In the first half and the middle of the 17th century, the principles of classicism took shape and gradually took root in French architecture. The state system of absolutism also contributes to this.
Construction and control over it are concentrated in the hands of the state. A new post of "Architect of the King" and "First Architect of the King" is introduced. Huge amounts of money are spent on construction. Government agencies control construction not only in Paris, but also in the provinces.
Town-planning works are widely deployed throughout the country. New cities arise as military outposts or settlements near the palaces and castles of the kings and rulers of France. In most cases, new cities are designed in the form of a square or rectangle in plan, or in the form of more complex polygonal shapes - five, six, eight, etc. squares formed by defensive walls, ditches, bastions and towers. Inside them, a strictly regular rectangular or radial-circular system of streets with a city square in the center is planned. Examples include the cities of Vitry-le-Francois, Saarlouis, Henrichemont, Marl, Richelieu, etc.
The old medieval cities are being rebuilt on the basis of new principles of regular planning. Direct highways are being laid, urban ensembles and geometrically regular squares are being erected on the site of a disorderly network of medieval streets.
In the urban planning of the era of classicism, the main problem is a large urban ensemble with development carried out according to a single plan. In 1615, the first planning work was carried out in Paris in the northwestern part of the city, the islands of Notre Dame and Saint-Louis were built up. New bridges are being erected and the boundaries of the city are expanding.
The principles of classicism, the ground for which was prepared by the architects of the French and Italian Renaissance, in the first half of the 17th century were not yet distinguished by integrity and uniformity. They often mixed with the traditions of medieval French architecture and the influences of the Italian Baroque, the construction of which is characterized by loose cornices, the complicated shape of triangular and curvilinear pediments, an abundance of sculptural decoration and cartouches, especially in interior decoration.
Medieval traditions were so strong that even classical orders acquired a peculiar interpretation in the buildings of the first half of the century. The composition of the order - its location on the surface of the wall, proportions and details - obeys the structure of the wall that has developed in Gothic architecture, with its clearly defined vertical elements of the supporting frame of the building (piers) and large window openings located between them. Half-columns and pilasters, filling the piers, are grouped in pairs or bundles. This motif, combined with the subdivision of facades with the help of corner and central projections into separate tower-shaped volumes covered with high pyramidal roofs, gives the building a vertical aspiration that is not characteristic of the classical system of order compositions and a clear, calm silhouette of the volume.
In the development of Paris and other cities of France, especially in the formation of the silhouette of the city, the role of churches and monastic complexes is significant. In Paris alone, more than twenty churches are being built at this time. Their architecture is very diverse.
Baroque techniques are combined with the traditions of French Gothic and the new classicist principles of understanding beauty. Many religious buildings, built according to the type of basilica church established in the Italian Baroque, received magnificent main facades, decorated with orders of columns and pilasters, with numerous crepes, sculptural inserts and volutes. An example is the Church of the Sorbonne (1629 - 1656, architect J. Lemercier) - the first religious building in Paris, crowned with a dome.
The predominance of classicist tendencies was reflected in such buildings as the church de la Visatación (1632 - 1634) and the church of the Minims monastery (begun in 1632), created by F. Mansart. These buildings are characterized by simplicity of composition and restraint of forms, a departure from the baroque models of the basilica plan and the interpretation of facades as magnificent architectural decorations.
Along with Lemercier, the largest architect of the first half of the century was Francois Mansart (1598 - 1666), who built a large number of country palaces, castles, city mansions (hotels), as well as religious buildings. Among his outstanding works is the Maisons-Laffitte Palace (1642 - 1650), built not far from Paris for the president of the Parisian parliament, Rene de Languey. Unlike the traditional compositions of earlier country castles, there is no closed courtyard here, formed by the main building and outbuildings. All office space is located on the ground floor of the building. Arranged in the form of the letter "P" around the court of honour, open to the park, the building is well viewed from all sides.
Francois Mansart. Palace of Maisons-Laffitte near Paris. 1642 - 1650. Main facade
Francois Mansart. Palace of Maisons-Laffitte. Central part of the main facade
The monumental volume of the palace, crowned according to ancient tradition with high pyramidal roofs over the side and central risalits, is distinguished by its compact integrity and expressive silhouette. The building is surrounded by a moat filled with water, and its location, as it were, on an island in a beautiful water frame, well connects the palace with the natural park environment, emphasizing its dominance in the composition of the ensemble.
Here, these traditional elements of medieval castle architecture lose their fortification meaning and become purely architectural, compositional and decorative techniques. In contrast to earlier castles, the interior space of the building is characterized by great unity and is conceived as a system of interconnected ceremonial halls and living rooms of various shapes and architectural decoration with balconies and terraces overlooking the park and courtyard-garden. In the strictly ordered construction of the interior, the features of classicism are already clearly manifested.
Smaller residential and utility rooms, located on the basement and third floors, do not violate the spatial unity of the interiors, rich and solemn. The system used by Mansart of partitioning the facades with a strict Doric order on the first floor and a lighter Ionic one on the second is a masterful attempt to bring the classic and traditional medieval forms to unity.
The architecture of the Maisons-Laffite palace is complemented by a regular French park with an extensive parterre, bosquets and dense green spaces.
In the first half of the 17th century, first-class garden architects and theorists of gardening art appeared, the development of which went hand in hand with the construction of magnificent country and city palaces. Such is the dynasty of architects Molley, who created large garden and park ensembles - the Tuileries, Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Paris, Fontainebleau, etc.
