1.
Alexis Simon Belle
–
Alexis Simon Belle was a French portrait painter, known for his portraits of the French and Jacobite nobility. As a portrait artist, Belles style followed that of his master François de Troy, Hyacinthe Rigaud and he was the master of the painter Jacques-André-Joseph-Camelot Aved. Belle was born in Paris, the child and only son of Jean-Baptiste Belle, also a painter. The godmother declared she could not sign, Belle studied first under his father, then continued his training in the studio of François de Troy, a painter at the court of King James II in exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He began to work at Saint-Germain in the years 1698 to 1701. This was a period of peace between France and Great Britain, and Jacobites could cross the English Channel carrying portraits of James Edward Stuart and his sister Princess Louisa Maria. Troy was then James IIs only court painter and needed the help of Belle, his best student, in August 1700, Belle won the Prix de Rome, but went on working at Saint-Germain instead of travelling to Italy. On 12 November 1701, Belle married the miniature painter Anne Chéron, as King James II had died a few weeks before, this was a reference to his son James Edward, who had been proclaimed king of England, Scotland and Ireland by King Louis XIV. Belle became the painter to the Jacobite court, where he. Several copies exist of his portrait of James Edward Stuart in armour and standing beside the English Channel, on there are warships. Belles most famous portrait of James Edward Stuart dates from 1712, just before he left Saint Germain for Lorraine and this became the standard image of the Old Pretender and was much copied. In an engraving of the painting by François Chéreau, Belle is described as peintre de S. M. Brit, in 1713, Chéreau also engraved a portrait by Belle of Princess Louisa Maria which is now in Sizergh Castle, Cumbria. After the Pretender had left Saint Germain, Belle stayed there, however, in 1714 he joined James Edwards new court at Bar-le-Duc. During the years 1716 to 1719, Belle received many commissions from Jacobites in exile after the rising of 1715. By then, the Old Pretender was himself living in Italy, during the 1720s, Belles work was increasingly for the French nobility. He painted the young King Louis XV, and much of his work was engraved, in 1731, Belle made two copies of portraits by David of James Edward Stuarts two young sons, Prince Charles Edward Stuart and Prince Henry Benedict Stuart. Belles first wife, Anne Chéron, died in April 1718, on 12 January 1722 he married as his second wife the engraver Marie-Nicolle Horthemels, herself a painter and engraver. Together, they had two sons, born in 1722 and 1726, and a born in 1730
Alexis Simon Belle
–
Alexis Simon Belle, self portrait
Alexis Simon Belle
–
Belle's painting of Jacobite pretender
James Edward Stuart in armor
Alexis Simon Belle
–
Mariana Victoria of Spain, fiancée of Louis XV, later Queen of Portugal
Alexis Simon Belle
–
Portrait by Alexis Simon Belle of Charles-François-Marie de Custine, Chevalier de Wiltz
2.
Toulouse
–
Toulouse is the capital city of the southwestern French department of Haute-Garonne, as well as of the Occitanie region. The city lies on the banks of the River Garonne,150 kilometres from the Mediterranean Sea,230 km from the Atlantic Ocean and it is the fourth-largest city in France with 466,297 inhabitants in January 2014. The Toulouse Metro area is, with 1312304 inhabitants as of 2014, Frances 4th metropolitan area after Paris, Lyon and Marseille and ahead of Lille and Bordeaux. Toulouse is the centre of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, the Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, the Airbus Group, ATR and the Aerospace Valley. The city also hosts the European headquarters of Intel and CNESs Toulouse Space Centre, thales Alenia Space, and Astrium Satellites, Airbus Groups satellite system subsidiary, also have a significant presence in Toulouse. The University of Toulouse is one of the oldest in Europe and, with more than 103,000 students, is the fourth-largest university campus in France, after the Universities of Paris, Lyon and Lille. The air route between Toulouse Blagnac and Paris Orly is the busiest in Europe, transporting 2.4 million passengers in 2014, according to the rankings of LExpress and Challenges, Toulouse is the most dynamic French city. It is now the capital of the Occitanie region, the largest region in metropolitan France, sernin, the largest remaining Romanesque building in Europe, designated in 1998 because of its significance to the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route. Toulouse is in the south of France, north of the department of Haute-Garonne, the city is traversed by the Canal de Brienne, the Canal du Midi and the rivers Garonne, Touch and Hers-Mort. Toulouse has a subtropical climate which can be qualified as submediterranean due to its proximity to the Mediterranean climate zone. The Garonne Valley was a point for trade between the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic since at least the Iron Age. The historical name of the city, Tolosa, it is of unknown meaning or origin, possibly from Aquitanian, or from Iberian, Tolosa enters the historical period in the 2nd century BC, when it became a Roman military outpost. After the conquest of Gaul, it was developed as a Roman city of Gallia Narbonensis. In the 5th century, Tolosa fell to the Visigothic kingdom and became one of its cities, in the early 6th century even serving as its capital. From this time, Toulouse was the capital of Aquitaine within the Frankish realm, in 721, Duke Odo of Aquitaine defeated an invading Umayyad Muslim army at the Battle of Toulouse. Odos victory was an obstacle to Muslim expansion into Christian Europe. Charles Martel, a later, won the Battle of Tours. The Frankish conquest of Septimania followed in the 750s, and a quasi-independent County of Toulouse emerged within the Carolingian sub-kingdom of Aquitaine by the late 8th century
Toulouse
–
Montage of Toulouse Top: Pont Saint Pierre and
Garonne River Middle:
Place du Capitole,
Pont Neuf Bottom:
Capitole de Toulouse, Ariane 5 at
Cité de l'espace,
Médiathèque José Cabanis
Toulouse
–
Vomitorium at the Roman amphitheatre in Toulouse
Toulouse
–
Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse was a leader of the
First Crusade
Toulouse
–
The
Capitole de Toulouse is an example of the 18th-century architectural projects in the city.
3.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
France
–
One of the
Lascaux paintings: a horse –
Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC
France
–
Flag
France
–
The
Maison Carrée was a temple of the
Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day
Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the
Roman Empire.
France
–
With
Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the
Frankish monarchy,
elective and
secular until then, became
hereditary and of
divine right.
4.
Paris
–
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
Paris
–
In the 1860s Paris streets and monuments were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, making it literally "The City of Light."
Paris
Paris
–
Gold coins minted by the Parisii (1st century BC)
Paris
–
The
Palais de la Cité and
Sainte-Chapelle, viewed from the Left Bank, from the
Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry (month of June) (1410)
5.
French people
–
The French are an ethnic group and nation who are identified with the country of France. This connection may be legal, historical, or cultural, modern French society can be considered a melting pot. To be French, according to the first article of the French Constitution, is to be a citizen of France, regardless of origin, race. The debate concerning the integration of this view with the underlying the European Community remains open. A large number of foreigners have traditionally been permitted to live in France, indeed, the country has long valued its openness, tolerance and the quality of services available. Application for French citizenship is often interpreted as a renunciation of previous state allegiance unless a dual citizenship agreement exists between the two countries, the European treaties have formally permitted movement and European citizens enjoy formal rights to employment in the state sector. Seeing itself as a nation with universal values, France has always valued. However, the success of such assimilation has recently called into question. There is increasing dissatisfaction with, and within, growing ethno-cultural enclaves, the 2005 French riots in some troubled and impoverished suburbs were an example of such tensions. However they should not be interpreted as ethnic conflicts but as social conflicts born out of socioeconomic problems endangering proper integration, the name France etymologically derives from the word Francia, the territory of the Franks. The Franks were a Germanic tribe that overran Roman Gaul at the end of the Roman Empire, in the pre-Roman era, all of Gaul was inhabited by a variety of peoples who were known collectively as the Gaulish tribes. Gaul was militarily conquered in 58-51 BCE by the Roman legions under the command of General Julius Caesar, the area then became part of the Roman Empire. Over the next five centuries the two cultures intermingled, creating a hybridized Gallo-Roman culture, the Gaulish vernacular language disappeared step by step to be replaced everywhere by Vulgar Latin, which would later develop under Frankish influence into the French language in the North of France. With the decline of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, a federation of Germanic peoples entered the picture, the Franks were Germanic pagans who began to settle in northern Gaul as laeti, already during the Roman era. They continued to filter across the Rhine River from present-day Netherlands, at the beginning, they served in the Roman army and reached high commands. Their language is spoken as a kind of Dutch in northern France. Another Germanic people immigrated massively to Alsace, the Alamans, which explains the Alemannic German spoken there and they were competitors of the Franks, thats why it became at the Renaissance time the word for German in French, Allemand. By the early 6th century the Franks, led by the Merovingian king Clovis I and his sons, had consolidated their hold on much of modern-day France, the Vikings eventually intermarried with the local people, converting to Christianity in the process
French people
–
Louis XIV of France "The Sun-King"
French people
–
Row 1:
Joan of Arc
French people
–
Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix
French people
–
French people in Paris, August 1944
6.
