italian Baroque architecture. This was reflected in the borrowing of certain architectural forms (curved pediments, volutes, magnificent cartouches), in the order compositions of facades and the principles of designing their internal space (enfilade), in some features of the layout of large ensembles (longitudinal-axial construction), as well as in the inherent architecture French classicism with increased pomp of architectural forms, especially in interiors. However, forms of classical and baroque architecture were exposed in the 17th century. radical processing in connection with national artistic traditions, which made it possible to bring these often contradictory elements to artistic unity.
Since the 70s. 18th century we can talk about a new stage, when classicism is gradually becoming the leading direction not only in architecture, where it was defined earlier, but also in painting and sculpture. The art of this period embodied the “thirst for energetic action” that had seized the French.
Classicism of the first half of the 17th century. Formation of style.
Urban planning work is being widely deployed throughout the country. Old medieval cities are being rebuilt on the basis of new principles of regular planning. Straight highways are being laid, urban ensembles and geometrically correct squares are being built on the site of a chaotic network of medieval streets. The main problem is becoming a large urban ensemble with development carried out according to a single plan. In the development of Paris and other French cities, the role of churches and monastery complexes is significant. Baroque techniques are combined with the traditions of French Gothic and new classicist principles of understanding beauty. Many religious buildings, built according to the basilica church type established in the Italian Baroque, received magnificent main facades, decorated with orders of columns and pilasters, with numerous braces, sculptural inserts and volutes.
Palais Royal Palace(royal palace) - the residence of Cardinal Richelieu was built in 1629. This is at the same time a majestic palace, an open square, and a beautiful well-kept park. The author of the project was the famous French architect of that time, Jacques Lemercier. The palace served as the last refuge of the powerful cardinal; he lived here until his death in 1642. After the death of Richelieu, the palace was occupied by the widowed Anna of Austria with the young Louis XIV, who later became the Sun King. Then Cardinal Mazarin settled here. Then the palace ensemble became the property of the Duke of Orleans, the younger brother of King Louis XIII. At the end of the 18th century, significant changes were made to the architecture of the Palais Royal - slender columns, covered galleries, small shops and cozy cafes appeared here, and a beautiful garden with rare plants was open to the general public.
The palace, built for Cardinal Richelieu, burned down in 1871, and in its place there is a restored reconstruction, the architectural ensemble of which exactly replicates the ancient buildings.
Palais Royal Palace
Palace of Richelieu in Poitou
By the first half XVII century include early examples of large ensemble compositions. The creator of the first ensemble of the palace, park and city of Richelieu in the architecture of French classicism was Jacques Lemercier (c. 1585 - 1654). In terms of the ensemble there are two compositional axes. One axis coincides with the main street of the city and the park alley connecting the city with the square in front of the palace, the other is the main axis of the palace and the park. The layout of the park is built on a strictly regular system of alleys intersecting at right angles and diverging from one center. Located away from the palace, the city of Richelieu was surrounded by a wall and a moat, forming a rectangle in plan. The layout of the streets and quarters of the city is subject to the same strict system of rectangular coordinates as the ensemble as a whole. The building of the Richelieu Palace was divided into the main building and wings, which formed in front of it a large closed rectangular courtyard with a main entrance. The main building with outbuildings, according to a tradition dating back to medieval castles, was surrounded by a moat filled with water. The composition of the main building and wings features angular tower-like volumes topped with high pyramidal roofs.
Jacques Lemercier. Palace of Richelieu in Poitou. Started in 1627 Engraving by Perel
The Richelieu Palace, like its regular park with deep vistas of alleys, extensive parterres and sculpture, was created as a majestic monument designed to glorify the all-powerful ruler of France. The interiors of the palace were richly decorated with stucco and paintings, which exalted the personality of Richelieu and his deeds.
Classicism of the second half of the 17th century.
The second half of the 17th century was the time of the highest flowering of the architecture of French classicism. The organization of the Academy of Architecture, whose director was the prominent architect and theorist Francois Blondel (1617 - 1686), had a great influence on the development of architecture. In 1664, the architect L. Levo completed the quadrangular composition of the Louvre with a closed courtyard with the construction of its northern, southern and eastern buildings. The eastern façade of the Louvre, created by C. Perrault, F. d'Orbe and L. Levo, gives the final appearance to this remarkable ensemble.
Ensemble of the palace and park of Vaux-le-Vicomte (1655 - 1661).
The first work of architecture of French classicism of the second half of the 17th century, in which the predominance of artistic principles classicism over old traditions, there was an ensemble of the palace and park of Vaux-le-Vicomte (1655 - 1661).
The creators of this remarkable work, built for the controller general of finance Fouquet and in many ways anticipating the ensemble of Versailles, were the architect Louis Levo (c. 1612-1670), the master of landscape art Andre Le Nôtre, who laid out the park of the palace, and the painter Charles Lebrun, who took part in decoration of palace interiors and painting of lampshades.
The Vaux-le-Vicomte ensemble developed unique principles created by French classicism of the 17th century. a synthesis of architecture, sculpture, painting and landscape art, which received even greater scope and maturity in the ensemble of Versailles.
The composition of the palace is characterized by the unity of the internal space and volume of the building, which distinguishes works of mature classicist architecture. The large oval salon is highlighted in the volume of the building by a curvilinear risalit, topped with a powerful domed roof, creating a static and calm silhouette of the building. By introducing a large order of pilasters spanning two floors above the base, and a powerful horizontal of a smooth, strict profile classical entablature, the predominance of horizontal divisions over vertical ones in the facades is achieved. This gives the appearance of the palace a monumental presence and splendor.
The formation of classicism in French architecture is associated with the buildings of F. Mansart, marked by clarity of composition and order divisions. High examples of mature classicism in the architecture of the 17th century - the eastern facade of the Louvre (C. Perrault), the work of L. Levo, F. Blondel. From the 2nd half. 17th century French classicism absorbs some elements of Baroque architecture (the palace and park of Versailles - architect J. Hardouin-Mansart, A. Le Nôtre).
Versailles. Architects Louis Levo, Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Andre Le Nôtre.
The pinnacle of the development of a new direction in architecture was Versailles - the grandiose ceremonial residence of the French kings near Paris. First, a royal hunting castle appeared there (1624). The main construction began during the reign of Louis XIV in the late 60s. The most prominent architects participated in the creation of the project: Louis Levo (circa 1612-1670), Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1613-1708) and the outstanding decorator of gardens and parks Andre Le Nôtre (1613-1700). According to their plan, the Grand Palace - the main part of the complex - was to be located on an artificial terrace where the three main avenues of Versailles converge. One of them - the middle one - leads to Paris, and the two side ones - to country palaces Seau and Saint-Cloud.
Jules Hardouin-Mansart, having started work in 1678, designed all the buildings in the same style. The facades of the buildings were divided into three tiers. The lower one, modeled on an Italian Renaissance palazzo, is decorated with rustication, the middle one - the largest - is filled with high arched windows, between which there are columns and pilasters. The upper tier is shortened and ends with a balustrade (a fence consisting of a number of figured columns connected by railings) and sculptural groups that create a feeling of lush decoration, although all facades have a strict appearance. The interiors of the palace differ from the facades in the luxury of decoration.