During the formation of a regular French park, the gardener becomes an architect and sculptor, he thinks in spatial categories and creates from elements of wildlife - skillfully pruned bushes and trees, flowering surfaces of the parterre, green lawns, the water surface of ponds and pools - a similarity of "green cities" with many diverse , receding into the distance streets and squares, decorated with sculptures, pools and grottoes. Nature here is entirely subordinated to man, ordered and brought to an architectonic unity with buildings. This is the difference between French parks and parks of baroque Italian villas, where natural elements in their natural diversity only complemented the architecture.
A major work of Francois Mansart is also the church of the convent Val de Grace (1645 - 1665), built after his death. The composition of the plan is based on the traditional scheme of a domed basilica with a wide central nave, covered with a cylindrical vault, a transept and a dome on the middle cross. As in many other French religious buildings of the 17th century, the facade of the building goes back to the traditional solution of the church facade by Italian Baroque architecture. The dome of the church, raised on a high drum, is one of the three highest domes in Paris.
Francois Mansart. Church of the Val de Grace in Paris. 1645 - 1665. Facade
François Mansart built a number of urban mansions of the French nobility, with their typical front courtyard adjacent to the street, and the main building in the back, located between the courtyard and the garden. The facades of these mansions were divided by floor orders or an order for their entire height; the corners of the building were processed with rustication of various shapes, window and door openings - with platbands. Such, for example, is the Mazarin mansion in Paris. In 1630, Francois Mansart introduced into the practice of building a city dwelling a high, broken form of a roof using an attic for housing (a device that received the name "mansard" after the author's name).
In the decoration of the interiors of castles and city hotels in the first half of the 17th century, carved wood, bronze, stucco, sculpture, and painting were widely used.
Thus, in the first half of the 17th century, both in the field of urban planning and in the formation of the types of buildings themselves, a new style was maturing and conditions were created for its flourishing in the second half of the century.
ClaudePerrot (1613-1688)
French scientist, architect and art theorist, one of the leaders of baroque classicism. Born in Paris on September 25, 1613 in the family of the judge of the Paris Parliament Pierre Perrault and was the younger brother of the art theorist and writer Charles Perrault (1628-1703), a famous French fairy tale writer, poet and art critic, a member of the French Academy since 1671. Having received the degree of doctor of medicine in 1642, Claude Perrault worked for a long time as a doctor, and then taught anatomy and physiology at the University of Paris in the 1650s.
He also studied mathematics, physics, mechanics and archeology. From 1675 he worked on the "Treatise on Mechanics" (published in 1700), a kind of technical encyclopedia, where Perrault included many different military, chronometric, hydraulic and weight devices of his own invention, and in the 1680s he published his work "Physical Experiments" . Claude Perrault was a member of the Academy of Sciences (since 1666) and the Academy of Architecture (since 1672).
First of all, Claude Perrault, a theoretical scientist, advanced in architectural practice thanks to family ties (Charles Perrault was the secretary of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who had been the chief inspector of royal buildings since 1664). After, on the initiative of Colbert (since 1667), work began on the expansion of the Louvre, Claude Perrault actually led these works, pushing other members of the commission - Louis Levo and Charles Lebrun - into the background. Of the initial, larger-scale projects (which provided for the unification of the Louvre with the Tuileries into a single complex), by 1678 only the main (eastern) facade and a more modest southern facade overlooking the Seine were completed. In the conditions of the then tense academic controversy about the ways of development of national art, the eastern facade of the Louvre was a true manifesto building, opposing the pretentiousness of the Roman Baroque with the crystal stylistic purity of its open galleries of paired Corinthian columns over a smooth plinth; however, the dynamic spatial scope of this structure still remained a purely baroque feature. Among other architectural works of Perrault is the equally stylistically strict building of the Paris Observatory (1667-1672). In 1671, Perrault became one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Architecture in Paris. In 1673 he translated the architectural treatise of Vitruvius, long considered the best, and published an annotated translation of the ancient work of Vitruvius "Ten Books on Architecture", as well as in 1683 an architectural study "The system of five types of columns according to the method of the ancients."
The pinnacle of the development of classicism in French architecture of the 17th century. became the Versailles Palace and Park Ensemble - a grandiose front residence of the French kings, erected near Paris. The history of Versailles begins in 1623 with a very modest hunting castle like a feudal one, built at the request of Louis XIII of brick, stone and roofing slate. The second stage of construction (1661-68) is associated with the names of the largest masters - the architect Louis Levo (c. 1612-70) and the famous decorator of gardens and parks Andre Le Nôtre (1613-1700). By modifying and expanding the original modest castle, Levo creates a U-shaped composition with an impressive facade overlooking the park, on the design of which Le Nôtre is working. A colossal order, which has long belonged to Levo's typical and favorite means, is placed on the ground floor. However, the architect tried to bring some freedom and liveliness into the solemn architectural spectacle: the garden and park facade of Levo had a terrace on the second floor, where the Mirror Gallery was later built. As a result of the second building cycle, Versailles formed into an integral palace and park ensemble, which was a wonderful example of the synthesis of the arts - architecture, sculpture and landscape art. In 1678-89. the ensemble of Versailles was rebuilt under the leadership of the largest architect of the end of the century, Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1b4b-1708). Hardouin-Mansart further enlarged the palace by erecting two wings five hundred meters long each at right angles to the southern and northern facades of the palace. Hardouin-Mansart added two more floors above the Levo terrace, creating the famous Mirror Gallery along the western facade, which is closed by the halls of War and Peace (1680-86). Hardouin-Mansart also built two buildings of Ministers (1671-81), which formed the so-called "Court of Ministers", and connected these buildings with a rich gilded lattice. The architect 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 palace-palazzo, is decorated with rustication, the middle one - the largest one - is filled with high arched windows, between which there are columns and pilasters. The upper tier is shortened, it ends with a balustrade (a fence consisting of a number of figured columns connected by a railing) and sculptural groups that create a feeling of opulent decoration, although all facades have a strict look. All this completely changed the appearance of the structure, although Hardouin-Mansart left the same height of the building. Gone are the contrasts, the freedom of fantasy, nothing is left but an extended horizontal three-story building, united in the structure of its facades with the basement, front and attic floors. The impression of grandeur that this brilliant architecture produces is achieved by the large scale of the whole, by the simple and calm rhythm of the whole composition. Hardouin-Mansart knew how to combine various elements into a single artistic whole. He had an amazing sense of ensemble, striving for rigor in decoration. For example, in the Mirror Gallery, he applied a single architectural motif - a uniform alternation of piers with openings. Such a classic basis creates a sense of clear form. Thanks to Hardouin-Mansart, the expansion of the Palace of Versailles acquired a natural character. The extensions received a strong relationship with the central buildings. The ensemble, outstanding in its architectural and artistic qualities, was successfully completed and had a great influence on the development of world architecture.
