1.
Victoria and Albert Museum
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The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is the worlds largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and these include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Royal Albert Hall. The museum is a public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media. Like other national British museums, entrance to the museum has been free since 2001, the V&A covers 12.5 acres and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The museum owns the worlds largest collection of sculpture, with the holdings of Italian Renaissance items being the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea, the East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection is amongst the largest in the Western world. Overall, it is one of the largest museums in the world, New 17th- and 18th-century European galleries were opened on 9 December 2015. These restored the original Aston Webb interiors and host the European collections 1600–1815, at this stage the collections covered both applied art and science. Several of the exhibits from the Exhibition were purchased to form the nucleus of the collection, by February 1854 discussions were underway to transfer the museum to the current site and it was renamed South Kensington Museum. In 1855 the German architect Gottfried Semper, at the request of Cole, produced a design for the museum, but it was rejected by the Board of Trade as too expensive. The site was occupied by Brompton Park House, this was extended including the first refreshment rooms opened in 1857, the official opening by Queen Victoria was on 22 June 1857. In the following year, late night openings were introduced, made possible by the use of gas lighting, in these early years the practical use of the collection was very much emphasised as opposed to that of High Art at the National Gallery and scholarship at the British Museum. George Wallis, the first Keeper of Fine Art Collection, passionately promoted the idea of art education through the museum collections. From the 1860s to the 1880s the scientific collections had been moved from the museum site to various improvised galleries to the west of Exhibition Road. In 1893 the Science Museum had effectively come into existence when a director was appointed. The laying of the stone of the Aston Webb building on 17 May 1899 was the last official public appearance by Queen Victoria. It was during this ceremony that the change of name from the South Kensington Museum to the Victoria, the exhibition which the museum organised to celebrate the centennial of the 1899 renaming, A Grand Design, first toured in North America from 1997, returning to London in 1999
2.
Versailles, Yvelines
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According to the 2008 census, the population of the city is 88,641 inhabitants, down from a peak of 94,145 in 1975. A new town, founded by the will of King Louis XIV, it was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789, before becoming the cradle of the French Revolution. After having lost its status of city, it became the préfecture of Seine-et-Oise département in 1790, then of Yvelines in 1968. Versailles is historically known for numerous treaties such as the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War and this word formation is similar to Latin seminare which gave French semailles. From May 1682, when Louis XIV moved the court and government permanently to Versailles, until his death in September 1715, during the various periods when government affairs were conducted from Versailles, Paris remained the official capital of France. Versailles was made the préfecture of the Seine-et-Oise département at its inception in March 1790, Versailles was made the préfecture of the Yvelines département, the largest chunk of the former Seine-et-Oise. At the 2006 census the Yvelines had 1,395,804 inhabitants, Versailles is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese which was created in 1790. The diocese of Versailles is subordinate to the archdiocese of Paris, in 1975, Versailles was made the seat of a Court of Appeal whose jurisdiction covers the western suburbs of Paris. Since 1972, Versailles has been the seat of one of Frances 30 nationwide académies of the Ministry of National Education. Versailles is also an important node for the French army, a tradition going back to the monarchy with, for instance, the palace of Versailles is in the out-skirts of the city. Versailles is located 17.1 km west-southwest from the centre of Paris, the city of Versailles has an area of 26.18 km2, which is a quarter of the area of the city of Paris. In 1989, Versailles had a density of 3, 344/km2, whereas Paris had a density of 20. Born out of the will of a king, the city has a rational and symmetrical grid of streets, by the standards of the 18th century, Versailles was a very modern European city. Versailles was used as a model for the building of Washington, the name of Versailles appears for the first time in a medieval document dated 1038. In the end of the 11th century, the village curled around a medieval castle, the 14th century brought the Black Death and the Hundred Years War, and with it death and destruction. At the end of the Hundred Years War in the 15th century, in 1561, Martial de Loménie, secretary of state for finances under King Charles IX, became lord of Versailles. He obtained permission to four annual fairs and a weekly market on Thursdays. The population of Versailles was 500 inhabitants, Martial de Loménie was murdered during the St. Bartholomews Day massacre
3.