Painting
–
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface. The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, Painting is a mode of creative expression, and the forms are numerous. Drawing, gesture, composition, narration, or abstraction, among other aesthetic modes, may serve to manifest the expressive, Paintings can be naturalistic and representational, photographic, abstract, narrative, symbolistic, emotive, or political in nature. A portion of the history of painting in both Eastern and Western art is dominated by motifs and ideas. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action, the term painting is also used outside of art as a common trade among craftsmen and builders. What enables painting is the perception and representation of intensity, every point in space has different intensity, which can be represented in painting by black and white and all the gray shades between. In practice, painters can articulate shapes by juxtaposing surfaces of different intensity, thus, the basic means of painting are distinct from ideological means, such as geometrical figures, various points of view and organization, and symbols. In technical drawing, thickness of line is ideal, demarcating ideal outlines of an object within a perceptual frame different from the one used by painters. Color and tone are the essence of painting as pitch and rhythm are the essence of music, color is highly subjective, but has observable psychological effects, although these can differ from one culture to the next. Black is associated with mourning in the West, but in the East, some painters, theoreticians, writers and scientists, including Goethe, Kandinsky, and Newton, have written their own color theory. Moreover, the use of language is only an abstraction for a color equivalent, the word red, for example, can cover a wide range of variations from the pure red of the visible spectrum of light. There is not a register of different colors in the way that there is agreement on different notes in music. For a painter, color is not simply divided into basic, painters deal practically with pigments, so blue for a painter can be any of the blues, phthalocyanine blue, Prussian blue, indigo, cobalt, ultramarine, and so on. Psychological and symbolical meanings of color are not, strictly speaking, colors only add to the potential, derived context of meanings, and because of this, the perception of a painting is highly subjective. The analogy with music is quite clear—sound in music is analogous to light in painting, shades to dynamics and these elements do not necessarily form a melody of themselves, rather, they can add different contexts to it. Modern artists have extended the practice of painting considerably to include, as one example, collage, some modern painters incorporate different materials such as sand, cement, straw or wood for their texture. Examples of this are the works of Jean Dubuffet and Anselm Kiefer, there is a growing community of artists who use computers to paint color onto a digital canvas using programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, and many others. These images can be printed onto traditional canvas if required, rhythm is important in painting as it is in music
Painting
–
The
Mona Lisa, by
Leonardo da Vinci, is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world.
Painting
–
Chen Hongshou (1598–1652), Leaf album painting (
Ming Dynasty)
Painting
–
Circus Sideshow (
French: Parade de cirque),
Georges Seurat, 1887–88
Painting
–
Cave painting of aurochs, (
French: Bos primigenius primigenius),
Lascaux,
France,
prehistoric art
7.
James II of England
–
James II and VII was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685 until he was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was the last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland, the second surviving son of Charles I, he ascended the throne upon the death of his brother, Charles II. Members of Britains Protestant political elite increasingly suspected him of being pro-French and pro-Catholic and he was replaced by his eldest, Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange. James made one attempt to recover his crowns from William. After the defeat of the Jacobite forces by the Williamites at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690 and he lived out the rest of his life as a pretender at a court sponsored by his cousin and ally, King Louis XIV. James, the surviving son of King Charles I and his wife. Later that same year, he was baptised by William Laud and he was educated by private tutors, along with his brother, the future King Charles II, and the two sons of the Duke of Buckingham, George and Francis Villiers. At the age of three, James was appointed Lord High Admiral, the position was honorary, but would become a substantive office after the Restoration. He was designated Duke of York at birth, invested with the Order of the Garter in 1642, as the Kings disputes with the English Parliament grew into the English Civil War, James stayed in Oxford, a Royalist stronghold. When the city surrendered after the siege of Oxford in 1646, in 1648, he escaped from the Palace, aided by Joseph Bampfield, and from there he went to The Hague in disguise. When Charles I was executed by the rebels in 1649, monarchists proclaimed Jamess older brother as Charles II of England, Charles II was recognised as king by the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of Ireland, and was crowned King of Scotland at Scone in 1651. Although he was proclaimed King in Jersey, Charles was unable to secure the crown of England and consequently fled to France, like his brother, James sought refuge in France, serving in the French army under Turenne against the Fronde, and later against their Spanish allies. In the French army James had his first true experience of battle where, according to one observer, he ventures himself, in the meantime, Charles was attempting to reclaim his throne, but France, although hosting the exiles, had allied itself with Oliver Cromwell. In 1656, Charles turned instead to Spain – an enemy of France – for support, in consequence, James was expelled from France and forced to leave Turennes army. James quarrelled with his brother over the choice of Spain over France. In 1659, the French and Spanish made peace, James, doubtful of his brothers chances of regaining the throne, considered taking a Spanish offer to be an admiral in their navy. Ultimately, he declined the position, by the year the situation in England had changed. After Richard Cromwells resignation as Lord Protector in 1659 and the subsequent collapse of the Commonwealth in 1660, although James was the heir presumptive, it seemed unlikely that he would inherit the Crown, as Charles was still a young man capable of fathering children
James II of England
–
Portrait by
Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1684
James II of England
–
Turenne, James's commander in France
James II of England
–
James and Anne Hyde in the 1660s, by Sir
Peter Lely
James II of England
–
Mary of Modena, James's second wife
8.
James Francis Edward Stuart
–
James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales, nicknamed the Old Pretender, was the son of the deposed James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland. As such, he claimed the English, Scottish and Irish thrones from the death of his father in 1701, following his death in 1766, he was succeeded by his son Charles Edward Stuart in the Jacobite Succession. Had his father not been deposed, Great Britain might have had two monarchs during his lifetime, his father and himself. Instead there were seven, his father, William III, Mary II, Anne, George I, George II and their attempts are remembered in history as Jacobitism. Prince James Francis Edward was born 10 June 1688, at St. Jamess Palace. He was the son of King James II of England and Ireland, and his Roman Catholic second wife, Mary of Modena, Mary and her younger sister Princess Anne, had been raised as Protestants. As long as there was a possibility of one of them succeeding him, in an attempt to scotch this myth, James published the testimonies of over seventy witnesses to the birth. On 9 December, in the midst of the Glorious Revolution, Mary of Modena disguised herself as a laundress, young James was brought up at the château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which Louis XIV had turned over to the exiled James II. Both the ex-king and his family were held in consideration by the French king and they were frequent visitors at Versailles where Louis XIV. On his fathers death in 1701, James was recognised by King Louis XIV of France, spain, the Papal States and Modena also recognized him as King James III of England and VIII of Scotland and refused to recognise William III, Mary II or Anne as legitimate sovereigns. As a result of his claiming his fathers lost thrones, James was attainted for treason in London on 2 March 1702, though delayed in France by an attack of measles, James attempted invasion, trying to land at the Firth of Forth on 23 March 1708. The fleet of Admiral Sir George Byng intercepted the French ships, James served for a time in the French army, as his father had done during the inter-regnum. A year later however the British government pushed for Jamess expulsion from France as a precondition for a treaty with France. In accordance with the Treaty of Utrecht, Harley and Lord Bolingbroke, Queen Anne became severely ill at Christmas 1713, and seemed close to death. In January 1714, she recovered but clearly had not much longer to live, through de Torcy and his London agent, Abbé François Gaultier, Harley kept up the correspondence with James, and Bolingbroke had also entered into a separate correspondence with him. They both stated to James that his conversion to Protestantism would facilitate his restoration, however James, a devout Catholic, replied to Torcy, I have chosen my own course, therefore it is for others to change their sentiments. In March, came Jamess refusal to convert, following which Harley and Bolingbroke reached the opinion that Jamess restoration was not feasible, though they maintained their correspondence with him. As a result, in August 1714, Jamess second cousin, the Elector of Hanover, George of Hanover, in the following year Scottish Jacobites started The Fifteen Jacobite rising in Scotland, aimed at putting James III and VIII on the throne
James Francis Edward Stuart
–
James Francis Edward Stuart, "The Old Pretender"
James Francis Edward Stuart
–
James Francis Edward, about 1703, portrait in the
Royal Collection attributed to
Alexis Simon Belle
James Francis Edward Stuart
–
The Old Pretender lands in Scotland after Sheriffmuir. An 18th-century engraving.
