000			03444nam a22003017a 4500
003			pucpr
005			20260611142127.0
008			260611b2023 |||a|||| b||| 001 0 eng d
020			_a9781399054195
040			_apucpr _beng _cpucpr _dpucpr _erda
049			_aCARIBET
050			_aNA1053.L38 _bB35 2023
100			_aBallard, Richard _9303297 _e(Historian), author
245			_aLouis XIV's architect : _bLouis Le Vau, France's most important builder. / _htxt
264			_aBarnsley ; Havertown : _bPen & Sword History, _c2023.
300			_ax, 236 pages : _b8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; _c24 cm. _fbook
336			_2rdacontent _atext _btxt
337			_2rdamedia _aunmediaded _bn
338			_2rdacarrier _avolume _bnc
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505			_aPreface iv -- Chapter 1. A Family in the Building Trade 1 -- Chapter 2. The Architect and his Clients 21 -- Chapter 3. Vincennes: A Royal Project 40 -- Chapter 4. Mazarin’s Louvre 55 -- Chapter 5. Vaux-le-Vicomte: Fouquet 66 -- Chapter 6. Colbert: A Difficult Taskmaster 88 -- Chapter 7. The King in All His Glory 104 -- Chapter 8. Mazarin’s Memorial 135 -- Chapter 9. A Metallurgical disaster 153 -- Chapter 10. In the Shadow of his Successors 172 -- A Glossary of Architectural Terms 201 -- Notes to the Text 206 -- Acknowledgement 207 -- Notes 209 -- Select Bibliography 227 -- Index 229 --
520			_aA must-read for those seeking to understand the intersection of politics and art in a pivotal moment of European history. This is a study of royal absolutism in a most extreme form in modern European history, and of the nature of Louis XIV's concept of personal glory and of the embodiment of France as a new superpower. It is a study of political ideas expressed in architecture to establish Versailles as the centre of French world power and royal prestige. It is also a personal story, full of social, cultural, and economic history of the period as seen in the life and work of Louis Le Vau, from a humble family of craftsmen, who was a self-taught architect in the early history of the profession, skilled in technical craft skills and even grand design. He was a major contributor to the architectural glories of Paris including the Louvre, Vincennes, Versailles and the College of the Four Nations. And all achieved despite interference from the great magnates of the age like Mazarin and Colbert and constant mind-changing by the King who wanted every feature in the buildings to reflect his concept of personal, royal, prestige. Le Vau was Louis XIV's First Architect from 1654 until his death and disgrace in 1670. The social, cultural, economic and political backdrop is striking with court intrigue, scandal, corruption, luxury, indulgence and the rise of a rich bourgeoisie, but the main thrust of the story concerns Louis XIV and the royal personal ambition, and the work of a stone-cutter's son who became the Sun King's instrument. The study is good on the more technical features of architectural history - reminiscent of Pevsner's marvellous Buildings of England series
546			_aEnglish
650		0	_aArchitecture _954081 _xPolitical aspects _xHistory _y17th century _zFrance
650		0	_aArchitecture and society. _954083 _x History _y17th century _zFrance
650		0	_aBiography and Autobiography _9303298
942			_2lcc _c27 _hNA1053.L38 _kGeneral _mB35 2023
999			_c306472 _d306472