The first Trianon Palace, called the "Porcelain Trianon", was built in 1672 and lasted 15 years. In the eyes of Europeans, the building was given a Chinese-style flavor by facing the walls with faience tiles, faience vases and decorative elements of a high mansard roof made of gilded lead. Due to bad weather, the faience very quickly lost its appearance and the king soon ceased to like the palace; he ordered its destruction and the construction of a new building in this place, more spacious and in a completely different style. In place of the destroyed Porcelain Trianon, a new one was erected - Marble Trianon, with pilasters made of pink and green marble, which gave the building its name. Construction was entrusted to the first royal architect, Jules Hardouin Mansart.
Of great importance in the palace ensemble is the park designed by Andre Le Nôtre. He abandoned artificial waterfalls and cascades in the Baroque style, which symbolized the spontaneous beginning in nature. Lenotre pools have a clear geometric shape, with a mirror-smooth surface. Each large alley ends with a pond: main staircase from the terrace of the Grand Palace it leads to the Latona fountain; At the end of the Royal Avenue there is the Apollo Fountain and the canal. The park is oriented along the “west - east” axis, so when the sun rises and its rays are reflected in the water, an amazingly beautiful and picturesque play of light appears. The layout of the park is connected with architecture - the alleys are perceived as a continuation of the halls of the palace.
Main idea park - to create a special world where everything is subject to strict laws. It is no coincidence that many consider Versailles a brilliant expression of French national character, in which, behind external lightness and impeccable taste, cold reason, will and determination are hidden.
Louis XIV wanted Versailles to be one of the greatest palaces in Europe. He ordered the castle to be equipped with lush gardens, fountains where one could indulge in reflection, halls with stucco, precious fabrics and expensive gold paintings. The renovated Palace of Versailles appeared to the discerning king in its full glory in 1684, becoming an architectural ideal for the rulers of many countries of that era. To this day, the palace has not lost its charm. Perfectly manicured gardens, fountains with graceful water jets and lighting, as well as well-preserved structural elements of buildings - all this recreates the spirit of the era of the Sun King.
In the 17th century, a unified French state was formed, which became the most powerful power in Western Europe. In the 2nd half of the 17th century, Louis XIV, the “Sun King,” as he was called, reigned. This time was the pinnacle of French absolutism, and in Western literature it was called the “Great Age”. Great - first of all in the pomp of ceremony and all types of arts, in different genres And in different ways glorifying the person of the king.
In 1671, the Academy of Architecture was founded. With the advent of Louis IV, all arts are under the absolute control of the king.
At this time, Baroque was relegated to the background, and “classicism” officially became the leading style of all art. Classicism is based on the traditions of the art of the Renaissance and antiquity. This is the last great style in architecture, sculpture and painting. Art should exalt the heroic, highly civil, it should teach, praise the dignity of man, condemn vices.
It is significant that during this period for construction architectural structures They began to invite not famous Baroque masters, such as Bernini, but French architects, little known by that time.
Thus, for the construction of the eastern facade of the Louvre, the design of the French architect Perrault was chosen. The colonnade of Claude Perrault is a striking example of classicism: the architecture is simple and rational, with a mathematically verified balance of mass, creating a feeling of peace and grandeur, which was more consistent with the established ideal of the era.
Gradually, classicism penetrates into the construction of churches and cathedrals (Cathedral of the Invalides in Paris by Hardouin Mansart)
But most of all, architects are interested in the problem of the relationship between the ensemble of the palace and the park. Architects Louis Leveau and André Le Nôtre first tried to solve this problem in the palace and park of Vaux le Vicomte near Melun (1657 - 1661).
The Vaux Palace is rightly considered the prototype of the main creation of the second half of the 17th century - the Versailles Palace and Park. In a rather deserted area, 18 km from Paris, a fairy-tale palace grew up (1668 - 1669), fountains began to flow in a waterless place, and a gigantic park grew up.
The Royal Palace of Versailles was built by the architects Levo (1661 - 1668), F. Orbe (1670 - 1674), and in the final stages Ardouin Mansart (1678 - 1689) took part in its construction.
Three avenues branch off from the gigantic square in front of the palace, three roads leading to Paris, Saint-Cloud and So (also the residence of the king).
The palace, the facade of which stretches for half a kilometer, has three floors: the first is the base, heavy, of stone masonry, the second is the main, front and therefore the highest, and the third, crowning the building and light. The exterior of the building is classically austere; the alternation of windows, pilasters, and columns creates a clear, calm rhythm.
All this does not exclude the lush decorative decoration of the interior. The interiors of the palace consist of a suite of rooms, the pinnacle of luxurious decoration of which was supposed to be the king's bedroom, where his day begins and ends and where audiences take place. The Mirror Gallery (length 73 m, width 10 m, built in 1678 - 1680) between the “Hall of War” and “Hall of Peace”, with windows overlooking the garden on one side, and mirrors in which in the evening in in the light of the candles the reflection of the elegant court crowd multiplied and fragmented, on the other.
Versailles Park is, like the entire ensemble, a programmatic work. This is a regular park, which began in Vaud, i.e. a park in which everything is verified, which is laid out into alleys and where places for fountains and sculptures are determined, where the will and mind of man are reflected in everything. The total length of the park is about three kilometers; its creator was the architect Le Nôtre.
Decorative work at Versailles was headed by the “first painter of the king,” director of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture, director of the tapestry manufactory, Charles Lebrun. Lebrun's "language" is a mixture of classic orderliness and majesty with baroque pathos and pomp.
Undoubtedly, Lebrun had a great decorative gift. O made cardboards for tapestries, drawings for furniture, and altar images. To a large extent, French art owes its name to Lebrun for the creation of a unified decorative style, from monumental paintings and paintings to carpets and furniture.
Since the 2nd half of the 17th century, France has firmly and for a long time occupied leading place in the artistic life of Europe. But at the end of the reign of Louis IV, new trends, new features appeared in art, and the art of the 18th century had to develop in a different direction.
Details Category: Fine arts and architecture of the late 16th-18th centuries Published 04/20/2017 18:22 Views: 2821Absolutism in France XVII V. considered devotion to the monarch the height of patriotism. King Louis XIV famously said: “I am the State.”
But it is also known that at this time a new philosophical direction took hold in France - rationalism, which considered the human mind to be the basis of knowledge. One of the founders of the new doctrine, Rene Descartes, argued: “I think, therefore I exist.”
On the basis of this philosophy, a new style in art began to take shape - classicism. It was built on the models of antiquity and the Renaissance.
Architecture
Architecture changed its priorities and moved away from fortified cities to residential cities.
Maison-Laffite
Maison-Laffite- the famous castle (palace) in the suburb of Paris of the same name, one of the few surviving creations of the architect Francois Mansart.
Francois Mansart(1598-1666) - French architect, considered not only the greatest master of the French Baroque, but also the founder of classicism in France.