James Francis Edward Stuart
–
Coloured portrait of James as young man
9.
Engraver
–
Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it. Wood engraving is a form of printing and is not covered in this article. Engraving was an important method of producing images on paper in artistic printmaking, in mapmaking. Other terms often used for printed engravings are copper engraving, copper-plate engraving or line engraving, hand engraving is a term sometimes used for engraving objects other than printing plates, to inscribe or decorate jewellery, firearms, trophies, knives and other fine metal goods. Traditional engravings in printmaking are also engraved, using just the same techniques to make the lines in the plate. Each graver is different and has its own use, engravers use a hardened steel tool called a burin, or graver, to cut the design into the surface, most traditionally a copper plate. Modern professional engravers can engrave with a resolution of up to 40 lines per mm in high grade work creating game scenes, dies used in mass production of molded parts are sometimes hand engraved to add special touches or certain information such as part numbers. In addition to engraving, there are engraving machines that require less human finesse and are not directly controlled by hand. They are usually used for lettering, using a pantographic system, there are versions for the insides of rings and also the outsides of larger pieces. Such machines are used for inscriptions on rings, lockets. Gravers come in a variety of shapes and sizes that yield different line types, the burin produces a unique and recognizable quality of line that is characterized by its steady, deliberate appearance and clean edges. The angle tint tool has a curved tip that is commonly used in printmaking. Florentine liners are flat-bottomed tools with multiple lines incised into them, ring gravers are made with particular shapes that are used by jewelry engravers in order to cut inscriptions inside rings. Flat gravers are used for work on letters, as well as wriggle cuts on most musical instrument engraving work, remove background. Knife gravers are for line engraving and very deep cuts, round gravers, and flat gravers with a radius, are commonly used on silver to create bright cuts, as well as other hard-to-cut metals such as nickel and steel. Square or V-point gravers are typically square or elongated diamond-shaped and used for cutting straight lines, V-point can be anywhere from 60 to 130 degrees, depending on purpose and effect. These gravers have very small cutting points, other tools such as mezzotint rockers, roulets and burnishers are used for texturing effects. Burnishing tools can also be used for stone setting techniques
Engraver
–
St. Jerome in His Study (1514), an engraving by Northern Renaissance master
Albrecht Dürer
Engraver
–
Artist and engraver
Chaim Goldberg at work
Engraver
–
An assortment of hand engraving tools
Engraver
–
At an engravers workshop: Miniature engraving on a
Louis George watch movement: Smallest engraving of the royal
Prussian eagle on a watch movement. It takes about 100 passes to create the figure.
10.
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
–
Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the suburbs of Paris,19.1 km from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called Saint-Germanois or Saint-Germinois, with its elegant tree-lined streets it is one of the more affluent suburbs of Paris, combining both high-end leisure spots and exclusive residential neighborhoods. Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a sub-prefecture of the department, because it includes the National Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, it covers approximately 48 km2, making it the largest commune in the Yvelines. It occupies a large loop of the Seine, Saint-Germain-en-Laye lies at one of the western termini of Line A of the RER. Saint-Germain-en-Laye was founded in 1020 when King Robert the Pious founded a convent on the site of the present Church of Saint-Germain, in 1688, James II, King of England, exiled himself to the city due to religious conflicts in his own country. He spent the remainder of his days there, and died on 16 September 1701, prior to the French Revolution in 1789, it had been a royal town and the Château de Saint-Germain the residence of numerous French monarchs. The old château was constructed in 1348 by King Charles V on the foundations of an old castle dating from 1238 in the time of Saint Louis, francis I was responsible for its subsequent restoration. In 1862, Napoleon III set up the Musée des Antiquités Nationales in the erstwhile royal château and this museum has exhibits ranging from Paleolithic to Celtic times. The Dame de Brassempouy sculpted on a mammoths ivory tusk around 23,000 years ago is the most famous exhibit in the museum, kings Henry IV and Louis XIII left their mark on the town. Louis XIV was born in the château, and established Saint-Germain-en-Laye as his residence from 1661 to 1681. Louis XIV turned over the château to James VII & II of Scotland and England after his exile from Britain after the Glorious Revolution in 1688, James lived in the Château for 13 years, and his daughter Louisa Maria Stuart was born in exile here in 1692. James II is buried in the Church of Saint-Germain, Saint-Germain-en-Laye is famous for its 2. 4-kilometre long stone terrace built by André Le Nôtre from 1669 to 1673. The terrace provides a view over the valley of the Seine and, in the distance, during the French Revolution, the name was changed along with many other places whose names held connotations of religion or royalty. During his reign, Napoleon I established his cavalry officers training school in the Château-Vieux, the Treaty of Saint-Germain was signed in 1919 and was applied on July 16,1920. The treaty officially registered the breakup of the Habsburg empire, which recognized the independence of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, during the occupation from 1940 to 1944, the town was the headquarters of the German Army. Saint-Germain-en-Laye is served by Saint-Germain-en-Laye station on Paris RER line A and it is also served by two stations on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line, Saint-Germain – Bel-Air – Fourqueux and Saint-Germain – Grande Ceinture. Saint-Germain-en-Laye is also served by Achères – Grand Cormier station on Paris RER line A and this station is located in the middle of the Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, far away from the urbanized part of the commune
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
–
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
–
The Church of
Saint-Germain.
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
–
One of the German bunkers built in 1942
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
–
Lycée International de Saint Germain-en-Laye
11.
Nicolas-Pierre Loir
–
Nicolas Pierre Loir, was a French painter and engraver of religious and historical allegories. According to the RKD he was a pupil of Sébastien Bourdon and Simon Vouet and he travelled to Italy in the years 1647–1649, and in 1650 was back in Paris. In 1669 his pupil François de Troy married his sister-in-law, Jeanne Cotelle, roger de Piles included him in his list of notable French artists, noting that he was the son of a goldsmith and a very good draughtsman. Cornelis de Bie wrote a poem to his art on page 491 of his book Het Gulden Cabinet Nicolas Pierre Loir on Artnet
Nicolas-Pierre Loir
–
Kleobis and Biton.
12.
Reception piece
–
In art, a reception piece is a work submitted by an artist to an Academy for approval as part of the requirements for admission to membership. The piece is representative of the artists work, and the organizations judgement of its skill may or may not form part of the criteria for accepting a new entrant. The work itself is usually retained by the academy, and many academies have large, alternative terms include diploma work at the Royal Academy in London, diploma piece, and in France at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, tableau de réception or morceau de réception. The term masterpiece originated in the way under the earlier system of guilds. Membership of an academy may be by genre or technique and limited by numbers or age. Charles-Antoine Coypel, the son of its director, later said. In 1728, when Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin was admitted to the academy for The Ray, it was as a painter of animals. Masterpiece Reception pieces visitor trail at the Louvre
Reception piece
–
The Embarkation for Cythera, 1717, was
Jean-Antoine Watteau 's reception piece for the
Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture.
Reception piece
–
Mars and Rhea Silvia by
Nicolas Colombel, 1694, for the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture.
Reception piece
–
Chardin's The Ray for the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, 1728.
