Post #5: Versailles

King Louis XIV

King Louis XIV decided to construct Versailles in a swampy area that was the sight of his father’s old hunting lodge. The original château was on a hill and Louis was told that was not a good location for a grand palace; however, he dismissed everyone’s concerns. Louis believed himself directly appointed by god, and like other 17^th century monarchs and nobody could tell him what to do. He would not hear of his palace being built anywhere else and he wanted the old house to remain untouched and have the new design incorporate the old building.

Even though the building itself is incredibly spectacular, the gardens of Versailles are just as important as the Château. Louis XIV commissioned André Le Nôtre to design the grand landscape of Versailles in 1661, which he made his true masterpiece. The creation of the gardens was a tremendous amount of work. The gardens are elaborate structures and inventively geometric, formal, and Nôtre did a fantastic job for creating a sense of cohesion thought out the massive gardens. The idea of a principal axis was incredible important for the gardens, and Nôtre found a way to make the axis into an indefinite distance and erasing all visible boundaries (p. 92). The huge number of flowerbeds, fountains, pools, sculptures, geometric topiary, and canals were substantial. Louis XIV even had mature trees from other parts of France uprooted and brought to Versailles because he did not wait to wait to have the trees grow in. Apollo was his inspiration, as seen by his nickname the Son God. Therefore, he had statues and references to Apollo thought the gardens.

           

 In 1682, Louis XIV moved the government and court to Versailles. He used Versailles as a place to impress foreign dignitaries with ceremonies, festivals and concerts. He had a great impact over the music, art, literature, and theater during his time. This grand estate was meant to show off in every possible way. The fact that Louis had Versailles built over this difficult marshland displayed his power over nature and it was a “symbol of monarchial magnificence” (p. 92).

Sources:

http://www.history.com/topics/louis-xiv

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/gardens-and-park-of-the-chateau-  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJzRWMEsCR8

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/history-/versailles-during-the-centuries/the-palace-construction/ andre-le-notre-1613-1700

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_France (picture)

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/280/cache/versailles-palace-and-garden_28028_600x450.jpg?01AD=3tHTkdfMT4EEktiaguFaX1LKo9r8rTHX7xx68ZD1_C8QEDtxjiR3AwQ&01RI=34E3B0A5DA32E2E&01NA=na (picture)

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQiQ-7yZeVanIiWrsTdiB7Pw9pQAkIlzyNM1R5ivENethfmPy5rQQAZr-5Gaut4ThTrSLWCaIG25a3gjzvaaaSpkhL-F15xKFww0Dybu0uULgjzZu3kU_tLgTDtwM9XF4QDs31NOJ-ow/s1600/Versailles+3.jpg (picture)

Post #4: Luxembourg Gardens

During this previous travel break, I took a short flight to Paris and spent some time exploring France. Unfortunately I was unable to visit Versailles, but I did have the opportunity to examine a few of the public gardens in Paris. One of the parks that caught my attention was Luxembourg Gardens, or Jardin du Luxembourg, which is the second largest public park in Paris.  The park is about 22.45 hectares, which is the equivalent to about 55 acres.[1] It is a very popular park, and when walking around, it appeared that people use the garden for lots of different activities. There were little kids racing boats in the octagonal, central fountain Grand Bassin, people on runs, kids playing on the playground, people in workout classes, and people just wandering around the park. There were even tennis courts, marry-go-rounds, and other such activities! 

This was slightly different than what we had learned in class about the function of parks, or even gardens. Typically, there tends to be an over arching use or function for the park or garden, such as a hunting park, an orchard, or a garden for otium and relaxation. Even though there are multiple purposes of Luxembourg Garden, the majority of them fell into the category of leisure activities.

The duke of Luxembourg originally owned the garden, and it was purchased by Marie de’ Medici in 1612. She spent much of her youth in Florence and used the Bobli garden at the Pitti Palace as inspiration for the Luxembourg Garden.[2] There are numerous flowerbeds throughout the park, which are formal, geometric, and enclosed. 

There are a number of impressive water features, and also a handful of statues spread throughout. Some of these statues come from Greek mythology, and there are a number that depict and honor French politicians, musicians, scientists, and other such people. However, there is also a smaller scaled version of The Statue of Liberty created by Auguste-Bartholdi himself.[3] Overall, I found this park very intriguing because it used a number of the elements we have learned about so far and applied them in a slightly different way, and also because we have not studied as many parks so far. 

---

[1] http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71393/Jardin-du-Luxembourg

[2] http://www.pps.org/great_public_spaces/one?public_place_id=39

[3] http://www.aviewoncities.com/paris/jardinduluxembourg.htm

Sources:

http://www.aviewoncities.com/paris/jardinduluxembourg.htm

http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71393/Jardin-du-Luxembourg

http://www.pps.org/great_public_spaces/one?public_place_id=39

http://www.shedexpedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/luxembourg-gardens-paris.jpg

http://recommend.travel/files/2013/02/Luxembourg-gardens-Darla-2.jpg

Blog Post #3

The Renaissance was an era of rebirth for most of Europe. During this time, the ideas of humanism and rediscovery of the classics held great importance. This humanist way of thinking was based on the classics, and rational, self-thinking, where the church no longer had to tell people what to do. It additionally revolved around the concept of human power of reason. Another important element that occurred during this period were all of the scientific advancements. During the Renaissance, people steered away from their more religious beliefs and explanations, and people started to use science to explain worldly phenomenons. Now, this did not mean Christianity died, but religion no longer had the same dominating role it had during the medieval period. It is also important to note that around this period the Reformation was also occurring which added to the distancing from religion. This idea of moving away from religion, relying more on science, and the interest in humanism, all influenced the different arts. Architecture often reflected ideas from Ancient Greece and Rome through symmetry. Paintings used linear perspective, a phenomenon that makes images appear more realistic and in scale. This concept was actually discovered about through the study of optics, which demonstrates science’s influence over art during this time. Some of the important artist during this time were Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael. 

The School of Athens by Raphael

Sculptures more accurately represented the human anatomy and body, and the gardens during this time also experienced a change and felt the effects of the Renaissance. More particularly, the Italian Renaissance garden, which greatly affected all Renaissance gardens throughout Europe.

The Renaissance gardens transformed from more inwardly directed, during the medieval times, to more outwardly and worldly. Looking back to antiquity was very important during the Renaissance. Therefore, it is not surprising that the idea of the Roman villa resurfaced and was very central for Renaissance gardens and architecture. Classical antiquity was also referenced with the use of axial symmetry of the gardens, as well as the use of statues in the gardens. Alberti has theories about how the villas and gardens should tie together. For instance, he thinks of a villa and garden “as integral architectural components” (Rodgers, p.63). This is very important because during the Renaissance the inter-relationship between man, god and nature were very important. One of the greatest examples of Italian Renaissance Gardens is Villa d’Este. In this grand garden we can see axial alignment, the unification of the gardens and architecture, and the use of terraces, which is very important for integrating the two. Additionally, in this garden, and many other Italian Renaissance gardens, there are many water sources which references to nature. 

Villa d'Este

Villa d'Este

Sources:

Rogers, Elizabeth Barlow. “Classicsim Reborn: Landscape Ideals of the Renaissance in Italy and France”

http://teachers.saschina.org/jamesrobinson/files/2011/05/3-Renaissance-Example-The-School-of-Athens.jpg 

http://www.romecityapartments.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/t1.jpg 

http://gardenaginginplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Villa-dEste-Italy.jpg