Chateau de Versailles

Everyone knows the great building; Chateau de Versailles? The band Versailles certainly inspired themselves on this building or probably more on the artistic period: Baroque.

This period used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance and grandeur in sculptures, painting, architecture, literature, dance and music!

This style period started around 1600 in Rome (Italy) and spread to Europe.

Paintings

A famous painter from Baroque is: Pietro da Cortona. He’s especially famous because of his fresco’s. (Fresco is a painting on wet chalk) Most of his works are in Rome and one of his most famous works is painted in  Palazzo Barberini. Very typical is the symmetry, the themes are always religious, lots of details, most of the time dramatically, lot of expression (more than earlier style periods), movement,…

Diego Velazquez is a wonderful painter in my opinion as well! He’s a Spanish painter from the Baroque. Las Meninas is one of his most famous works. Again the symmetry, dark contrast comes back though this painting more statical while the other one was more dynamical. (I can describe this painting in details, perhaps I’ll do that in a different post if you want me to)

The architecture

Anyone familiar with “le Roi-Soleil” or Louis XIV who also named himself King of the sun. Louis XIII was the one who ordered to build this castle 19 km south from Paris and his son Louis XIV  was the one who expanded it to this lovely building we know now as Chateau de Versailles. The first architect was Louis Le Vau. In 1680 was Jules Hardouin-Mansart the one who expanded the castle enormously. The interior was designed by Charles Le Brun.

It’s one of the biggest Castles on earth! 226 residences and twice as much apartments.

If you would like to see the interior but haven’t the time to visit Versailles, you can watch movies where the same interior is used. Valmont (1989) Marie-Antoinette and The Man in the Iron Mask (1998). I guess almost everyone knows Marie Antoinette. I guess she also can be put more in the Rococo style Period, Versailles (band) certainly has influences of this style as well. Only this style is softer. 

It's definitely all about the details. Now you can compare this with the band Versailles. A lot of similarities isn't it? 


Ow, and all the gold you see, it was real, I don't know if it still is, but it used to be. Can you imagine how much money this must have cost while there were a lot of people starving?