The Maisons-Laffite Palace differs, for example, from the Luxembourg Palace in Paris, which resembles a fenced off outside world lock. Maison-Laffite has a U-shape, there is no longer a closed space.
A park was usually built around the palace, characterized by an ideal order: the plants were trimmed, the alleys intersected at right angles, and the flower beds were of regular geometric shape. It was the so-called regular (French) park.
Palace and park ensemble of Versailles
The ensemble of Versailles is considered the pinnacle of a new direction in architecture. This is a huge ceremonial residence of the French kings, built near Paris.
Versailles was built under the leadership of Louis XIV in 1661. It became an artistic and architectural expression of the idea of absolutism. Architects: Louis Levo and Jules Hardouin-Mansart.
The creator of the park is Andre Le Nôtre.
Carlo Maratta. Portrait of André Le Nôtre (c. 1680)
The Versailles ensemble is the largest in Europe. It is distinguished by the unique integrity of its design, the harmony of architectural forms and landscape. Before the French Revolution, Versailles was the official royal residence. In 1801 it received the status of a museum and is open to the public. In 1979, the Palace of Versailles and the park were included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.
Parterre in front of the greenhouse
Versailles is an example of a synthesis of arts: architecture, sculpture and landscape art. In 1678-1689 The ensemble of Versailles was rebuilt under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart. All buildings were decorated in the same style, the facades of the buildings were divided into three tiers. The lower one, modeled on an Italian Renaissance palazzo, is decorated with rustication, the middle one is filled with high arched windows, between which there are columns and pilasters. The upper tier is shortened and ends with a balustrade (a fence consisting of a series of figured columns connected by railings) and sculptural groups.
The park of the ensemble, designed by Andre Le Nôtre, has a clear layout: geometric-shaped swimming pools with a mirror-smooth surface. Each major alley ends with a reservoir: the main staircase from the terrace of the Grand Palace leads to the Latona fountain; At the end of the Royal Avenue there is the Apollo Fountain and the canal. The main idea of the park is to create a unique place where everything is subject to strict laws.
Fountains of Versailles
Latona Fountain
At the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. art in France gradually began to turn into a means of ideology. In the Place Vendôme in Paris, the subordination of art to politics is already visible.
Place Vendôme. Architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart
In the center of Place Vendôme there is a 44-meter high Vendôme Column with a statue of Napoleon on top, modeled after the Roman Column of Trajan.
Vendôme Column
The closed quadrangle of the square with cut corners is surrounded by administrative buildings with a single decoration system.
One of the most significant monumental buildings of the 17th century. in France - the Cathedral of the Invalides (1680-1706).
Bird's eye view of the Invalides' Home
The Palais des Invalides (State House of Invalids) began to be built by order of Louis XIV in 1670 as a home for elderly soldiers (“invalids of war”). Today it still accepts disabled people, but it also houses several museums and a military necropolis.
The Cathedral of the Invalides Palace was created by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. The cathedral with its powerful dome changed the panorama of the city.
Cathedral
Cathedral dome
East façade of the Louvre
Louvre. Eastern façade. Architect K. Perrault. Length 173 m
The eastern façade of the Louvre (Colonnade) is a striking example of French classicism. The project was chosen through a competition. Among the participants were famous masters, but the victory was won by an unknown architect Claude Perrault(1613-1688), since it was his work that embodied the main ideas of the French: severity and solemnity, scale and simplicity.
Sculpture
In the second half of the 17th century. French classicism already served to glorify the monarchy, therefore, from the sculpture that decorated the palaces, what was required was not so much classical severity and harmony, but solemnity and splendor. Effectiveness, expressiveness, monumentality - these are the main features of French sculpture of the 17th century. The traditions of the Italian Baroque, especially the work of Lorenzo Bernini, helped in this.
Sculptor François Girardon (1628-1715)
G. Rigo. Portrait of Francois Girardon
He studied in Rome with Bernini. Girardon completed the sculptural part of the Apollo Gallery in the Louvre. Since 1666, he has been working in Versailles - creating the sculptural group “The Abduction of Proserpina by Pluto”, the sculptural group “Apollo and the Nymphs” (1666-1673), the relief of the reservoir “Bathing Nymphs” (1675), “The Abduction of Persephone” (1677-1699) , “Victory of France over Spain”, sculpture “Winter” (1675-1683), etc.
F. Girardon “Victory of France over Spain” (1680-1682), Palace of Versailles
Among best works sculptor - an equestrian statue of King Louis XIV (1683), which adorned the Place Vendôme in Paris and was destroyed during the Great French Revolution 1789-1799
F. Girardon. Equestrian statue of Louis XIV (c. 1699). Bronze. Louvre (Paris)
This is a smaller copy of the equestrian monument of Louis XIV, which adorned Place Vendôme. The model was an ancient Roman statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The monument fit perfectly into the architectural ensemble of the square. Girardon's work throughout the 18th century. served as a model for equestrian monuments of European sovereigns. A hundred years later, the monument - a symbol of royal power - was destroyed.
Antoine Coyzevox (1640-1720)
French Baroque sculptor. He worked a lot in Versailles: he designed the War Hall and the Gallery of Mirrors.
Mirror gallery at Versailles
Coyzevox also created sculptural portraits, which were distinguished by their accuracy and psychological characteristics. He used Baroque techniques: unexpected poses, free movements, lush attire.
Pierre Puget (1620-1694)
Pierre Puget. Self-Portrait (Louvre)
Pierre Pugene is the most talented master of that time: French painter, sculptor, architect and engineer. His work shows the influence of Bernini and classical theater.
Pierre Puget "Milon of Croton with a lion" (Louvre)
Puget's sculptures are distinguished by their vital convincingness in conveying tension and suffering, combining expression with clarity of composition. Sometimes he gets carried away with exaggeration and theatricality of poses and movements. But his style was very consistent with the tastes of his era. His compatriots even called him the French Michelangelo and Rubens.
Painting
In the 17th century The Royal Academy of Paris was established, it became the center artistic activity and followed this path throughout the long reign of Louis XIV. All branches of art were centralized.
Charles Lebrun was appointed the first painter of the court.
Charles Lebrun (1619-1690)
Nicola Largilliere. Portrait of the artist Charles Lebrun
He personally led the Academy, influenced the tastes and worldview of an entire generation of artists, becoming the most important figure in the “style of Louis XIV.” In 1661, the king ordered Le Brun a series of paintings from the history of Alexander the Great; the first of them brought the artist nobility and the title of “First Royal Painter” and a lifelong pension.
C. Lebrun “The Entry of Alexander into Babylon” (1664)
Since 1662, Lebrun controlled all artistic orders of the court. He personally painted the halls of the Apollo Gallery in the Louvre, the interiors of the Castle of Saint-Germain and Versailles (War Hall and Peace Hall). But the artist died before finishing the painting of Versailles, which was completed according to his sketches by Noel Coypel.
