SoCultures October 2018
India & France
These sensibilities come alive dominantly to create masterpieces like
Versailles Palace, other magnificent French palaces, Church of Saint-Étienne-
du-Mont, Château de Maisons in Maisons-Laffitte etc developed with Baroque
architecture.
The deft, skilled and artistic use of different materials, The ostentatious
interiors, artistic elaborated details everywhere, and intricate gardens, ornate
and elaborated expressions, combining different arts to create stunning effects
and pictures of architectural marvels etc symbolize when we think of French
Baroque Architecture.
Baroque Story:
In France, the Baroque period is seen between the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, mainly during the reigns of Louis XIII, Louis XIV and Louis XV. The
Baroque sometimes called French classicism was a time in history that came after
the Renaissance, originated around the seventeenth century from Italy.
The word baroque came from the Portuguese word Barroco, used to describe pearls
not yet entirely formed and those of irregular shapes not so perfect. It was more a
negative term mostly used by those who found it ostentatious and excess. Now,
baroque has quite a vast canvass.
The French Baroque spelled the power and majesty of the Kings of France. During
the expansion from Italy to Europe, it kept combining classical elements,
especially, colossal orders of columns, and avoiding the exuberant decoration that
appeared on facades and interiors in Spain, Germany and Central Europe It was
used less frequently on churches, and more often in the design of royal palaces and
country residences also in the architecture of the house with the formal gardens
around it.
Baroque architecture is
‘Wow’ Architecture of magnificence, power and opulence and in vogue
even after over three hundred years.
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