SoCultures October 2018
India & France
Architects and their masterpieces
The most important showcase of the French Baroque was the Palace of Versailles, though with the evolving times there were contemporary designs embodying creative spirit and beliefs.
o Salomon de Brosse( 1571-1626) was the one of the first French architects to adopt the style which started new narratives in designs for royal residences, with pavilions on the corners, lateral wings, and a grand central entrance surmounted by a cupola. It’ s more dominant in the construction of the Palais du Luxembourg he built for the mother of Louis XIII, Marie de Medici between 1615 and 1624.
o François Mansart, a progressive visionary who stressed upon perfectionism and introduced the full Baroque to France continuity between the French Renaissance style and the new style. He used the sloping Mansard roof so effectively that it took his name especially in his design for the Château de Maisons in Maisons-Laffitte,( 1630 – 51),
o Louis Le Vau was another central figure.
o Exemplified by the Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont by Claude Guérin( 1606 – 21), the architecture is visible in the Prix de Rome, Saint- Sulpice and Saint-Eustache.
o The cupola or dome over the central nave, originally from the Italian Baroque was major innovation of French Baroque religious architecture.
o The residential building style known as the Hôtel Particulier was best described as less beautiful than palaces and more beautiful than simple residences.
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