Ch. Lebrun “Equestrian portrait of Louis XIV” (1668). Chartreuse Museum (Douai)
Pierre Mignard (1612-1695)
Pierre Mignard. Self-portrait
Famous French artist. He competed with Lebrun. Became head of the Academy of St. Luke in Paris, opposed to the Royal Academy. In 1690, after the death of Lebrun, he became the main court artist, director of the royal art museums and manufactories, a member and professor of the Paris Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and then its rector and chancellor. At almost 80 years of age, he created designs for paintings in the Cathedral of the Invalides, which are still kept in the Louvre, painted two lampshades in the small apartments of the king in the Palace of Versailles, painted a series of delicately colored religious paintings: “Christ and the Samaritan Woman,” 1690 (Louvre) ; "Saint Cecilia", 1691 (Louvre); "Faith" and "Hope", 1692.
The main advantage of his works is the harmonious color. But in general, he paid tribute to his time in art: external brilliance, theatrical composition, graceful, but affected figures.
P. Mignard “Virgin with grapes”
These shortcomings are least noticeable in his portraits. He owns numerous portraits of courtiers, the king's favorites and Louis XIV himself, whom he painted about ten times.
P. Mignard. Equestrian portrait of Louis XIV
Of Mignard's fresco works, the most important were the painting in the dome of Val-de-Grâce, which soon deteriorated due to the poor quality of the paints, and the mythological wall paintings in big hall Palace of Saint-Cloud, who perished along with this building in 1870.
Pierre Mignard. Fresco of the dome of Val-de-Grâce "The Glory of God"
Chapters “Main stages French art", "French architecture of the 17th century", "French architecture of the late 17th and 18th centuries", "The general state of architecture in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries" in the section "Architecture of France in the 17th - 18th centuries" from the book "History of Architecture" by Auguste Choisy (Auguste Choisy, Histoire De L "Architecture, Paris, 1899). According to the publication of the All-Union Academy of Architecture, Moscow, 1935.
The main stages of the new art
Let us return to French architecture at the end of the 16th century, at the time of the end of the religious wars. Architecture experiences all the vicissitudes of the period of return to peace and prosperity: it is modest and prudent after the wars of the League, wasteful under Richelieu, majestic and solemn to the point of excess under Louis XIV, cold and strict on the eve of the revolution. Let us consider sequentially the means that she used either separately or simultaneously.
French architecture of the 17th century
Architecture of stone and brick and its forms
A combination of brick and stone.- Under Henry IV decorative effects often achieved by constructive techniques in which color contrasts give, at little cost, facades a lively and varied appearance; This is the construction of the walls in the form of a frame of cut stones filled with rough masonry.
The filling surface is covered with colored plaster: according to tradition coming from early renaissance, the framing of the openings is connected through all floors ( rice. 437), forming long white stripes from the foundation to the lucarnes, standing out against the red background of the walls and against the blue background of the slate roofs.
Always using simple means, this architecture strives simultaneously for color contrasts and clear contours, for the patterned outlines of roofs and hatches; she uses little profiling and completely avoids small details: there are only contours and a play of colors.
The earliest monuments of this style include Palais Mayenne on Rue Saint-Antoine, dating back to the era of Henry III.
Then follow: under Henry IV Palace of Cardinal Bourbon in the Abbey of Saint-Germain des Pres, buildings on Place Dauphine and Place des Vosges ( rice. 437); under Louis XIII - the main core of the Palace of Versailles; one of the latest examples of this style is Mazarin Palace(National Library), built by François Mansart during the minority of Louis XIV. The same architecture belongs to Rambouillet Palace.
The use in stone architecture of forms arising from a combination of stone and brick.- The previous group, as a derivative of it, includes a whole series of buildings built entirely of stone, but borrowing decoration from the mixed structure we have just described.
As examples of this peculiar transfer of forms, we give: under Louis XIII - Palais Sully on Rue Saint-Antoine, built J. Ducerseau, Sorbonne And Cardinal's Palace, built Lemercier; at the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV - Palace d'Aumont on Rue Jouy, built Fr. Mansar.
Decoration with orders
The architecture of brick and stone, clearly imbued with a desire for economy, is best suited to buildings from which nothing more than graceful simplicity is required. For monumental buildings, they resort to order decorations, and in France, as in Italy, they hesitate between two decisions: whether to make these decorations in accordance with the scale of the entire facade, or on the scale of only the floor they decorate. Hence, in order architecture there are two trends, which we will trace below.
Decoration linked to the scale of the floors.- When decoration is linked to the scale of floors, then usually different orders are placed on each floor; These are the buildings of Tanlais (department of Ionna), erected at the end of the reign of Henry IV.
Under Louis XIII, the tradition of using small orders was continued by S. de Brosses in Luxembourg Palace and on the facade Saint Gervais.
Using the same method it builds Lemercier central pavilion in Louvre courtyard and in the palace Liancourt(rice, 438) - his main work, from which only some drawings have reached us.
At the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV Lepautre applies the same method of decoration in Beauvais Palace(François Miron Street); we meet in the same way in the castle Bussy Rabutin(Côte d'Or); the last representative of this system was Fr. Mansar (Chateau de Maison, Pavilion of Gaston d'Orléans in Blois).
The system of small orders enjoyed the least success at the beginning of the 17th century. At Thorpann Palace an attempt was made to find a compromise solution: to preserve the entablature and destroy the pilasters or replace them with pillars.
During the entire reign of Henry IV, we encounter only one overt application of the traditional system - the Louvre gallery ( rice. 439). This beautiful composition gives us an idea of the flexibility that art still retained. The lower floor was built earlier (it dates back to the era of Catherine de Medici), and it had to be coordinated with the wing of the palace, the cornice of which was at level M; this transition is provided by the mezzanine MN.
Now consider the opposite system:
Decoration with a colossal order.- Among the first buildings where several floors were combined into one large order of pilasters, we already called the wing Chantilly Castle, dating from the era of Henry II.
We present a fragment of the facade ( rice. 440, C). It clearly shows the difficulties associated with this system. The entablatures reach an exorbitant size in order to maintain proportionality with the pilasters; the windows are lost and seem to fade away. For the sake of the entablature, they make concessions to classical proportions, but in order not to deprive the windows of their significance, they capture part of the roof with them, turning them into a kind of lucarnes, not connected with either the facade or the roof; sometimes they even try to cover the windows of two floors with one frame, as if simulating one common opening.
Thanks to all these compromises, the colossal order becomes one of the common elements of French architecture. We meet him under Henry III in Palace of Diane de France(Rue Pave, in the Marais); under Henry IV it was used in the gallery connecting the Louvre with the Tuileries (Fig. 440, L); built during the time of Louis XIII Palace of the Duchess of Savoy(rue Garencière) provides an example of Ionian pilasters decidedly out of scale. Dorian pilasters of more modest sizes adorn the Palace of Versailles.
By the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV, the tendency towards large orders became more and more decisive. They find in them that greatness that meets the new claims of the monarchy. Left And Dorbe they are used in the old southern facade of the Louvre, in the castle of Vaux, in the College of the Four Nations (Institute); Lemuet uses this solemn form to Palace d'Avo(Temple Street); Fr. Mansart uses it on the main façade Minim monastery in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.