Francois Girardon Born March 17, 1628 in the provincial town of Troyes in the family of a caster and knew this craft well. According to local tradition, at the age of fifteen, François painted the chapel of St. Jules at the north gate of Troyes with scenes from the life of the saint. This statement gave rise to one of Girardon's biographers, Mariette, to assert that "he took up the brush before the chisel."
François' teacher was the now almost unknown sculptor Bodesson, who, in all likelihood, stood out among other masters of the city. It is no coincidence that it was to Bodesson with an order to decorate the church of Saint-Libo and Villemort that a native of Troyes, cavalier Seguier, turned. Being a friend of artists, he played a big role in the artistic life of Paris. Correctly assessing Girardon's abilities, Seguier sent him to Rome, providing material support.
In the capital of Italy, Francois met with the artist P. Mignard. However, the engraver Philippe Thomassen, who became his teacher, had the greatest influence on the formation of Girardon's work. Of the masters of sculpture, the young artist was carried away by the less “classical” Flemish F. Duquesnoy and the northerner Giambologna, who in his eyes embodied the traditions of the great masters of the Renaissance, idolized by him. Of great importance for the creative growth of the French sculptor was the work of the largest Italian baroque master of the 17th century - Lorenzo Bernini. Recent studies speak of Girardon's work in his workshop.
In Rome, Girardon lived only a few months. After the death of Thomassen, he returned to his homeland. Here he completed his first major work - decorating one of the most beautiful hotels in the city. Around 1652, at the call of Séguier, Girardon went to Paris. In the capital of France, together with other masters, he begins to work on orders from the directorate of royal buildings.
In 1657, Girardon entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and two years later became its professor. In many ways, the sculptor achieved rapid success thanks to a close relationship with Charles Lebrun. Girardon shared the latter's views on art. Already in the early fifties, he joined the academic group of Lebrun. Biographers of Girardon even claim that since 1662 his attention to the work of Lebrun turned into blind worship.
“It is difficult to agree with this, given that Boileau, Racine, Conde and other bright, talented personalities of the era were among Girardon's friends,” S. Morozova believes. - Rather, we can talk about the really huge influence of Lebrun's ideas on the sculptor. In Paris, in the immediate vicinity of Lebrun, Girardon developed his own manner, temperament, talent and even genius. Here he learned to freely "treat" with mythology and symbolism. Creating his works, Girardon rethought antiquity in a modern spirit, which is typical for classicism of the second half of the 17th century. The sculptor managed to enlist the support of influential people - Colbert and the architect A. Maneuver. One of Girardon's biographers noted that he later lost a lot with the death of his patrons, who saw him as a man of the old school and trusted works that other masters could not do.
The sixties for Girardon were especially fruitful. All large orders were concentrated in the hands of people who sympathize with the master. Lebrun first received the post of the first painter of the king, later director of the Royal Manufactory of Tapestries and Furniture, and Colbert headed the directorate of royal buildings. Not surprisingly, Girardon got the opportunity for fruitful work. He decorates the arch of the Apollo Gallery in Vaux-le-Vicomte, adorns Fontainebleau, but the true glory of Girardon is brought by the works he performed at Versailles.
The mastery of relief inherent in Girardon manifested itself in compositional images on decorative vases intended for Versailles (“The Triumph of Galatea”, “The Triumph of Amphitrite”).
Two of the most famous works of the sculptor are associated with the decoration of the front residence of Louis XIV, begun in those years: “Apollo served by nymphs” (“The Bath of Apollo”, 1666), the first sculptural group that glorified him, and which became the apogee of his fame, “The Rape of Proserpina” (1699).
Girardon executed the model of the "Baths of Apollo" in 1666, but the work of translating it into marble took another five years. It took place in the sculptor's own workshop, where T. Regnoden helped him. During this period, Girardon made his second trip to Italy: Colbert instructed him to follow the decoration of the royal fleet, which was being built in Toulon. From Toulon, the sculptor left for Rome and stayed there until May 1669.
The second trip to Rome, no doubt, is connected with the beginning of work on the Apollo group. This sculpture is the most "antique" of all created by the master. Girardon embodies here the power, strength and majestic beauty of antiquity. The sculptor's contemporaries could not fail to notice this. They compared him to the great masters of antiquity. It is natural that it was Girardon who was entrusted with the restoration of numerous antique statues in the royal collections, and among the most important works was the replenishment of missing hands in the Laocoön group.