Reception piece
–
Rinaldo and Armida by
François Boucher for the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, 1734.
13.
Mercury (mythology)
–
Mercury is a major Roman god, being one of the Dii Consentes within the ancient Roman pantheon. He is the god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence, messages/communication, travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves. He was considered the son of Maia and Jupiter in Roman mythology, in his earliest forms, he appears to have been related to the Etruscan deity Turms, both gods share characteristics with the Greek god Hermes. He is often depicted holding the caduceus in his left hand, similar to his Greek equivalent he was awarded the caduceus by Apollo who handed him a magic wand, which later turned into the caduceus. Mercury did not appear among the di indigetes of early Roman religion. Rather, he subsumed the earlier Dei Lucrii as Roman religion was syncretized with Greek religion during the time of the Roman Republic, starting around the 4th century BC. He was often accompanied by a cockerel, herald of the new day, a ram or goat, symbolizing fertility, like Hermes, he was also a god of messages, eloquence and of trade, particularly of the grain trade. Mercury was also considered a god of abundance and commercial success, particularly in Gaul and he was also, like Hermes, the Romans psychopomp, leading newly deceased souls to the afterlife. Additionally, Ovid wrote that Mercury carried Morpheus dreams from the valley of Somnus to sleeping humans, archeological evidence from Pompeii suggests that Mercury was among the most popular of Roman gods. The god of commerce was depicted on two bronze coins of the Roman Republic, the Sextans and the Semuncia. This is probably because in the Roman syncretism, Mercury was equated with the Celtic god Lugus, Romans associated Mercury with the Germanic god Wotan, by interpretatio Romana, 1st-century Roman writer Tacitus identifies him as the chief god of the Germanic peoples. The Romans also made use of small statues of Mercury. Mercurius Arvernus, a syncretism of the Celtic Arvernus with Mercury, Mercurius Cimbrianus, a syncretism of Mercury with a god of the Cimbri sometimes thought to represent Odin. Mercurius Cissonius, a combination of Mercury with the Celtic god Cissonius, Mercurius Esibraeus, a syncretism of the Iberian deity Esibraeus with the Roman deity Mercury. Esibraeus is mentioned only in an inscription found at Medelim, Portugal, and is possibly the deity as Banda Isibraiegus. Mercurius Gebrinius, a syncretism of Mercury with the Celtic or Germanic Gebrinius, known from an inscription on an altar in Bonn, Mercurius Moccus, from a Celtic god, Moccus, who was equated with Mercury, known from evidence at Langres, France. The name Moccus implies that this deity was connected to boar-hunting, Mercurius Visucius, a syncretism of the Celtic god Visucius with the Roman god Mercury, attested in an inscription from Stuttgart, Germany. Visucius was worshiped primarily in the area of the empire in Gaul
Mercury (mythology)
–
Early Roman bronze statuette of Mercury, found near Huis, France (
British Museum)
Mercury (mythology)
–
Marcus Aurelius (
head covered) sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter
Mercury (mythology)
–
Hendrik Goltzius: Mercury, with his symbols
Mercury (mythology)
–
Mercury portrait on a bronze
Semuncia (215–211 BC)
14.
Argus Panoptes
–
Argus Panoptes is a many-eyed giant in Greek mythology. The monstrous entity has been either included or indirectly alluded to in a wide variety of works influenced by Greco-Roman thought over the past several centuries. Argus Panoptes, guardian of the heifer-nymph Io and son of Arestor, was a giant whose epithet, Panoptes, all-seeing, led to his being described with multiple, often one hundred. The epithet Panoptes was applied to the Titan of the Sun, Helios, and was taken up as an epithet by Zeus, Zeus Panoptes. In a way, Walter Burkert observes, the power and order of Argos the city are embodied in Argos the neatherd, lord of the herd and lord of the land, whose name itself is the name of the land. And the goddess stirred in him unwearying strength, sleep never fell upon his eyes and his great service to the Olympian pantheon was to slay the chthonic serpent-legged monster Echidna as she slept in her cave. Heras defining task for Argus was to guard the white heifer Io from Zeus and she charged him to Tether this cow safely to an olive-tree at Nemea. Hera knew that the heifer was in reality Io, one of the many nymphs Zeus was coupling with to establish a new order, to free Io, Zeus had Argus slain by Hermes. The sacrifice of Argus liberated Io and allowed her to wander the earth, according to Ovid, to commemorate her faithful watchman, Hera had the hundred eyes of Argus preserved forever, in a peacocks tail. The myth makes the closest connection of Argus, the neatherd, in the Library of pseudo-Apollodorus, Argos killed the bull that ravaged Arcadia, then clothed himself in its skin. Media related to Argus Panoptes at Wikimedia Commons Theoi Project - Gigante Argos Panoptes Warburg Institute Iconographic Database
Argus Panoptes
–
Drawing of an image from a 5th-century BCE Athenian red figure vase depicting Hermes slaying the giant Argus Panoptes. Note the eyes covering Argus' body. Io as a cow stands in the background.
Argus Panoptes
–
Argus dozes off:
Velázquez renders the theme of stealth and murder in modern dress, 1659 (
Prado)
15.
Madame de Montespan
–
Her immediate contemporary was Barbara Villiers, mistress of King Charles II of England. She is an ancestress of several houses in Europe, including those of Spain, Italy, Bulgaria. From her father, she inherited the famous Mortemart esprit, as a young girl, she often travelled with her mother between the family estates and the court at the Louvre in Paris. At the age of twelve, she began her education at the Convent of St Mary at Saintes. She was very religious and took Communion once a week, a practise that she would continue as a young woman and her siblings were, Gabrielle, who married Claude Léonor Damas de Thianges, Marquis of Thianges and had children. Louis Victor, known as the Marquis of Vivonne, who was an enfant dhonneur, Marie Madeleine Gabrielle Adélaïde, who due to her relationship with Françoise-Athénaïs, was known as the Queen of Abbesses. At the age of twenty, Françoise-Athénaïs became a maid-of-honour to the kings sister-in-law, Princess Henrietta Anne of England, who was known at court by the traditional honorific of Madame. Later, because of the relationship between her mother and the dowager, Anne of Austria, Françoise-Athénaïs was appointed to be a lady-in-waiting to the kings wife. On 28 January 1663, Françoise married Louis Henri de Pardaillan de Gondrin, Marquis of Montespan, however, La Tremouille had to flee to Spain after a disastrous duel, and Françoise-Athénaïs was betrothed to Montespan. The wedding ceremony took place in a chapel at the Église Saint-Eustache in Paris, Françoise later recounted that as she had neglected to bring along the proper kneeling cushions for the ceremony, the couple had to kneel on dog cushions. She soon became pregnant with her first child, Christine, two weeks after her daughters birth she danced in a Court Ballet, and less than a year later her second child was born. The Montespan children were, Marie Christine de Pardaillan de Gondrin, Louis Antoine de Pardaillan de Gondrin, Marquis of Antin, later Duke of Antin. Louis Antoine had a relationship with his younger half-brothers, the Duke of Maine. The couple lived in a house close to the Louvre. She quickly established herself as the beauty of the court. Beauty, however, was one of Madame de Montespans many charms. She was a cultured and amusing conversationalist, who won the admiration of literary figures as letter-writer Madame de Sévigné. In addition, she kept abreast of political events and this had the effect of making her even more appealing to men of intellect and power
Madame de Montespan
–
Contemporary portrait of Françoise by an unknown artist
Madame de Montespan
–
Françoise while known as Mademoiselle de
Tonnay-Charente.
Madame de Montespan
–
Henrietta Anne of England, to whom Madame de Montespan was a lady-in-waiting.
Madame de Montespan
–
Mme de Montespan, by
Pierre Mignard, c 1670
16.