Subsequently, Perrault, in 1670, borrowed the colossal order as a theme for his Louvre colonnade, and in the 18th century. Gabriel will repeat this order in the palaces of the Place de la Concorde.
Treatment of facades with rustications and panels
Rustic processing.- We have already pointed out the consequences that follow from the use of a colossal order: the need for huge cornices and the need to excessively enlarge the openings. It is possible to preserve to some extent the grandeur that the order, rising from the very foundation of the building, gives to the architectural composition, if the pilasters are replaced with rusticated blades. At the same time, costs are reduced, and at the same time, since the forms of the order become, as it were, only implied, the requirements of proportions become less imperative, which makes it possible to limit both the meaning of the entablatures and the size of the windows.
The division of facades with rusticated blades instead of pilasters was used by Lemercier during the reign of Louis XIII century Richelieu castle and in the Cardinal's Palace; under Louis XIV these techniques were used L. Bruant- for processing facades Homes for the disabled, Fr. Mansar - for Val de Graais, Perrault - for the northern ledge of the Louvre.
Decoration through panels.- Architecture does not stop on this path to simplification. In the end, these rusticated blades are also destroyed; the entablature that crowns the facade rests on bare walls, barely decorated with frames that outline the boundaries of the intervening panels.
The courtyard of the House of Invalids is an excellent example of such facades, where only the profiles of the cornices and blades remain from the orders. In the same spirit, Perrault decorates
Observatory, Fr. Blondel - the gate of Saint-Denis, Bullet - the gate of Saint-Martin.
French architecture of the late 17th and 18th centuries
Official style.- In the last third of the 17th century. the impoverishment of taste begins, the onset of decline is felt. To prevent this, Colbert established the Academy of Architecture in 1671 and charged it with teaching theory to fill the gaps in craft apprenticeship. He sends architects to Rome to draw inspiration there, orders the publication of works on the monuments of classical antiquity, and tries to revive art by elevating the position of its masters. But decrepit art is powerless to revive and rejuvenate. Generation Lemercier and Fr. Mansara is dying out; the generation that follows still creates several works worthy of the previous period, but in general the style becomes flabby and the execution mediocre.
Striving for a false ideal of nobility, they stop, following the example of the Italians, on monotonous facades that repeat the same motifs throughout - and this cold symmetry hides the arrangement of parts of the building so much that behind the same facade there are both chapels and stairs, and even baths; Even the roofs are camouflaged. The main desire is not to reveal anything from the outside that would remind one of the material needs of everyday life.
It is this kind of architecture, as if not created for mere mortals, that the king likes. Jules Hardouin-Mansart fully applied it to the Palace of Versailles ( rice. 441, A); The facade, in which all these trends are clearly visible, dates back to 1675. Traditions of high art and the decline of the 18th century. - The last years of the 17th century. marked by a return to more varied forms; then the style of Hardouin-Mansart acquires greater flexibility; this, perhaps, should be attributed to the collaboration with him of other architects, among whom Saint-Simon names Lassurance.
Be that as it may, before the death of Hardouin-Mansart (1708), there seems to be some revival: he ends his work with two masterpieces - the House of Ing.
Valides and the Versailles Chapel. The calamities of the end of the reign of Louis XIV checked this revival, and it was only decisively resumed after the establishment of the Regency. From this point on, there are, so to speak, two architectures: one continues the strict traditions of the previous period, the other takes the path of refined grace, which very truthfully reflects the sophistication of its contemporary society.
Style new school, the “Rococo” genre, was established only by 1730 and found its main exponent in the person of Boffrand; The style of the classical school has its representatives successively Gabriel, Soufflot, and finally Louis and Antoine.
Throughout the second half of the reign of Louis XV, both schools exist completely independently: while the palaces of Nancy are overloaded with Rococo decorations, the Place de la Concorde is distinguished by the majestic dignity and grandeur of its magnificent outlines ( rice. 441, V, 1750) Chaotic school of the mid-18th century. fizzles out by the time of Louis XVI: the philosophical movement directs minds towards antiquity. Tastes change completely, and in purity of form they try to surpass even the school of Gabriel and Soufflot. With the approach of the revolution they fall into dryness, and with the revolution a crisis of art begins, a way out of which is barely visible only in our era.
General state of architecture in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries
In the 17th and 18th centuries. Europe is influenced partly by modern Italy, partly by France. In general, French influences predominate; Thus, French architects erected most of their palaces for the German princes: in Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, and Mannheim.
Inigo Jones, with whom classical architecture began in England, apparently developed his own style through direct study of the monuments of Italy and founded a school, which was continued in the 18th century. Chambers, the builder of Somerset Palace, appeared.
Wren (S. Wren), architect of St. Paul's in London, adjacent to the school that created the Invalides in France; The Cathedral of St. Paul, in turn, served as the main model for America in the construction of the Capitol in Washington.
In Russia in the 18th century. Italian influence is manifested mainly in the palaces of St. Petersburg.
As for Italian art, the echo of which is represented by all modern architectural schools, its the last creatures were: Bernini's colonnade on St. Petra, a majestic, but not strict facade, given by the architect Al. The Galilee of the church of San Giovanni in Laterano, and the cold buildings of Vanvitelli in Caserta.
L.S. Aleshina
If the 17th century in French architecture was marked by grandiose construction work for the king, the main result of which was the creation of the monumental ensemble of Versailles, where the very style of classicism in its impressive pomp reveals elements of internal connection with Baroque architecture, then the 18th century brings with it new trends.
Construction moved to cities. The new needs of the era posed the problem of creating a type of urban residential mansion house. The development of bourgeois relations, the growth of trade and industry, the strengthening of the role of the third estate in public life put forward the task of constructing new public buildings - exchanges, trading premises, public theaters. The growing role of cities in the economic and political life countries, the emergence of new types of private and public buildings pose new requirements for architects in creating an urban ensemble.
Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Robert de Cotte. Chapel in the Palace of Versailles. 1699-1710 Internal view
undergoes changes and architectural style era. Characteristic of the classicism of the last century, the great unity of figurative solutions of the external appearance and internal space by the beginning of the 18th century. disintegrates. This process of disintegration is accompanied by a separation of construction practice and theoretical teachings, a difference in the principles of interior and facade design. Leading architects in their theoretical works still worship antiquity and the rules of the three orders, but in direct architectural practice they move away from the strict requirements of logical clarity and rationalism, subordination of the particular to the whole, and clear constructiveness. The work of Robert de Cotte (1656-1735), the successor of Jules Hardouin-Mansart as royal architect (he completed the construction of the chapel of the Versailles Palace, beautiful in its strict, noble architecture), provides a convincing example of this. In those built by him in the 1710s. In Parisian mansions (Hotel de Toulouse and Hotel d'Estrée), a lighter architectural form and free development of decor are noticeable.
New style, called Rococo or Rocaille, cannot be viewed from only one side, seeing in it only a reactionary and unpromising product of a decadent class. This style reflected not only the hedonistic aspirations of the aristocracy. Some progressive trends of the era were also refracted in a unique way in Rococo; hence the demands for a freer layout that corresponds to real life, a more natural and lively development, and internal space. The dynamics and lightness of architectural masses and decor contrasted with the ponderous pomp of interior design in the era of the supreme power of French absolutism.