In 1679, Felibien described the “Bath of Apollo”: “The sun, having completed its journey, descends to Thetis, where six of her nymphs serve him, helping to restore strength and refreshment, a group of seven figures of white marble, four of which were made by Francois Girardon and three - Thomas Regnoden. “The sculptor was captivated not only by the plot,” notes S. Morozova, “but also by the possibilities of its interpretation. None of the ancient groups, with the exception of the "Farnese bull" and "Niobid", did not include more than three figures. The antique statue "Apollo Belvedere" served as a model for the creation by Girardon of the figure of the main character, which is given on an enlarged scale compared to the images of the nymphs behind him. But the success of the group was predetermined not only by the appeal to the ancient model. Its expressiveness is in the harmonious combination of naturalness and ideal beauty, modernity and subtly perceived antiquity, in the unity of high intellectuality and the spirituality of the 17th century expressed in it.
Following the installation of the Apollo group in the romantic rocky grotto designed by Hubert Robert, new orders for Versailles followed. Only in 1699, another of his works was installed, undoubtedly belonging to the best creations of French art of the 17th century - “The Abduction of Proserpina”.
The sculpture is placed in the center of a round colonnade, elegant in shape and proportions, created by the architect Hardouin-Mansart. On a cylindrical pedestal, surrounded by a relief depicting Ceres chasing Pluto, who is taking away Proserpina in a chariot, a sculptural group, complex in terms of composition and dynamic construction, rises. In accordance with the purpose of this work, Girardon focuses on the decorative expressiveness of the sculpture: designed to go around from all sides, the group has a great wealth of plastic aspects.
“Despite the influence of Bernini,” writes S. Morozova, “Girardon in his sculpture is in many ways the opposite of him. He develops a group of three figures, arranging it vertically, achieving unity and integrity of the composition. The skill of the sculptor lies in the fact that the group is carved from a single block of stone, and with what authenticity and naturalness he managed to convey in the plasticity of the figures the rapid movement and intensity of passions! By the brightness of the idea and the genius of the embodiment, this group is often compared with the outstanding work of classicism of the 17th century - the tragedy of J. Racine "Iphigenia".
Girardon also worked in other types of monumental sculpture. So, he owns the tombstone of Richelieu in the Sorbonne church (1694).
In 1692, in the center of Paris, on Place Vendôme, a monument was erected to the King of France - Louis XIV Girardon created a monument to the king, who said about himself: "The state is me." Flattering courtiers called him "the sun king."
The king is depicted seated on a solemnly stepping horse, he is in the attire of a Roman commander, but in a wig. The idealized image of Louis embodied the idea of the greatness and power of the all-powerful monarch. The sculptor found the necessary proportions between the statue and the pedestal, as well as the entire monument as a whole - with the square surrounding it and its architecture, thanks to which the equestrian statue turned out to be the true center of the majestic architectural ensemble.
From different places of the square the monument was visible in different ways. Those who looked at him from the front saw the wide step of the horse, the muscles playing under his skin, the muzzle with flaring nostrils, the majestic figure of the rider. When viewed from the side, the viewer first of all pays attention to the commanding gesture of the outstretched hand. The head is proudly thrown back, the face is framed by lush curls. But, despite the fashionable French wig, the rider wears the clothes of a Roman commander - a richly decorated shell, tunic, and cloak. If you look at the monument from behind, you can see curls scattered over the shoulders and deep folds of the cloak, on which the sunlight plays and sharp shadows appear.
This work of Girardon throughout the 18th century served as a model for equestrian monuments of European sovereigns.
A hundred years later, during the days of the French Revolution, the monument as a symbol of royal power was destroyed. But his model survived. It is located in the Hermitage, occupying a central place in the hall of French art of the second half of the 17th century.
We can say that Girardon, together with Puget and Cuasevox, express the entire 17th century - the era of classicism.
In the 17th century, a single 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, rules. This time was the pinnacle of French absolutism, and in Western literature it was called the "great age". Great - first of all by the splendor of the ceremonial and all kinds 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.
Baroque at this time is relegated to the background, and "classicism" officially becomes 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 elevate the heroic, highly civil, it should teach, praise the dignity of man, condemn vices.
It is significant that during this period, for the construction of architectural structures, they began to invite not famous baroque masters, such as Bernini, for example, but French architects, little known by that time.
So, for the construction of the eastern facade of the Louvre, the project of the French architect Perrault is chosen. Claude Perrault's colonnade is a vivid example of classicism: the architecture is simple and rational, with a mathematically verified balance of mass, creates a sense of peace and grandeur, which is more in line with the prevailing ideal of the era.
Gradually, classicism penetrates into the construction of churches and cathedrals (Invalides Cathedral in Paris Hardouin Mansart)
But most architects are concerned with the problem of the relationship between the ensemble of the palace and the park. The architects Louis Leveaux and André Le Nôtre first tried to solve this problem in the palace and park of Vaux le Vicomte near Melun (1657 - 1661).
The Vaud Palace is rightly considered the prototype of the main creation of the second half of the 17th century - the Palace of Versailles and the park. In a rather deserted area, 18 km from Paris, a fabulous palace (1668 - 1669) grew up, fountains clogged in a waterless place, a giant park grew.
The Royal Palace of Versailles was built by the architects Levo (1661 - 1668), F. Orbe (1670 - 1674), and at the last stages Arduin Mansart (1678 - 1689) took part in its construction.
