French BaroqueBy. Joanne KimRichard Song

France• Increasing monarchical authority

• Largest and the most powerful European country in 17th century.

• religious wars between Catholics and Protestants

• Many French artists moved to Rome to study art

24-59 NICOLAS POUSSIN, Burial of Phocion, 1648,

● subject from the literature

● In the foreground, the hero’s body is being taken away

● The two bearers are isolated in the landscape

● interlocking planes slope upward to the lighted sky and the left

● geometric structures

● untroubled sky, slowly moving stream, even lights

● Poussin’s idea to frame a noble theme

24-60 CLAUDE LORRAIN, Landscape with Cattle and Peasants

• No dramatic story or moral

• radiant landscape shows beauty of the nature

• well-defined foreground, distinct middle ground, and dim background recede in serene order

• Atmospheric and linear perspective

• Matched the moods of of nature with human feeling

• Placed tiny value gradations which imitated the actual range of values of outdoor light and shade

• calm equilibrium

24-62 LOUIS LE NAIN, Family of Country People,

• Representative of what is not “Classical”

• somber treatment of the natural virtue of the peasants who worked the soil

• Le Nain expresses the grave dignity of a peasant family, stoic and resigned by hardship

• they are dignified despite their harsh living conditions.

24-67 Aerial view of palace at Versailles, France

• A defining statement of French Baroque style and an undeniable symbol of Louis XIV’s Power.

• Includes palace, park, housing for visiting officials, military, guards, and servants.

• Three radial avenues that connects the town to the palace. They converge at the palace.

• Palace placed at right angles, east-west that runs through the city and park.

• Every detail of the palace interiors were designed from doorknobs to paintings on the wall for the palace.

24-69 JULES HARDOUIN-MANSART, CHARLES LE BRUN, (Hall of Mirrorrs),Palace of Versailles, France, ca. 1680.

• Use to contain gold and silver trees and bejeweled trees. Sold during wars.

• Hundreds of mirrors are embedded along the long hall opposite to the window, that gives the illusion of extending the width of the hall.

• The mirror was the favorite element of Baroque interior design for this room.

• Total of 357 mirrors.

JULES HARDOUIN-MANSART, Church of the Invalides Paris, Fr, 1700

• Intricately composed domed square attached to veteran’s hospital.

• two firmly separated levels, the upper one is pedimented.

• Facade is compact, low and narrow contrasting the vast drum and dome.

• The overpowering dome is expressive of Italian Baroque because of their love for dramatic magnitude.

• Consists of 3 domes:o First one can be seen from the

interior contains a painting of St. Louis the patron saint of France.

o Second allows light in from hidden windows.

o Third, outermost, creates an illusion of open limitless space.

1. What 4 characteristics of Et in Arcadia Ego (24-58) are typical of Poussin's fully developed Classical style?

a.Figures based on classical statuary

b.The compact, balanced grouping of the figures

c.The even light

d.The thoughtful, reserved, and mournful mood

Study Guide Questions

Study Guide Questions2. Poussin and Rubens were considered as the two poles in the Baroque debate between the forces of

passion and reason. Which pole do you think each artist represented? What characteristics of each artist do you think would reflect those attitudes?

Poussin: Reason, evenness and moderation, system of measure and form

Rubens: passion, Elegance, contortions of violent action, strong modeling of light and dark

Study Guide Questions3. In what major way does the landscape in Poussin's Burial of Phocion (24-59) differ from Van

Ruisdael's View of Haarlem (24-51)?

• Use of spaces

• Size of the figures in the foreground

• Colors used for light and dark

• Composition

4. What was Claude Lorrain's primary interest in landscape painting?

His wanted to portray ideal classical world bathed in sunlight in infinite space and also to recompose nature in a calm equilibrium

Study Guide Questions5. What 3 architects collaborated to design the east façade of the Louvre? (24-66) Claude Perrault, Louis Le Vau, and Charles Le Brun What form was used for the central pavilion of the façade?

Classical temple front

6. Who was the principal director for the building and decoration of the Palace of Versailles? (24-67)

Charles le Brun

Who designed the park of Versailles?

Francouis Blondel

What was symbolized by the vast complex of Versailles?

Ruler’s absolute rule over his domain.

Study Guide Questions 7. The French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture was established in the year_1648_.

What was its primary purpose (role) ?

Professionalize the artists working for the French court and give them a stamp of approval.

8. Which feature of Jules Hardouin-Mansart's Church of the Invalides(24-72) is most Baroque?

The overpowering dome is expressive of Italian Baroque because of their love for dramatic magnitude.

Which is most Classical?

The dimly illuminated interior.