At the beginning of the 18th century. the main construction is still carried out by the aristocracy, but its character is changing significantly. The place of manor castles is taken by city mansions, the so-called hotels. The weakening of absolutism was also reflected in the fact that the nobility left Versailles and settled in the capital. In the green suburbs of Paris - Saint Germain and Saint Opor - one after another, during the first half of the century, luxurious mansion-hotels with extensive gardens and services were built (Fig. on page 258). Unlike palace buildings of the previous century, pursuing the goals of impressive representativeness and solemn grandeur, in the mansions being created now, much attention is paid to the actual convenience of life. Architects abandon the chain of large halls, stretching out in a solemn enfilade, in favor of smaller rooms, arranged more casually in accordance with the needs of private life and the public representation of the owners. Many high windows Well illuminates the interior.
According to their location in the city, hotels of the first half of the 18th century. represented to a large extent a transitional phenomenon from a country estate to a city house. This is a closed architectural complex, a kind of estate inside a city block, connected to the street only by the front gate. The house itself stands in the back of the plot, facing a vast courtyard lined with low service premises. The opposite facade faces the garden, which maintains a regular layout.
In hotels of the first half of the 18th century. The characteristic contradiction of French architecture of this era was most clearly manifested - the discrepancy between the external architecture and the interior decor. The facade of the building, as a rule, retains traditional order elements, interpreted, however, more freely and lightly. Registration
However, interior spaces often completely break with the laws of tectonics, merging the wall with the ceiling into a complete shell of internal space that has no definite boundaries. It is no coincidence that decorative artists, who were able to decorate the interior with amazing subtlety and perfection, acquired such a large role at this time. The period of early and mature Rococo knows a whole galaxy of masters who created exquisite masterpieces of interior decoration (Gilles Marie Oppenor, 1672-1742; Just Aurèle Meissonnier, 1693-1750, and others). Often a building was built by one architect and designed by another. But even when all the work was carried out by one master, his approach to solving the external appearance of the hotel and its interior was fundamentally different. One of the most prominent Rococo architects, Germain Beaufran (1667-1754), in his treatise “Livre d'Architecture” (1745), directly said that currently interior decor is a completely separate part of architecture, which does not take into account the decor of the exterior of the building. In his practice, he consistently pursued this thesis. In the architecture of the Lunéville castle, in the hotels in Naisy, built in the 1720s, one can feel the adherence to the traditions of classicism - the central part is clearly highlighted, emphasized by a portico with columns or pilasters. Only a few speak about the Rococo style here. molded details and comparative lightness of order elements.
Jean Courton. Hotel Matignon in Paris. Plan.
Pierre Delamere. Hotel Soubise in Paris. 1705-1709 Facade.
Beaufran decides his interiors completely differently. A brilliant example of this is the interior decor of the Soubise Hotel (1735-1740). Regardless of the external appearance of the mansion, which was completed by Delamere in 1705-1709. V classical traditions, Beaufran gives the hotel rooms the character of graceful bonbonnieres. Carved panels, stucco ornaments, and picturesque panels cover the walls and ceiling like a continuous carpet. The effect of these exquisitely elegant, whimsically light forms should be especially impressive in contrast to the more restrained architecture of the facade.
Religious construction during this period was of incomparably less importance than secular construction. The buildings of the previous century were mostly completed.
Such is the church of Saint Roch in Paris, begun by Robert de Cotte at the end of the 17th century. and completed after the death of this architect by his son J.-R. de Cottom.
Jean Nicola Servandoni. Church of Saint Sulpice in Paris. 1733-1745 Facade.
The more interesting Parisian church of Saint-Sulpice, also begun in the 17th century. By the 20s. 18th century The main façade remained unfinished. It was designed by several architects. The project of the famous decorator Meissonnier (1726), who tried to transfer the principles of Rocaille to outdoor architecture, was rejected. In 1732, another decorator, Jean Nicolas Servandoni (1695-1766), won the competition announced for the design of the facade, turning to classical forms in his decision. His idea formed the basis for further construction. The façade of the church is divided into two tiers, each of which has its own order. Towers rise on both sides of the façade.
From the second quarter of the 18th century. The rich trading cities of the province began to play an increasingly prominent role in French construction. The matter was not limited to the construction of individual buildings. The entire system of the old feudal city with its chaotic buildings, with an intricate grid of streets included in the tight confines of the city fortifications, came into conflict with the new needs of the growing commercial and industrial centers. The retention of many key positions by absolutism led, however, at first to a rather compromise solution to urban planning problems. In many cities, the reconstruction of certain parts of the old city is carried out through the construction of royal squares. The tradition of such squares dates back to the 17th century, when they were created not with the goal of bringing order to the chaos of the medieval city, but as an open place for the installation of a statue of the king. Now the reason remained, as it were, the same - all that arose in the 18th century. During the period of the monarchy, the squares were intended to serve for the installation of a monument to the monarch, but the architects themselves pursued much broader urban planning goals.
One of the first squares of a new type associated with the redevelopment and development of entire city blocks was the square in Bordeaux. Its designer and builder was Jacques Gabriel (1667-1742), a representative of the famous building from the 16th century. dynasty of architects, father of the famous architect Jacques Ange Gabriel.
Work on the planning and development of the square began in 1731. The site for it was allocated on the banks of the wide Garonne. The architect widely and diversifiedly developed the possibilities of creating a new ensemble, covering a significant part of the city and connecting it with the natural environment.
Jacques Gabriel began his work in Bordeaux with the demolition of old, nondescript buildings on the river bank and the construction of a magnificent embankment. The city turned its face to the Garonne - its main decoration. This turn was intended to consolidate both the square, wide open to the river, and the layout of the two streets flowing into the square. Using the planning principle of Versailles, the architect applied it to a new social and artistic organism - the city, solving it on a broader basis. The buildings located on the sides of the square were intended for the trade and economic needs of the city: on the right is the stock exchange, on the left is the tax department building. Their architecture is distinguished by restraint and elegant simplicity. The construction of the exchange and the central pavilion between the two streets was completed after the death of Jacques Gabriel by his son. A number of innovative principles of the Place de Bordeaux - its open character, its facing the river, the connection with the city quarters with the help of ray-streets - Jacques Ange Gabriel soon brilliantly developed in his work on the Place Louis XV in Paris.
Emmanuel Here de Corney. The ensemble of Place Stanislas, Place Carriere and Place de la Government in Nancy. 1752-1755 Aerial photography.
If the ensemble of the square in Bordeaux provided a solution that anticipated many planning principles of subsequent times, then another remarkable ensemble of the mid-18th century - a complex of three squares in Nancy, more closely associated with the past - seems to summarize the methods of organizing space of the Baroque Era.
Emmanuel Here de Corney. Government Square in Nancy. 1752-1755 General view.