Three avenues depart from the giant square in front of the palace, three roads - to Paris, Saint-Cloud and So (also the residence of the king).
The palace, whose facade stretches for half a kilometer, has three floors: the first is the foundation, heavy, 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 strict, the alternation of windows, pilasters, columns creates a clear, calm rhythm.
All this does not exclude the lush decorative interior decoration. 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 the "Hall of Peace" was also striking in luxury, with windows overlooking the garden, on one side, and mirrors in which in the evening the light of the candles multiplied, crushed the reflection of the elegant court crowd, - on the other.
The park of Versailles is, like the whole ensemble, a piece of software. This is a regular park, the beginning of which was laid back in Vaud, i.e. a park in which everything is adjusted, which is lined with alleys and where places for fountains and sculptures are determined, where the will and mind of a person 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. "Language" Lebrun - a mixture of classic orderliness and majesty with baroque pathos, with pomp.
Undoubtedly, Lebrun had a great decorative gift. O performed both tapestries for tapestries, drawings for furniture, and altarpieces. To a large extent, French art is obliged to Lebrun for the creation of a single decorative style, from monumental painting and paintings to carpets and furniture.
Since the 2nd half of the 17th century, France has firmly and for a long time occupied a leading place in the artistic life of Europe. But at the end of the reign of Louis IV, new trends, new features appear in art, and the art of the 18th century will have to develop in a different direction.
To form the concept of "classicism" as an ideological and artistic direction and style in European art of the 17th century. Substantiate the position that the principles of classicism were associated with antiquity, which was considered as an ethical and artistic norm. On specific examples, to identify the characteristic features of classicism: citizenship, heroic pathos, plastic harmony and clarity. On the example of the Versailles ensemble (the palace of the king, landscape gardening) to show the main features of the new trend in architecture. It should be noted that the main idea of the park is to create a special world where everything is subject to strict laws, and, above all, the laws of beauty.
Independent work: messages about the Louvre as an art museum, about Place Vendôme as an example of the change in the content side of classicism, when art turns into a means of ideological propaganda. Repeat the meaning of the terms: facade, colonnade, order, order system, religious architecture, ensemble, perspective, building exterior, interior, pilasters, regular park.
6.5. Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain
To form an understanding of the principles of classicism embodied in painting.
Consider the paintings of Poussin, note that they were dominated by ancient themes, even his landscapes are inhabited by mythological heroes who act as a symbol of the spirituality of the world. It should be noted that the principles of classicism also manifested themselves in the composition of the artist's works: it is simple, logical, and orderly. Spatial plans are clearly separated, such a division is also emphasized by color. "Landscape tricolor" in the paintings of Poussin. The artist about the role of color in the picture. School of painting Poussin. Comparison of the work of two French artists - classicists. The originality of Lorrain's landscapes: the subtlety of color, masterfully constructed perspective, the play of tones, the image of air and light on canvas. Lorrain as the founder of the traditions of the French landscape.
The negative impact of norms and rules in artistic creativity on the development of French art. The plot should be only from history, the Bible or mythology; division of the composition into clear plans; orientation when choosing the proportions and volumes of the figure only on the sculptures of ancient masters; education was to take place only within the walls of the academy.
Independent work: compare fragments of Ovid's epic "Metamorphoses" and Poussin's painting "The Kingdom of Flora".
6.6. "Small" Dutch
To form an idea of the democratization of Dutch culture in the first half of the 17th century; reveal the leading role of easel realistic painting in Dutch art.
To acquaint with the recreation of reality in landscapes and still lifes of Dutch painters, combined with a keen sense of beauty. The desire to embody the poetry of everyday life, the charm of human everyday life in the works of the genre. "Little Dutch". The significance of the work of F. Hals in the formation of the Dutch art school. To characterize the work of Jan Vermeer of Delft, Pieter de Hooch, J. and S. Ruisdal, Terborch, J. Sten and others.
Independent work: analysis of the works of Vermeer of Delft and F. Hals.
6.7. Rembrandt
To form an idea about the work of Rembrandt van Rijn - the pinnacle of realistic art.
Learn about the life and work of Rembrandt. Reveal the enormous spiritual significance and philosophical depth of Rembrandt's art; the role of light as a means of enhancing emotional expressiveness in his paintings. To acquaint with the picturesque texture of his canvases. Reveal the depth of psychological characteristics, reflection of the whole life path of a person, his spiritual purity in later portraits. Pay attention to the high skill of execution and the depth of content in Rembrandt's etchings.
Independent work: determination of a person's character from Rembrandt's portraits, identification of the artistic features of individual works.
6.8. Art of Flanders of the 17th century. Rubens.
To form ideas about the Flemish school of painting of the 17th century; about the realistic basis and enormous life-affirming power of P. Rubens' creativity, about the creativity of A. Van Eyck, J. Jordaens, F. Snyders.
To reveal the versatile talent of Rubens, his painting skills (contrast, tension, dynamism of images); personality traits. P. Rubens. "Landscape with stone carriers" (morning, afternoon, evening in one work). Rhythmic organization of the image. Rhythm - as a means that ensures the spatio-temporal unity of a work of art, while the rhythm simultaneously dictates the principle of its perception.
The desire of A. Van Dyck to embody the ideal of a spiritually refined personality in portraits. Realistic traditions, love of life in the painting of J. Jordans. Still lifes by F. Snyders.
Independent work: analysis of one of the works of Rubens.
6.9. French art of the 18th century. Rococo
To form an idea of the crisis of absolutism in France; the fundamental influence of the philosophy of the Enlightenment; about the formation of the Rococo style as an offshoot of the fading Baroque.
