Louis XIV's Versailles - Hardcover

Guy Walton

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670801941 ISBN 13: 9780670801947

Publisher: Viking, 1986

Synopsis

Recounts the construction of Louis XIV's famous palace, looks at its architecture, interior decoration, and furnishings, and describes the social and political conditions in seventeenth-century France

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

The nature of Louis XIV's huge household, numbering hundreds of members, was a basic reason for transforming Louis XIII's small hunting lodge into a vast palace. Versailles, pinnacle of French design, was meant to be a new Rome, a European art capital; its large art collection would serve as training ground for the whole of Europe. Louis XIV also wanted Versailles to be a triumph of technology, yet, through faulty building techniques, some walls became hollow as their soft fill settled. In this revealing architectural and social history of Versailles, New York University fine arts professor Walton shows how the omnipresent Sun King impressed his personality on his palatial residence, cutting through the red tape of architects, craftsmen and adminstrators. Despite the opulence intended, adhering to a budget was an important consideration. A structure built to house and feed several hundred household members, a new chapel, inlaid furniturethese were added in stages in accordance with the Sun King's belief that rational planning could conquer all obstacles. More than 150 prints and photographs enliven the text.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

An ambitious attempt to trace the de velopment and meaning of Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV, from the 1660s until his death in 1715. The author has done a large amount of original research and plowed through a vast number of documents and drawings, but the subject is so enor mous that most aspects or areas or subjects can only be skimmed. Wal ton's intent is to interpret the meaning of Louis's great creation in terms of the political and social climate of the times, but the result reads almost like a list of headings. Unlike many studies of the subject, this is not primarily a picture book, and it does provide an excellent bibliographic summary of the detailed literature, but, ultimately, the author's reach exceeds his grasp. For large collections. Jack Perry Brown, Ryerson & Burnham Libs., Art Inst. of Chicago
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0670801941
• ISBN 13: 9780670801947
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256