Three squares of different shapes - the rectangular Stanislaus Square, the long Carrière Square and the oval Government Square - form a closely united and internally closed organism that exists only in a very relative connection with the city. The oval cour d'honneur of the Government Palace is separated by an arcade from the surrounding city and park. Active movement from it can, in essence, only develop forward through the boulevard-shaped Carrière Square and the triumphal arch, so that, upon entering Stanislav Square, it will immediately be blocked by the monumental building of the town hall. One gets the impression of two monumental court d'honneurs, spread out in front of magnificent palaces and connected by a straight alley. It is characteristic that the streets facing Stanislav Square are separated from it by bars. The charm of the ensemble is created by the festive architecture of the palaces, amazing craftsmanship of forged and gilded grilles, fountains on two corners of the square, designed in a single elegant and elegant rococo tone. The planner of the area and the architect of the main buildings was Beaufran's student Emmanuel Eray de Corney (1705-1763), who worked mainly in Lorraine. Built in 1752-1755, this complex in its forms and planning principles already looked somewhat anachronistic in comparison with the new movement in architecture that began at the end of the first half of the 18th century.
This movement, the influence of which had already marked the design of the square in Bordeaux, was expressed in the rejection of the extremes and quirks of Rococo in favor of a more reasonable, ordered architecture, in an increased interest in antiquity. The connection of this movement with the strengthening of the positions of the bourgeoisie is undeniable.
Just at the turn of the first and second half of the century, the speech of the encyclopedists, who put forward the criterion of reason as the only measure of all things, dates back. From these positions, the entire feudal society and its offspring - the Rococo style - are criticized as devoid of logic, rationality, and naturalness. And vice versa, all these qualities are seen in the architecture of the ancients. During these years, exhibitions dedicated to monuments of ancient architecture appeared. In 1752, the famous amateur and philanthropist Count de Caylus began publishing the work “Collection of Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities.” Two years later, the architect David Leroy travels to Greece and then releases the book “Ruins of the Most Beautiful Structures of Greece.” Among the theorists of architecture, Abbé Laugier stands out, whose “Studies on Architecture”, published in 1753, evoked a lively response in wide circles of French society. Speaking from the standpoint of rationalism, he advocates for reasonable, that is, natural architecture. The pressure of educational, ultimately democratic ideas was so great that it also had an impact on official artistic circles. The leaders of the artistic policy of absolutism felt the need to contrast something with the positive program of the encyclopedists, their convincing criticism of the illogicality and unnaturalness of Rococo art. The royal power and the Academy are taking certain steps to wrest the initiative from the hands of the third estate and themselves lead the nascent movement. In 1749, a kind of artistic mission was sent to Italy, led by the brother of the all-powerful favorite of Louis XV, Madame Pompadour, the future Marquis of Marigny, who served as director of royal buildings. He was accompanied by the engraver Cochin and the architect Jacques Germain Soufflot, the future builder of the Parisian Pantheon. The purpose of the trip was to get acquainted with Italian art- this cradle of beauty. They visited the excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii that had recently begun. Soufflot, in addition, studied the ancient monuments of Paestum. This whole trip was a sign of new phenomena in art, and its consequences were further turn to classicism and a more acute struggle with the principles of rocaille even in various types decorative arts. At the same time, this journey provides clear evidence of how differently the appeal to the ancient heritage was understood and what different conclusions were drawn from this by representatives of the ruling class and the artists themselves. Results Italian impressions and Marigny’s reflections resulted in the words: “I don’t want either the current excesses or the severity of the ancients - a little of this, a little of that.” He subsequently adhered to this compromise artistic policy throughout his many years of activity as a director of fine arts.
His travel companions - Cochin and Soufflot - took a much more progressive and active position. The first published upon his return the treatise “Review of the Antiquities of Herculaneum with Several Reflections on the Painting and Sculpture of the Ancients” and then led a very sharp struggle in print against the principles of rocaille art, for the rigor, purity and clarity of architectural and decorative forms. As for Souflo, his very additional trip to Paestum and the on-site study of two remarkable monuments of Greek architecture testify to his deep interest in antiquity. In his construction practice upon his return from Italy, the principles of classicism triumphed completely and uncompromisingly.
During this transitional era, the work of the most captivating master of French architecture, Jacques Ange Gabriel (1699-1782), took shape and flourished. Gabriel's style seems to meet the requirements of Marigny, but this is an extremely original and organic phenomenon generated by the natural, “deep” development of French architecture. The master had never been to Italy, much less Greece. Gabriel's work seemed to continue and develop the line of French architecture that emerged in the later buildings of Jules Hardouin-Mansart (Grand Trianon and the chapel at Versailles), in the eastern facade of the Louvre. At the same time, he also assimilated those progressive trends that were contained in Rococo architecture: its closeness to people, intimacy, as well as the exquisite subtlety of decorative details.
Gabriel's participation in his father's urban planning work in Bordeaux prepared him well for solving ensemble problems that occupied him by the mid-18th century. an increasingly prominent role in architectural practice. Just at this time, the press was intensifying attention to Paris, to the problem of turning it into a city worthy of the name of capital.
Paris had beautiful architectural monuments, a number of squares created in the previous century, but all of these were separate, self-contained, isolated islands of organized development. In the mid-18th century, a square appeared that played a huge role in the formation of the ensemble of the Parisian center - the current Place de la Concorde. It owes its appearance to a whole team of French architects, but its main creator was Jacques Ange Gabriel.
In 1748, on the initiative of the capital's merchants, the idea of erecting a monument to Louis XV was put forward. The Academy announced a competition to create a square for this monument. As you can see, the beginning was completely traditional, in the spirit of the 17th century - the area was intended for a statue of the monarch.
As a result of the first competition, none of the projects were selected, but the location for the square was finally established. After a second competition, held in 1753 only among members of the Academy, the design and construction were entrusted to Gabriel, so that he would take into account other proposals.
The site chosen for the square was a vast wasteland on the banks of the Seine on what was then the outskirts of Paris, between the garden of the Tuileries Palace and the beginning of the road leading to Versailles. Gabriel took unusually fruitful and promising advantage of this open and coastal location. Its area became the axis further development Paris. This was possible thanks to her versatile orientation. On the one hand, the square is thought of as the threshold of the palace complexes of the Tuileries and the Louvre: it is not without reason that three rays envisaged by Gabriel lead to it from outside the city - the alleys of the Champs Elysees, the mental intersection point of which is located at the entrance gates of the Tuileries Park. The equestrian monument of Louis XV is oriented in the same direction - facing the palace. At the same time, only one side of the square is architecturally accentuated - parallel to the Seine. The construction of two majestic administrative buildings is planned here, and between them Royal Street is being designed, the axis of which is perpendicular to the axis Champs Elysees- Tuileries. At the end of it, the Madeleine Church of the architect Contan d'Ivry begins to be built very soon, closing the perspective with its portico and dome. On the sides of its buildings, Gabriel designs two more streets, parallel to the Royal. Thus, something else is given possible direction movement connecting the square with other quarters of the growing city.