To acquaint with realistic observation, the transfer of the psychological complexity of feelings in the works of A. Watteau. Reveal the quivering brushstroke, the richness of the finest colors in Watteau's paintings. Pastoral genre in the work of Bush.
Independent work: preparation of reports on the paintings of J. B. Chardin.
6.10. Painting and sculpture of French sentimentalism and classicism of the 18th century
To form an idea of French sentimentalism and the emergence of a new wave of classicism.
To acquaint with the conviction of the philosopher Diderot that art is intended to correct morals; paintings by Jean Baptiste Greuze (1725 - 1805), which are moralistic in nature. J. B. Grez "Paralytic" (1763). Feeling the dynamics and celebration of life in the work of O. Fragonard - a master of drawing and a subtle colorist. Connection with Rococo in sharply piquant and at the same time ironic situations. O. Fragonard "Swing" (1767), "Stealth Kiss" (1870s). Passion of emotions, emotional excitement, creative impulsiveness of portraits. O. Fragonard "Portrait of Diderot", "Inspiration" (1769).
Tell about the change in sculpture in the middle of the 18th century: a turn towards realism, accompanied by a search for heroic images, an appeal to antiquity. High achievements of monumental sculpture of the 18th century in the work of Etienne Maurice Falconet (1716 - 1791). The image of the ideal personality, the legislator of the country, which was dreamed of by the enlighteners of the 18th century. "The Bronze Horseman" in St. Petersburg (1766 - 1782). The versatility of characteristics, psychologism, harsh truth and faith in man in the sculptural portraits of Antoine Houdon (1741 - 1828). Marble statue of the eighty-four-year-old Voltaire (1781).
Independent work: make notes in a notebook; prepare a report on the creation of the Bronze Horseman.
6.11. English school of painting of the 18th century
To form an idea of the influence of the English Enlightenment on the culture of England in the 18th century.
Reveal the accusatory nature of W. Hogarth's art, combined with bourgeois moralization. The creation of a high heroic ideal of a man of his time in the work of Joshua Reynolds, a painter and art theorist. Poetic, dreamy. Spirituality of images and virtuosity of execution in the portraits of Thomas Gainsborough.
Independent work: vocabulary work; write down the name of the paintings and the names of the artists.
6.12. Baroque and classicism ornament
To form an idea of the ornament of two opposite systems - baroque and classicism as the heirs of the Renaissance, dividing all its acquisitions among themselves: baroque inherited the acquisition of the soul, the emotional conclusions of the Renaissance, and classicism - the rational side of the great era.
Tell that the style of baroque ornaments corresponded to its time and reflected the greatness of the monarchy and aristocratic power. The antique style is the parent of the baroque and classicism styles. The difference is that in the Baroque style it is refracted more dynamically and curvilinearly, while the classicism ornament is characterized by immobility of symmetry, a tendency to geometrization without symbols. White combined with gold are the most popular baroque interior colors. Fashion for floral ornaments. Winding spirals are replacing the calm classical forms of circles and ovals. Convex-concave surface of walls and interior details. Fabric decoration. Large decorative flowers of bizarre outlines, ornamental curls, acanthus leaves, pomegranate fruits and grape clusters, a diamond-shaped net with rosettes are the main patterns of fabrics of this time. The composition of the pattern also included crowns, vases, baskets. Details of landscape architecture. Large pattern sizes.
Independent work: copying samples of baroque and classicism ornament.
SECTION 7. RUSSIAN ART OF THE 18TH CENTURY
Unlike Italy, in absolutist France, architecture and art served to glorify the monarch, not the church.
The urban redevelopment carried out in the 17th century in Paris differed from the Roman one in that the squares, as well as the large avenues, were independent of the buildings that were the symbols of the city.
French baroque was most clearly manifested in secular architecture - in the construction of palaces, castles, houses for the bourgeoisie and public buildings. The U-shaped type of palace, consisting of a central building and side risalits, prevails. The building is inextricably linked with the park laid out behind it and the court of honor in front of the facade. The yard was fenced off from the street with a gilded lattice. Often such gratings themselves were marvelous works of art by Baroque bronze casters. Thanks to the innovation of the architect J.A.Mansara , which raised the roof and gave the attic space functionality, attics appear (attic-type living space, formed on the top floor of the house with mansard roof). Picturesqueness was added by bright roofs, lined with either colored checkered tiles or slate and twined with grapes or ivy reddening in autumn. An example of French architecture, created on the Italian model, are Four Nations College (1662) works Louis Levo .
Church at the Sorbonne (1635) Jacques Lemercier ,
Cathedral of Les Invalides (1706) Jules Hardouin-Mansart - Examples of cult buildings of the Baroque.
To 
lod Perrault
(1613 - 1688) creates a project for the main eastern facade Louvre
(1667 - 1673) - Royal Palace in Paris
. His work embodied the ideas and moods closest to the French: rigor and solemnity, scale and utmost simplicity. The east facade of the Louvre became an example of a purely French baroque. It is fifteen meters longer than the real length of the building, divided into tiers, decorated with a warrant with columns standing in pairs. The central protruding part of the facade is decorated with a portico with a pediment. Such a three-part composition was typical for the facades of palaces and grand villas of the Renaissance. The master managed to show that the old traditions still remain a source of beauty.