Louis XIV of France
–
Louis XIV, known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIVs France was a leader in the centralization of power. Louis began his rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister. By these means he became one of the most powerful French monarchs, under his rule, the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to Huguenots, was abolished. The revocation effectively forced Huguenots to emigrate or convert in a wave of dragonnades, which managed to virtually destroy the French Protestant minority. During Louis reign, France was the leading European power, and it fought three wars, the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg. There were also two lesser conflicts, the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions, warfare defined Louis XIVs foreign policies, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique, in peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military, Louis XIV was born on 5 September 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. He was named Louis Dieudonné and bore the title of French heirs apparent. At the time of his birth, his parents had married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631, leading contemporaries thus regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God. Sensing imminent death, Louis XIII decided to put his affairs in order in the spring of 1643, in defiance of custom, which would have made Queen Anne the sole Regent of France, the king decreed that a regency council would rule on his sons behalf. His lack of faith in Queen Annes political abilities was his primary rationale and he did, however, make the concession of appointing her head of the council. Louis relationship with his mother was uncommonly affectionate for the time, contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis. Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis journal entries, such as, but attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood
Louis XIV of France
–
Louis XIV by
Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701)
Louis XIV of France
–
Louis-Dieudonné,
Dauphin of France, in 1643 by
Claude Deruet
Louis XIV of France
–
Louis XIV as a child, unknown painter
Louis XIV of France
–
1655 portrait of Louis, the Victor of the Fronde, portrayed as the god
Jupiter
17.
Roger de Piles
–
Roger de Piles was a French painter, engraver, art critic and diplomat. Born in Clamecy, Roger de Piles studied philosophy and theology, in 1662 he became tutor to Michel Amelot de Gournay, whom he was to follow throughout his life, acting as secretary to his various missions as French ambassador to Venice, Portugal, Spain. In Venice he started a collection of prints, drawings and paintings of Giorgione, Correggio, Rembrandt, Claude Lorrain, Rubens, Antoine Coypel. He was not always fortunate as a spy, in 1692, during the War of the League of Augsburg, he was arrested in the Hague carrying a false passport and imprisoned for the next five years. He spent his time writing LAbrégé de la vie des peintres. avec un traité du peintre parfait, published in 1699 following his appointement as Conseiller Honoraire to the Académie de peinture et de sculpture. In 1705 he followed Amelot de Gournay to Spain but illness forced him to return to Paris, in his detailed study of the argument, Roger de Piles et les débats sur le coloris au siècle de Louis XIV, B. Teyssèdre gives an account of the bohème of the modern réfusés in seventeenth century Paris. In the course of the argument Roger de Piles introduced the term clair-obscur to highlight the effect of color in accentuating the tension between light and dark in a painting. The way Roger de Piles documented his argument with Venetian and northern European examples was of influence to Antoine Coypel, Hyacinthe Rigaud, Nicolas de Largillière, to each painter in the list he gave marks from 0 to 18 for composition, drawing, color and expression. This gave an overview of aesthetic appreciation hinging on the balance between color and design, the highest marks went to Raffaello Sanzio and Rubens, with a slight bias on color for Rubens, a slight bias on drawing for Raphaël. Painters who scored very badly in anything but color were Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, painters who fell far behind Rubens and Raphaël but whose balance between color and design was perfect were Lucas van Leyden, Sebastian Bourdon, Albrecht Dürer. The complete list is transcribed here from Manlio Brusatin, Histoire des couleurs, reproduced in Elisabeth G. Holt Literary Sources of Art History, Roger de Piles et les débats sur le coloris au siècle de Louis XIV. Paris, Bibliothèque des Arts. de Piles on drawing technique Roger de Piles, Portrait Rubens contre Poussin Roger de Piles at arthistoricum. net
Roger de Piles
–
Roger de Piles,
Frontispiece to History and life of the famous European Painters, Hamburg, Benj. Schiller, 1710
18.
Nils Bielke
–
Count Nils Bielke was a member of the High Council of Sweden, military and politician. Born the eldest son of Baron Ture Nilsson Bielke, who died in 1648 and he married countess Eva Horn, one of the heiresses of the sonless field marshal Count Gustav Horn af Björneborg. Nils Bielke entered the service of the Swedish Army and the Royal Court in the 1660s and he was appointed Lieutenant General in 1678, Governor-General of Swedish Estonia in 1687 and Swedish Pomerania. He became Field Marshal in 1690, during the Scanian War, he made important contributions both as a troop organizer and as an officer on the field. He especially distinguished himself at the Battle of Lund in 1676 as the commander of the Royal Cavalry Guard and he was Swedens ambassador in France from 1679–1682 and 1684–1687, he took part in Emperor Leopold Is Great Turkish War. He was created Reichsgraf in the Holy Roman Empire, Charles XI of Sweden later allowed him comital rank in Sweden. Nils Bielke was dissatisfied with Charles XIs despotic policy towards the old aristocracy, as the governor of Swedish Pomerania it was only reluctantly that he took part in the reduction of property belonging to the nobility. In addition to this, he undertook private negotiations in order to push Sweden towards a policy against the wishes of the Swedish government. As a result of this, he lost his position in 1698 and after a legal process. He was, however, pardoned and in 1715, he was redeemed, the article Bielke, Nils in Nationalencyklopedin
Nils Bielke
–
Nils Bielke by David Richter the Younger.
19.
Maria Anna of Bavaria (1660-1690)
–
Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, Dauphine of France was Dauphine of France as spouse of Louis, Grand Dauphin, son and heir of Louis XIV. She was known as the Dauphine Marie Anne Victoire or la Grande Dauphine, the dauphine was a pathetic figure at the court of France, isolated and unappreciated due to the perception that she was dull, unattractive and sickly. Maria Anna was the eldest daughter of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, born in Munich, capital of the Electorate of Bavaria, Maria Anna was betrothed to the dauphin of France in 1668, at the age of eight, and was carefully educated to fulfill that role. Besides her native language of German, she was taught to speak French, Italian and she was said to have looked forward to the fate of becoming dauphine of France. Maria Anna was very close to her mother, who died in 1676 and her siblings included Violante of Bavaria, future wife of Ferdinando de Medici as well as the future Elector of Bavaria, Maximilian II Emanuel. Prior to her marriage to the dauphin, there was a ceremony in Munich on 28 January 1680. She was the first dauphine of France since Mary, Queen of Scots married Francis II of France in 1558. Upon her marriage, Maria Anna took on the rank of her husband as a Fille de France, this meant that she was entitled to the style Royal Highness, when she first arrived in France, Maria Anna made a good impression with her good French. When she entered Strasbourg, she was addressed in German, but interrupted the greeting by saying, Gentlemen, the impression of her appearance, however, was not as good, and she was called terribly ugly. Others said, that although she may not have been beautiful, as soon as she married the dauphin, Maria Anna was the second most important woman at court after her mother-in-law, Queen Maria Theresa of Spain. When the queen died in July 1683, Maria Anna ranked as the most prominent female at court and was given the apartments of the late queen. The king expected her to perform the functions of the first lady at court, the king was completely unsympathetic to her situation and accused her falsely of hypochondria. Her husband took mistresses, and she lived a life in her apartments, where she spoke with her friends in German. She was very close to a fellow German at court, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate and she was said to be depressed having to live at a court where beauty was so much prized, not being beautiful herself. An autopsy revealed a multitude of disorders that completely vindicated her complaints of chronic. Maria Anna was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis and she is an ancestor of Prince Henri the Count of Paris, Orléanist pretender to the French throne. Also Juan Carlos I of Spain, Albert II, King of the Belgians, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and of Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, a pretender to the Italian throne
Maria Anna of Bavaria (1660-1690)
–
Posthumous portrait of Maria Anna Victoria holding the coronet of a Dauphine,
François de Troy
Maria Anna of Bavaria (1660-1690)
–
la Famille du Grand Dauphin, or the Family of the Grand Dauphin in 1687; (L-R)
Louis, le Grand Dauphin himself; on the floor is
Philippe de France, Duke of Anjou and future King of Spain; Maria Anna of Bavaria, la Grande Dauphine with the youngest child,
Charles of France, Duke of Berry on her lap;
Louis de France, Duke of Burgundy and father of
Louis XV plays on the far right with an arrow
20.