Gabriel solves the boundaries of the square in a very witty and completely new way. By building up only one of its northern sides, putting forward the principle of free development of space, its connection with the natural environment, he at the same time strives to avoid the impression of its amorphousness and uncertainty. On all four sides he designs shallow dry ditches, covered with green lawns, bordered by stone balustrades. The gaps between them give an additional clear emphasis to the rays of the Champs Elysees and the axis of the Royal Street.
Jacques Ange Gabriel. Development of the northern side of the Place de la Concorde (formerly Place Louis XV) in Paris. 1753-1765
The appearance of the two buildings that close the northern side of the Place de la Concorde clearly expresses the characteristic features of Gabriel’s work: a clear, calm harmony of the whole and details, the logic of architectural forms easily perceived by the eye. The lower tier of the building is heavier and more massive, which is emphasized by the large rustication of the wall; it carries two other tiers united by Corinthian columns, a motif that goes back to the classical eastern façade of the Louvre.
But Gabriel’s main merit lies not so much in the masterful design of the facades with their slender fluted columns rising above the powerful arcades of the lower floor, but in the specific ensemble sound of these buildings. Both of these buildings are unthinkable without each other, and without the space of the square, and without a structure located at a considerable distance - without the Church of the Madeleine. It is towards this that both buildings of the Place de la Concorde are oriented - it is no coincidence that each of them does not have an accentuated center and is, as it were, just one of the wings of the whole. Thus, in these buildings, designed in 1753 and began to be built in 1757 -1758, Gabriel outlined the principles of volumetric-spatial solutions that would be developed during the period of mature classicism.
Gabriel. Petit Trianon in Versailles. Plan.
Jacques Ange Gabrirl. Petit Trianon in Versailles. 1762-1768
The pearl of French architecture of the 18th century is the Petit Trianon, created by Gabriel at Versailles in 1762-1768. The traditional theme of a country castle is solved here in a completely new way. The small building, square in plan, faces space with all four of its facades. Here there is no predominant emphasis on the two main facades, which was until recently so characteristic of palaces and estates. Each of the parties has an independent meaning, which is expressed in their different decisions. And at the same time, this difference is not cardinal - these are, as it were, variations of the same theme. The facade facing the open space of the ground floor, perceived from the farthest distance, is interpreted in the most plastic way. Four attached columns connecting both floors form a kind of slightly protruding portico. A similar motif, however in a modified form - the columns are replaced by pilasters - sounds in two adjacent sides, but each time differently, since due to the difference in levels, in one case the building has two floors, in the other - three. The fourth facade, facing the thickets of the landscape park, is completely simple - the wall is dissected only by rectangular windows of different sizes in each of the three tiers. Thus, with meager means, Gabriel achieves amazing richness and richness of impressions. Beauty is derived from the harmony of simple, easily perceived forms, from the clarity of proportional relationships.
The interior layout is also designed with great simplicity and clarity. The palace consists of a number of small rectangular rooms, the decorative decoration of which, built on the use of straight lines, light cold colors, and the parsimony of plastic materials, corresponds to the elegant restraint and noble grace of the external appearance.
Gabriel's work was a transitional link between the architecture of the first and second half of the 18th century.
In buildings of the 1760-1780s. The younger generation of architects is already forming a new stage of classicism. It is characterized by a decisive turn to antiquity, which became not only an inspiration for artists, but also a treasury of the forms they used. The requirements for the reasonableness of an architectural work go as far as the rejection of decorative embellishments. The principle of utilitarianism is put forward, which is linked together with the principle of the naturalness of the building, an example of which are ancient buildings, as natural as utilitarian, all forms of which are dictated by reasonable necessity. The column, entablature, and pediment, which have become the main means of expressing the architectural image, are returned to their constructive, functional meaning. Accordingly, the scale of order divisions is enlarged. Park construction is characterized by the same desire for naturalness. Associated with this is the abandonment of the regular, “artificial” park and the flourishing of the landscape garden.
Soufflo. Pantheon in Paris. Plan.
Jacques Germain Soufflot. Pantheon (formerly the Church of St. Genevieve) in Paris. Started in 1755. General view.
A characteristic phenomenon of the architecture of these pre-revolutionary decades is the predominance in the construction of public buildings. It is in public buildings that the principles are most clearly expressed new architecture. And it is very significant that one of the outstanding architectural works of this period - the Pantheon - very soon turned from a building of religious significance into a public monument. Its construction was conceived by Louis XV as the church of the patroness of Paris - St. Genevieve, the place where her relics are kept. The development of the project was entrusted in 1755 to Jacques Germain Soufflot (1713-1780), who had only recently returned from a trip to Italy. The architect understood his task much more broadly than his client. He presented a plan that, in addition to the church, included a vast area with two public buildings - the faculties of law and theology. In his further work, Souflot had to abandon this plan and limit his task to the construction of a church, the whole appearance of which testifies, however, that the architect conceived it as a building of great social significance. The building, cruciform in plan, is crowned with a grandiose dome on a drum surrounded by columns. The main facade is emphasized by a powerful, deep six-column portico with a pediment. All other parts of the wall are left completely blank, without openings. The clear logic of architectural forms is clearly perceived at first glance. Nothing mystical or irrational - everything is reasonable, strict and simple. The same clarity and strict consistency are characteristic of the spatial design of the temple interior. Rationalism artistic image, expressed so solemnly and monumentally, turned out to be extremely close to the worldview of the revolutionary years, and the newly completed church was turned in 1791 into a monument to the great people of France.
Of the public buildings built in Paris in the pre-revolutionary decades, the Surgical School of Jacques Gondoin (1737-1818) stands out. The project, on which he began working in 1769, was distinguished by its great breadth of concept, which is generally a characteristic feature of the architecture of these years. Together with this building, Gondoin planned to rebuild the entire quarter. And although Gondoin’s plan was not fully implemented, the building of the Surgical School itself, completed in 1786, was completed on a grand scale. This is an extensive two-story structure with a large courtyard. The center of the building is marked by an impressive yurtik. The most interesting part of the interior is the large semicircular hall of the anatomical theater with raised amphitheater-style benches and a capped vault - a peculiar combination of half of the Roman Pantheon with the Colosseum.
The theater became a new widespread type of public building during this period. And in the capital and in many provincial cities they are growing one after another theater buildings, conceived in their appearance as an important part in the architectural ensemble of the city public center. One of the most beautiful and significant buildings of this kind is the theater in Bordeaux, built in 1775-1780. architect Victor Louis (1731-1807). A massive volume of rectangular outlines is placed on an open area of the square. A twelve-column portico adorns one of the narrow sides of the theater building, imparting a solemn presence to its main entrance facade. The entablature of the portico contains statues of muses and goddesses, defining the purpose of the building. The main staircase of the theatre, at first single-flight, then divided into two arms leading in opposite directions, served as a model for many later French theater buildings. The simple, clear and solemn architecture of the theater in Bordeaux, the clear functional solution of its internal space make this building one of the most valuable monuments of French classicism.
In the years under review, the activities of a number of architects began, whose work as a whole already belongs to the next period of French Architecture, inspired by the ideas of the revolution. In some projects and buildings, those techniques and forms are already outlined that will become characteristic features of the new stage of classicism associated with the revolutionary era.