Question 22. Ensemble of Versailles in Paris (palace and park ensemble)
To 
one of the outstanding architectural structures of world architecture is the well-known palace and park ensemble in Versailles, built under the auspices of such brilliant masters as Louis Levo, Jules Hardouin-Mansart and André Le Nôtre. The layout of the extensive park, the territories associated with the Palace of Versailles are the pinnacle of French park art, and the palace itself is a first-class architectural monument. They created a complex complete architectural complex, which includes a monumental building of the palace and a number of park structures of “small forms”, and, most importantly, a park that is exceptional in its compositional integrity.
BUT 
The architecture of the palace is distinguished by great unity. Strongly stretched horizontally, the building of the palace harmonizes well with the strict geometrically correct layout of the park and the natural environment. The second, front floor of the palace is dissected by a row of columns and pilasters, strict in proportions and details, resting on a heavy rusticated plinth. The uppermost, lower floor is conceived as an attic crowning the building, giving the image of the palace greater monumentality and representativeness.
It is noteworthy that the layout of the park, made by Le Nôtre, is distinguished by classical purity and clarity of lines and forms. Le Nôtre was the most consistent exponent of the aesthetic and ethical ideal of classicism. He saw the natural environment as an object of intelligent human activity. Le Nôtre transforms the natural landscape into an impeccably clear, complete architectonic system based on the principles of rationality and order.
It should be noted that nature took on strictly geometric forms in it, as if prescribed by the human mind. The park is notable for its clear symmetry of alleys and ponds, strictly adjusted rows of trimmed trees and flower beds, and the solemn dignity of the statues located in it.
The construction of the palace began in 1661 and more than 30 thousand builders were involved in the work (in order to increase the number of workers, Louis banned all private construction in the vicinity of the city, and in peacetime soldiers and sailors were sent to the construction site). Despite the fact that literally everything was saved during construction, a huge amount of money was eventually spent - 25 million lira or 19.5 tons of silver (almost 260 billion euros).
In the final version, the total area of the palace premises, not including the park, was about 67,000 square meters. 25 thousand windows, 67 stairs, 372 statues were installed in it.
Grand Trianon. Castle in classical style, lined with pink marble. Monarchs were used for a wide variety of purposes: from meetings with favorites to hunting.
M 
scarlet Trianon.
D 
The palace is a transition from the Rococo style to classicism and was built on the initiative of one of the favorites of Louis XV, the Marquise de Pompadour. True, she died a few years before the end of construction, and therefore another favorite, Countess Dubarry, lived in it. When Louis XVI became king, he gave the castle to Marie Antoinette, where she rested from palace life (even the king had no right to come here without her permission).
Park and gardens. The Palace of Versailles and the park are two inseparable concepts. The gardens of Versailles consist of a huge number of terraces, which gradually decrease as they move away from the castle. They occupy an area of about one hundred hectares, and this whole territory is absolutely flat and it is impossible to find any small mound on it.
There are several palace buildings here, among them - the Grand and Petit Trianon, the Empress's theater, the Belvedere, the Temple of Love, the French pavilion, the grotto, as well as viewing platforms, alleys, sculptures, a system of fountains and canals, because of which the gardens of Versailles were nicknamed " little Venice.
Chapters "The main stages of 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" of the section "Architecture of France in the 17th - 18th centuries" from the book of Auguste Choisy "History of Architecture" (Auguste Choisy, Histoire De L "Architecture, Paris, 1899). Based on 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, by the time the wars of religion had ceased. Architecture survives 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 excess under Louis XIV, cold and strict on the eve of the revolution. Let us consider successively those means that she used either separately or simultaneously.
French architecture of the 17th century
Stone and brick architecture and its forms
Combination of brick and stone.- Under Henry IV, decorative effects are often achieved by such constructive techniques in which color contrasts give, at little cost, facades of a lively and varied look; such is the construction of the walls in the form of a frame of hewn stones filled with rough masonry.
The filling surface is covered with colored plaster: according to a tradition dating back to the early Renaissance, the framing of openings is connected through all floors ( rice. 437), forming long white stripes from the foundation to the lucarnes, which stand out against the red background of the walls and against the blue background of the slate roofs.
Always using simple means, this architecture strives at the same time for color contrasts and clear contours, for the patterned outlines of roofs and lucarnes; she uses little profiling and completely avoids small details: here there are only contours and a play of colors.
The earliest monuments of this style include Palace of Mayenne on Rue Saint-Antoine dating back to the era of Henry III.
Then follow: under Henry IV Palace of the Cardinal of Bourbon at 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 in the minority of Louis XIV. To the same architecture belongs rambouillet palace.
The use in stone architecture of forms that arose from the combination of stone and brick.- The previous group, as a derivative of it, includes a number of buildings built entirely of stone, but borrowing decoration from the mixed construction we have just described.
As examples of this peculiar transfer of forms, we cite: under Louis XIII - Palace of Sully on Rue Saint-Antoine, built J. Ducerceau, Sorbonne and Cardinal Palace, built Lemercier; at the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV - Palace d'Aumont on Rui Street, built Fr. Mansart.
Decoration with orders
The architecture of brick and stone, clearly imbued with a desire for economy, is most suitable for buildings that require nothing more than elegant simplicity. For monumental structures, order decorations are resorted to, 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 adorn. Hence, there are two currents in the order architecture, which we will follow below.
Decoration linked to the scale of the floors.- When the decoration is linked to the scale of the floors, then usually different orders are placed on each floor; such are the buildings of Tanlay (department of Yonne), erected at the end of the reign of Henry IV.
Under Louis XIII, the tradition of using small warrants was continued by S. de Brosse in Luxembourg Palace and on the facade Saint Gervais.