Louis, Dauphin of France (1661-1711)
–
Louis of France was the eldest son and heir of Louis XIV, King of France, and his spouse, Maria Theresa of Spain. As the heir apparent to the French throne, he was styled Dauphin and he became known as Le Grand Dauphin after the birth of his own son, Le Petit Dauphin. As he died before his father, he never became king, as a Fils de France he was entitled to the style of Royal Highness. He was baptised on 24 March 1662 at the chapel of the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, at the ceremony, Cardinal de Vendôme and the Princess of Conti acted as proxies for the godparents, Pope Clement IX and Queen Henrietta Maria of England. For this ceremony, Jean-Baptiste Lully composed the motet Plaude Laetare Gallia, when Louis reached the age of seven, he was removed from the care of women and placed in the society of men. No prince could have been deserving of such feelings. Monseigneur, as the heir to the throne was now known, had inherited his mothers docility, all his life he remained petrified with admiration of his formidable father and stood in fear of him even while lavish proofs of affection were showered upon him. The best way for Monseigneur to do someone an injury was to him to the royal favour. He knew it, and did not conceal it from his rare petitioners, Louis XIV saw to it that his sons upbringing was quite the opposite of his own. Bossuet overwhelmed his backward pupil with such splendid lessons that the Dauphin developed a horror of books, learning. By the age of eighteen, Monseigneur had assimilated almost none of the knowledge amassed to so little purpose, and it was said that when Louis was an adult, he could pass a whole day simply tapping his cane against his foot in an armchair. Nonetheless, his generosity, affability, and liberality gave him popularity in Paris. Louis was one of six children of his parents. The others all died in childhood, the second longest-lived, Marie Thérèse of France. According to various reports, Marie Louise and Louis were in love, however, Louis XIV used Marie Louise to forge a link with Spain and forced her to marry the invalid Charles II of Spain, the Dauphins own half-uncle. Louis was engaged to his cousin, Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. She was an older than Louis and, upon arriving at the French court, was described as being very unattractive. Nonetheless, she was a cultured princess
Louis, Dauphin of France (1661-1711)
–
Louis by
Hyacinthe Rigaud
Louis, Dauphin of France (1661-1711)
–
The Grand Dauphin
21.
Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine
–
Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine was a legitimised son of the French king Louis XIV and his official mistress, Madame de Montespan. The kings favourite son, he was the founder of the semi-royal House of Bourbon-Maine named after his title, Louis-Auguste de Bourbon was born at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 31 March 1670. His siblings, Louis-César, Louise-Françoise and Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon were also there after their births. Their mother, living with the king at Versailles, rarely saw her children, on 19 December 1673, when Louis-Auguste was three years old, Louis XIV legitimised his children by Montespan by letters patent registered by the Parlement de Paris. At this time, Louis-Auguste received the title of duc du Maine, in 1674, at the age of four, Louis-Auguste and his siblings were officially introduced to the court at Versailles. In the same year, he was made a colonel-general of the Swiss Guards, du Maines greatest enemy at court became his fathers sister-in-law, the duchesse dOrléans, known at court as Madame. The maréchal du Luxembourg, a military strategist, was put in charge of the childs military training. Despite this, Louis-Auguste never became more than a mediocre soldier and he was made Grand Maître de France. As a result, Louis-Auguste became the comte dEu, sovereign Prince of the Dombes and he also received the governorship of Languedoc and was awarded the Order of the Holy Spirit. In April 1684 du Maine represented the king at the wedding of the Duke of Savoy to du Maines cousin, in 1688, Louis Auguste was made a capitaine général des galères. However, the Grand Condé, a distant relative of the king. So du Maine was allowed to choose among the three unmarried daughters of Condés son, the duc dEnghien and he chose Louise Bénédicte, Mademoiselle de Charolais, over her sisters, Anne Marie, Mademoiselle de Condé and Marie Anne, Mademoiselle de Montmorency. All three were small, the eldest was beautiful, and full of sense and wit. Presided over by the Cardinal de Bouillon, the guest of honour was the exiled James II of England, Madame de Montespan, who had fallen out of favour with the king after the Affaire des Poisons, did not attend her sons wedding. The duc du Maine received a gift of one million livres from his father at his wedding and his bride was given a hundred thousand livres in cash, with clothes and jewels worth an additional two hundred thousand livres. Louise Bénédicte felt disgraced by her marriage to a légitimé de France and was often unfaithful, as the groom and bride were both physically handicapped, people at court snickered, Voici lunion dun boiteux et dune manchote. Nonetheless, the couple eventually had three children who grew to adulthood and their daughter, baptised at Versailles on 9 April 1714, was known as Mademoiselle du Maine and named Louise-Françoise de Bourbon. In 1707, Madame de Montespan died, and the duc du Maine inherited a portion of her fortune, including the château de Clagny
Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine
–
Louis Auguste in 1695
22.
Anne, Duchess of Maine
–
Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon, was the daughter of Henri Jules de Bourbon, Prince of Condé and Anne Henriette of Bavaria. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, she was a princesse du sang, Louise Bénédicte was born on 8 November 1676 at the Hôtel de Condé in Paris. She was the child born to the then Duke and Duchess of Enghien. The name Bénédicte was added in honour of the maternal aunt, Benedicta. She was brought up at the Hôtel de Condé with her sisters and had to endure slave-like conditions under the madness of her father. Her mother, who was pious and gentle, was beaten by her father as were their staff and her sister Marie Anne. When formally addressed, Louise Bénédicte was known as Mademosielle dEnghien, as a princess of the blood, she possessed the style of Serene Highness. When she was nine years old, her father was given the title of Count of Chalorais and this appellation would later pass to her niece Louise Anne. She was very outspoken and witty, and had a terrible temper and this nicknamed is sometimes said to have been made up by her sister-in-law the Duchess of Bourbon. She was close to her sister Marie Anne, whose marriage to the Duke of Vendôme she later arranged, although born with a lame arm, she was generally thought to be the most attractive of the Condé daughters. Despite this Madame, Duchess of Orléans, sister-in-law of Louis XIV called her a little toad, some time after her marriage, the Duchess of Orléans also said that Madame du Maine is not taller than a child ten years old, and is not well-made. To appear tolerably well, it is necessary for her to keep her mouth shut, for when she opens it, she opens it very wide, and shows her irregular teeth. She is not very stout, uses a great quantity of paint, has eyes, a white skin. If she were well-disposed, she might pass, but her wickedness is insupportable and she was very short like her older sister Anne Marie, Mademoiselle de Condé. She spent most of her time in the company of her mother, at first, it was proposed that she marry Louis de Bourbon, Count of Vermandois, son of Louis XIV and Louise de La Vallière. However, the count died in exile in 1683, Louis XIV arranged several marriages into princely houses of France for his legitimised children by Louise de La Vallière and. Prior to her marriage, she saw the marriage of Philippe dOrléans to Mademoiselle de Blois, Louise Bénédictes own brother Louis de Bourbon had even had been forced to marry Mademoiselle de Nantes, eldest legitimised daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. In 1692, the 15-year-old Louise Bénédicte married the 21-year-old Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Légitimé de France, as both the groom and his wife were physically handicapped, members of the court joked that look at the union of a one-armed woman and a lame man
Anne, Duchess of Maine
–
Louise Bénédicte by
François de Troy
Anne, Duchess of Maine
–
Signature
Anne, Duchess of Maine
–
Louise Bénédicte in the year of her marriage
Anne, Duchess of Maine
–
The
Château de Sceaux at the time of Louise Bénédicte
23.
Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart
–
Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart, known to Jacobites as The Princess Royal, was the last child of James II and VII, the deposed king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of his queen, Mary of Modena. In English, she was called Louisa Maria and Louise Marie in French, Louisa Maria was born in 1692, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, during her parents exile. Of all her siblings and half-siblings, only her brother James Francis Edward and her half-sisters, Queen Mary II and Queen Anne. Mary died while Louisa Maria was still a child. But it is easier to keep a crown than to regain one and it might be true that a calumnious fable had done much to bring about the Revolution. But it by no means followed that the most complete refutation of that fable would bring about a Restoration, not a single lady crossed the sea in obedience to Jamess call. His Queen was safely delivered of a daughter, but this event produced no effect on the state of public feeling in England. The new-born princess was given the names Louisa and Maria in baptism, while Teresa was added later and she was given the name Louisa in honour of King Louis XIV, who acted as her godfather. Her godmother was King Louiss sister-in-law, Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine, Louisa was the only full sibling of Prince James Francis Edward, the Old Pretender, to survive infancy, and was four years younger than her brother. The two were brought up together in France, louisas tutor was an English Roman Catholic priest, Father Constable, who taught her Latin, history, and religion. She also had a governess, the Countess of Middleton, wife of the Jacobite peer Charles, James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth, another Jacobite peer living in France, praised the childs natural affability. By the summer of 1701, King James was seriously ill, however, in June the two returned home for the birthdays of their two children, and two months later James suffered a stroke, dying just two weeks later on 16 September. He was still able to talk when his children visited him for the last time, serve your creator in the days of your youth. Consider virtue as the greatest ornament of your sex, follow close the great pattern of it, your mother, who has been, no less than myself, over-clouded with calumny. But time, the mother of truth, will, I hope, soon after Jamess death, Louis XIV proclaimed James Francis Edward as king of England, Scotland and Ireland, and he was also formally recognised as king by Spain, the Papal States and Modena. He and his sister Louisa Maria were transferred to Passy, into the care of Antoine Nompar de Caumont and his wife, with Lady Middleton continuing as Louisa Marias governess there. On 23 March 1708, after a delay caused by the measles, however, the force was driven off by a Royal Navy fleet led by Admiral Byng. Louisa Maria enjoyed dancing and the opera, and became popular at the French court, two possible matches for her were considered, with Louis XIVs grandson Charles, Duke of Berry, and with King Charles XII of Sweden
Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart
–
Portrait of Princess Louisa Maria by
Alexis Simon Belle, 1704
Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart
–
Château of
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart
–
Portrait of Louisa Maria by
François de Troy, about 1705
Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart
–
Louisa Maria's guardian
Antoine Nompar de Caumont, by Alexis Simon Belle
24.
Maria Theresa of Spain
–
Maria Theresa of Spain, was by birth Infanta of Spain and Portugal and Archduchess of Austria as member of the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg and by marriage Queen of France and Navarre. Her marriage in 1660 with King Louis XIV was made with the purpose to end the war between France and Spain. Without any political influence in the French court or government, she died at the age of 44 from complications from an abscess on her arm. Born an Infanta of Spain at the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, she was the daughter of King Philip IV, and his wife Elisabeth of France, as a member of the House of Habsburg, Maria Theresa was entitled to use the title Archduchess of Austria. Unlike France, the kingdom of Spain had no Salic Law, when Maria Theresas brother Balthasar Charles died in 1646, she became heiress presumptive to the vast Spanish Empire and remained such until the birth of Philip Prospero, in 1657. She was heiress presumptive once more between 1 November and 6 November 1661– the death of Prince Philip and the birth of Prince Charles, who would later inherit the thrones of Spain as Charles II. In 1658, as war with France began to wind down, anne of Austria desired an end to hostilities between her native country of Spain and her adopted one, France. However, Spanish procrastination led to a scheme in which Frances prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin, pretended to seek a marriage for his master with Margaret Yolande of Savoy. When Philip IV of Spain heard of a meeting at Lyon between the Houses of France and Savoy in November 1658, he reputedly exclaimed of the Franco-Savoyard union that it cannot be, and will not be. Philip then sent an envoy to the French court to open negotiations for peace. The negotiations for the contract were intense. This was eventually done but, by the skill of Mazarin and his French diplomats, the renunciation and its validity were made conditional upon the payment of a large dowry. As it turned out, Spain, impoverished and bankrupt after decades of war, was unable to pay such a dowry, a marriage by proxy to the French king was held in Fuenterrabia. On 9 June the marriage took place in Saint-Jean-de-Luz at the rebuilt church of Saint Jean the Baptist. After the wedding, Louis wanted to consummate the marriage as quickly as possible, the new queens mother-in-law arranged a private consummation instead of the public one that was the custom. On 26 August 1660, the made the traditional Joyous Entry into Paris. Maria Theresa was very fortunate to have found a friend at court in her mother-in-law and she continued to spend much of her free time playing cards and gambling, as she had no interest in politics or literature. Consequently, she was viewed as not fully playing the part of queen designated to her by her marriage, but more importantly, she became pregnant in early 1661, and a long-awaited son was born on 1 November 1661
Maria Theresa of Spain
–
Portrait of Maria Theresa of Spain as Queen of France
Maria Theresa of Spain
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Signature
Maria Theresa of Spain
–
Maria Theresa as Infanta of Spain and Portugal
Maria Theresa of Spain
–
Infanta Maria Theresa by Velázquez, 1653. Here, she wears her hair in a popular style at the Spanish royal court and a dress with wide panniers, also popular in Spain.
25.
John Closterman
–
John Closterman, was a German portrait painter of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. His subjects were British and European aristocrats and their families, born in Osnabrück in the Holy Roman Empire, Closterman was the son of an artist who taught him the rudiments of design. In 1679, Closterman went to Paris and worked under François de Troy, in 1681, he went to England. He worked for John Riley, painting the draperies in Rileys portraits When Riley died in 1691, because his work on Rileys portraits, Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, hired him to create some paintings. However, Somerset became dissatisfied about a portrait of the Italian painter Guercino that Closterman had painted for him, lord Halifax, eventually purchased the portrait. In 1696, Closterman was invited to the court of Spain and he also traveled to Italy twice, where he bought several artworks. When he returned to England, Closterman found a demand for his services among the society elite. At this time, he married an Englishwoman, Hannah, she died and was buried on 27 January 1702, according to Arnold Houbraken, Closterman later took a mistress who stole much of his property and then left him. Her departure allegedly precipitated Clostermans physical and mental decline, Closterman died in 1711 and was buried in Covent Garden churchyard in London. In 1702, Closterman painted a portrait of Anne, Queen of Great Britain in her coronation robes, wearing a crown. The Queen Anne portrait was exhibited in the Guildhall in London. The portrait has disappeared, but a study is part of the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London, in the Churchill portrait, the family is assembled beneath a rich hanging curtain on a raised dais, all the figures are lifesize. Closterman probably painted the portrait around the beginning of 1698, Closterman supposed had so many disputes with Sarah Churchill that her husband remarked, It has given me more trouble to reconcile my wife and you than to fight a battle. The Churchill portrait is now part of the collection at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire and it is mentioned by Horace Walpole in his work, Anecdotes of Painting. For many years John Closterman and his artist brother John Baptist Closterman have been conflated in biographies, such as that in the Dictionary of National Biography. An article by J. D. Stewart in The Burlington Magazine sets the record straight, citing John Clostermans will and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Closterman, John. Media related to John Closterman at Wikimedia Commons
John Closterman
–
A later painting of
The Marlborough family by John Closterman. On the Duke's left are Elizabeth, Mary,
the Duchess,
Henrietta,
Anne and John.
John Closterman
–
Queen Anne, c. 1702
John Closterman
–
Daniel Parke II by John Closterman, oil on canvas, 1706, in the collection of the
Virginia Historical Society
26.
Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell
–
Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell PC was an Irish royalist and Jacobite soldier. He served as James IIs Lord Lieutenant during the Williamite War in Ireland and his administration saw a major purge of Protestant officers from the Irish Army which had previously largely barred Catholics. Like most Old English families in Ireland, the Talbots had adopted the customs of the Irish and had, like the Irish and his eldest brother was Sir Robert Talbot, 2nd Baronet. He married Katherine Baynton in 1669 and they had two daughters, Katherine and Charlotte. Talbot later married Frances Jennings, sister of Sarah Jennings and he was also known by the nickname Lying Dick Talbot. During the Irish Confederate Wars that followed the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and he was taken prisoner by the Parliamentarians after the battle of Dungans Hill in 1647, but was ransomed back to his own side. In 1649, he survived the Cromwellian Sack of Drogheda. Shortly after this, he fled Ireland, to join his fellow defeated Royalists in France, Talbot had been introduced to Charles II and James, Duke of York, when they were exiles in Flanders, as a result of the English Civil War. Talbot then lived like many other royalist refugees, partly by casual military service and he was arrested in London in November 1655 and was examined by Cromwell. Once more he escaped, but it was said by his enemies that he was bribed by Cromwell, after the Restoration he continued to have a place in the household of the Duke of York. He was arrested for supposed complicity in the Popish Plot agitation in 1678, after the accession of James II in 1685, he was created Baron of Talbotstown, Viscount Baltinglass and Earl of Tyrconnell, and sent as commander in chief of the forces in Ireland. In this capacity and as Lord Deputy of Ireland he placed Catholics in positions of control in the state and the militia, consequently, the entire Roman Catholic population sided with James II in the Glorious Revolution. Thus, in 1689, when James landed at Dublin with his French officers and his role in the Revolution was satirised in the contemporary folk song, Lillibullero. After James came to Ireland, he created him Duke of Tyrconnell and Marquess of Tyrconnell, by early 1689 there was growing dissent amongst Protestants across Ireland. In County Cork, the town of Bandon rose up but were defeated by Justin MacCarthy. A second comfortable victory at the Battle of Cladyford followed and this initial success was checked when the Catholic forces besieged Derry and attacked Enniskillen. After they were relieved by Percy Kirkes forces, the Jacobites were forced to withdraw, the situation worsened after Marshal Schombergs large Williamite expedition reached Belfast Lough and captured Carrickfergus. Schomberg then marched south to a Dundalk where he threatened to advance on Dublin, after a lengthy stalemate the two armies withdrew into winter quarters
Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell
–
Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnel, attributed to
François de Troy
27.
Jean de la Fontaine
–
Jean de La Fontaine was a famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous versions in France. After a long period of royal suspicion, he was at last admitted to the French Academy, evidence of this is found in the many pictures and statues of the writer, as well as later depictions on medals, coins and postage stamps. La Fontaine was born at Château-Thierry in France and his father was Charles de La Fontaine, maître des eaux et forêts — a kind of deputy-ranger — of the Duchy of Château-Thierry, his mother was Françoise Pidoux. Both sides of his family were of the highest provincial middle class, though they were not noble and he then apparently studied law, and is said to have been admitted as avocat/lawyer. He was, however, settled in life, or at least might have been so, somewhat early. In 1647 his father resigned his rangership in his favor, and arranged a marriage for him with Marie Héricart, a girl of fourteen, who brought him 20,000 livres, and expectations. She seems to have been beautiful and intelligent, but the two did not get along well together. There appears to be no ground for the vague scandal as to her conduct. One son was born to them in 1653, and was educated, even in the earlier years of his marriage, La Fontaine seems to have been much in Paris, but it was not until about 1656 that he became a regular visitor to the capital. The duties of his office, which were only occasional, were compatible with this non-residence and it was not until he was past thirty that his literary career began. The reading of Malherbe, it is said, first awoke poetical fancies in him and his first serious work was a translation or adaptation of the Eunuchus of Terence. At this time the patron of French writing was the Superintendent Fouquet, to whom La Fontaine was introduced by Jacques Jannart, a connection of his wifes. Few people who paid their court to Fouquet went away empty-handed and he also began a medley of prose and poetry, entitled Le Songe de Vaux, on Fouquets famous country house. In the same year he wrote a ballad, Les Rieurs du Beau-Richard, Fouquet fell out of favour with the king and was arrested. La Fontaine, like most of Fouquets literary protégés, showed some fidelity to him by writing the elegy Pleurez, just at this time his affairs did not look promising. He found, however, a new protector in the duke and still more in the Duchess of Bouillon, his superiors at Château-Thierry. He was then forty-three years old, and his previous printed productions had been comparatively trivial and it was about this time that the quartet of the Rue du Vieux Colombier, so famous in French literary history, was formed
Jean de la Fontaine
–
Title page, vol. 2 of La Fontaine's Fables choisies, 1692 ed.
Jean de la Fontaine
–
Portrait by
Hyacinthe Rigaud (private collection)
Jean de la Fontaine
–
Portrait of La Fontaine attributed to
François de Troy
Jean de la Fontaine
–
Facsimile of one of the very few manuscripts by Jean de La Fontaine
28.
Jules Hardouin Mansart
–
Jules Hardouin-Mansart was a French architect whose work is generally considered to be the apex of French Baroque architecture, representing the power and grandeur of Louis XIV. Hardouin-Mansart was one of the most important European architects of the seventeenth century and he also learned from Libéral Bruant, architect of the royal veterans hospital in Paris known as Les Invalides. Hardouin-Mansart served as Louis XIVs chief architect, first enlarging the royal château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and he became the surintendant des Bâtiments du Roi. Outside the château proper, he built the Grand Trianon and the Orangerie, as well as subsidiary royal dwellings not far away, most of these works still set their stamp on the character of Paris and can be seen by a modern-day tourist. A traditional French touch is the modest pedimented entrance flanked by projecting pavilions. Behind, the axis is extended between the former parterres, now grass. The park with formally shaped water was out by André Le Nôtre. The small scale makes it easier to compare to the approximately contemporary Het Loo and he died at Marly-le-Roi in 1708. 17th-century French art Herbermann, Charles, ed. Jules Mansard
Jules Hardouin Mansart
–
Jules Hardouin-Mansart, marble bust by
Jean-Louis Lemoyne: a full-dress
Baroque portrait bust demonstrates that the King's architect is no mere craftsman
Jules Hardouin Mansart
–
Château de Dampierre: a domesticated version of Baroque for a patron in Louis XIV's inner circle
Jules Hardouin Mansart
–
Portrait of Hardouin-Mansart by
Hyacinthe Rigaud.
Jules Hardouin Mansart
–
Portrait of Hardouin-Mansart by
François de Troy.
29.
Louvre
–
The Louvre or the Louvre Museum is the worlds largest museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the citys 1st arrondissement, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres. The Louvre is the second most visited museum after the Palace Museum in China. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II, remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to the expansion of the city, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function and. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace, in 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nations masterpieces. The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum renamed Musée Napoléon, the collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic, whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower. According to the authoritative Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the name derives from an association with wolf hunting den, in the 7th century, St. Fare, an abbess in Meaux, left part of her Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris to a monastery. This territory probably did not correspond exactly to the modern site, the Louvre Palace was altered frequently throughout the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building into a residence and in 1546, Francis acquired what would become the nucleus of the Louvres holdings, his acquisitions including Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa. After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, constructions slowed, however, on 14 October 1750, Louis XV agreed and sanctioned a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. Under Louis XVI, the museum idea became policy. The comte dAngiviller broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed conversion of the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – which contained maps – into the French Museum, many proposals were offered for the Louvres renovation into a museum, however, none was agreed on. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution, during the French Revolution the Louvre was transformed into a public museum. In May 1791, the Assembly declared that the Louvre would be a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences, on 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property
Louvre
–
the Richelieu wing (2005)
Louvre
–
The only portion of the medieval Louvre still visible
Louvre
–
Antonio Canova 's
Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss was commissioned in 1787, donated in 1824.
Louvre
–
The
Venus de Milo was added to the Louvre's collection during the reign of
Louis XVIII.
30.
The Burlington Magazine
–
The Burlington Magazine is a monthly academic journal that covers the fine and decorative arts. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language and it has been published by a charitable organisation since 1986. The magazine was established in 1903 by a group of art historians and connoisseurs which included Roger Fry, Herbert Horne, Bernard Berenson and its most esteemed editors have been Fry, Herbert Read, and Benedict Nicolson. The journals structure was based on its contemporary British publication The Connoisseur. The Burlington Magazine was founded as a journal of ancient art but already in its first decade, topics covered in detail were, Paul Cézanne and Post-Impressionism in a debate between Fry and D. S. The journal had also notable contributions by visual artists on other artists. The journal appears monthly, and features a wide cross-section of writers, tatlock, Early 1921–1933 Herbert Read, 1933–39 Albert C. Jane Martineau, acting editor Official website Examples of Articles
The Burlington Magazine
–
The Burlington Magazine
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