The same method builds Lemercier central pavilion in Louvre courtyard and in the palace Liancourt(rice, 438) - his main work, from which only one drawing has come down to us.
Early in the reign of Louis XIV Lepotre applies the same method of decoration in Beauvais Palace(rue François Miron); with the same way we meet in the castle Bussy Rabutin(Cote d "Or); the last representative of this system was Fr. Mansart (Chateau Mason, Pavilion of Gaston d'Orléans in Blois).
The system of small warrants at the beginning of the 17th century was the least successful. At Thorpann Palace, an attempt was made to find a compromise solution: to keep the entablature and destroy the pilasters or replace them with pillars.
During the entire reign of Henry IV, we meet only one frank application of the traditional system - the gallery of the Louvre ( 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 the M level; this transition is provided by the MN mezzanines.
Now consider the opposite system:
Decorating with a colossal warrant.- Among the first buildings where several floors were combined into one large order of pilasters, we already called the wing Chantilly castle relating to the era of Henry II.
We present a fragment of the facade ( rice. 440, C). It clearly shows the difficulties that are associated with this system. The entablature reach an exorbitant size in order to maintain proportionality with the pilasters; windows are lost and seem to be obscured. 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 either with the facade or with 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 usual elements of French architecture. We meet him under Henry III in Palace 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 Garancière) is an example of Ionian pilasters, decisively out of scale. Dorian pilasters of a more modest size adorn the Palace of Versailles.
By the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV, a tendency to large orders is more and more decisively manifested. 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 Vaud, 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 Minims Monastery in the Faubourg Saint Antoine.
Subsequently, Perrault, in 1670, borrowed a colossal warrant 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 rustication and panels
Rust treatment. We have already pointed out the consequences that follow from the use of a colossal warrant: the need for huge cornices and the need to over-enlarge 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 by 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 value of entablature and the size of windows.
The segmentation of the facades with rusticated blades instead of pilasters was used by Lemercier in the reign of Louis XIII in Castle Richelieu and in the Cardinal Palace; under Louis XIV, these techniques were used L. Bruant- for processing facades Homes for the disabled, Fr. Mansart - for Val de Grae, Perrault - for the northern ledge of the Louvre.
Decorating with panels.- Architecture does not stop on this path to simplification. In the end, these rusticated shoulder blades are also destroyed; the entablature that tops the facade rests on bare walls, barely decorated with frames that outline the boundaries of intermediate panels.
The courtyard of the House of Invalids is an excellent example of such facades, where only the profiles of cornices and blades remain from the orders. In the same vein, Perrault decorates
Observatory, Fr. Blondel - gate Saint-Denis, Bulle - gate Saint-Martin.
French architecture of the late 17th and 18th centuries
Official style.- In the last third of the XVII century. impoverishment of taste begins, the onset of decline is felt. To prevent it, in 1671 Colbert established the Academy of Architecture and instructed her to fill in the gaps in artisan apprenticeship by teaching theory. He sends architects to Rome to draw inspiration there, orders the publication of works on the monuments of classical antiquity, 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 next generation still creates several works worthy of the previous period, but in general the style becomes flabby, the execution mediocre.
In 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 location of the parts of the building so much that behind the same facade there are both chapels and stairs, and even baths; mask even the roofs. The main desire is not to reveal anything from the outside that would remind of material everyday needs.
It is this kind of architecture, as if created not for mere mortals, that the king likes. Jules Hardouin-Mansart applied it fully to the Palace of Versailles ( rice. 441, BUT); the façade, in which all these tendencies are clearly reflected, belongs to 1675. The tradition of high art and the decline of the eighteenth century. - The last years of the XVII century. marked by a return to more varied forms; then the style of Hardouin-Mansart becomes more flexible, which, perhaps, should be attributed to the collaboration with him of other architects, among whom Saint-Simon names Lassurance.
Be that as it may, but before the death of Hardouin-Mansart (1708), there seems to be some revival: he ends his activity with two masterpieces - the House of
Valides and the Chapel of Versailles. The disasters of the end of the reign of Louis XIV check this revival, and it is resolutely resumed only after the establishment of the Regency. From this moment on, there are, so to speak, two architectures: one continues the strict traditions of the previous period, the other embarks on a path of refined elegance, which very truthfully reflects the sophistication of contemporary society.
The style of the new school, the "rococo" genre, is established only by 1730 and finds its main spokesman in the person of Boffrand; the style of the classical school has successively Gabriel, Soufflet, 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) A messy school in the middle of the 18th century. fizzles out by the time of Louis XVI: the philosophical movement directs minds towards antiquity. Tastes change completely, and even the school of Gabriel and Soufflet is tried to be surpassed in purity of forms. With the approach of the revolution, they fall into dryness, and with the revolution, a crisis of art begins, the way out of which is barely visible only in our era.
The 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 build most of their palaces for the German princes: in Berlin, in Munich, in Stuttgart, in Mannheim.
Inigo Jones, from which classical architecture in England begins, apparently developed his own style by directly studying the monuments of Italy and founded a school, the successor of which in the 18th century. came Chambers, the builder of Somerset Palace.
Wren (S. Wren), architect of the Cathedral of St. Paul in London, adjoins the school that created the Les 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. mainly Italian influence is manifested - in the palaces of St. Petersburg.
As for Italian art, the echo of which is all modern architectural schools, then his last creations were: Bernini's colonnade on the square of St. Peter, a majestic, but not strict facade, given by the architect Al. Galilee of the church of San Giovanni in Laterano, and the cold buildings of Vanvitelli in Caserta.