Charles Le Brun
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Charles Le Brun was a French painter and art theorist. Declared by Louis XIV the greatest French artist of all time, he was a dominant figure in 17th-century French art, born in Paris, he attracted the notice of Chancellor Séguier, who placed him at the age of eleven in the studio of Simon Vouet. He was also a pupil of François Perrier, in Rome he remained four years in the receipt of a pension due to the liberality of the chancellor. There he worked under Poussin, adapting the latters theories of art, on his return to Paris in 1646, Le Brun found numerous patrons, of whom Superintendent Fouquet was the most important, for whom he painted a large portrait of Anne of Austria. Employed at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Le Brun ingratiated himself with Mazarin, then secretly pitting Colbert against Fouquet, Colbert also promptly recognized Le Bruns powers of organization, and attached him to his interests. Together they took control of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and the Academy of France at Rome, another project Le Brun worked on was Hôtel Lambert. The ceiling in the gallery of Hercules was painted by him, Le Brun started work on the project in 1650, shortly after his return from Italy. The decoration continued intermittently over twelve years or so, as it was interrupted by the renovation of Vaux le Vicomte. In 1660 they established the Gobelins, which at first was a school for the manufacture, not of tapestries only. He was the originator of Louis XIV Style and gave a direction to the national tendencies which endured centuries after his death, the King had declared him the greatest French artist of all time. From this date all that was done in the palaces was directed by Le Brun. In 1663, he director of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. While he was working on The Battles, Le Bruns style became more personal as he moved away from the ancient masters that influenced him. Le Bruns decoration is not only a work of art, it is the monument of a reign. This contributed to the illness which on 22 February 1690 ended in his death in his private mansion, Le Brun primarily worked for King Louis XIV, for whom he executed large altarpieces and battle pieces. His most important paintings are at Versailles, besides his gigantic labours at Versailles and the Louvre, the number of his works for religious corporations and private patrons is enormous. Le Brun was also a fine portraitist and an excellent draughtsman, but he was not fond of portrait or landscape painting, what mattered was scholarly composition, whose ultimate goal was to nourish the spirit. For Le Brun, a painting represented a story one could read, nearly all his compositions have been reproduced by celebrated engravers
4.
James Thornhill
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Sir James Thornhill was an English painter of historical subjects working in the Italian baroque tradition. Thornhill was born in Melcombe Regis, Dorset, the son of Walter Thornhill of Wareham and Mary, eldest daughter of Colonel William Sydenham, in 1689 he was apprenticed to Thomas Highmore, a specialist in non-figurative decorative painting. He also learned a great deal from Antonio Verrio and Louis Laguerre and he completed his apprenticeship in 1696 and, on 1 March 1704, became a Freeman of the Painter-Stainers Company of London. Thornhill decorated palace interiors with large-scale compositions, with figures shown in idealized. In 1707 he was given the commission to decorate the Hall now known as the Painted Hall at Greenwich Hospital, the scheme of allegorical wall and ceiling decorations of the hall depicts the Protestant succession of English monarchs from William and Mary to George I. On 28 June 1715 Thornhill was awarded the commission to decorate the dome of St Pauls Cathedral by a whig, the Weekly Packet said that the decision to award Thornhill the commission would put to silence all the loud applauses hitherto given to foreign artists. The eight scenes in the dome, executed in grisaille, show episodes from the Life of St. Paul, Thornhills vast murals in great houses often related to topical events, as seen through the eyes of his mainly Whig patrons. Here he painted The Rape of the Sabine Women, a vast panorama of mounted warriors carrying off the Sabine women to Rome, the subject is, inevitably, the Dukes 1704 victory at the Battle of Blenheim, during the War of the Spanish Succession. His last major commission was to paint the chapel at Wimpole Hall, he started work on the sketches in 1713. The north wall has fictive architecture and four Trompe-lœil statues of the four Doctors of the Church, the east wall above the altar is painted with the Adoration of the Magi. In 1725 he offered to paint decorations for the ceiling of the New Council Chamber at the Guildhall in the City of London and he gave his services free, although he was rewarded with a valuable gold cup. The chamber was demolished, though some of the paintings – an Allegory of London. In his native Dorset Thornhill decorated the reredos at St. Marys Church, in 1711, Thornhill was one of the twelve original directors of Sir Godfrey Knellers academy at Great Queen Street, London. In 1716, he succeeded Kneller as Governor there and held the post until 1720 and he then established his own private drawing school at Covent Garden, but this soon closed. In November 1724, Thornhill made a second, more successful, William Hogarth seems to have been a member of Thornhills second academy from the beginning. On 23 March 1729 he married Thornhills daughter Jane, Thornhill was with Hogarth when he went to see Sarah Malcolm in Newgate prison just days before her execution. This was in order that Hogarth might record her portrait, in June 1718 George I made Thornhill court painter, and in March 1720 Serjeant Painter. On 2 May 1720, the king knighted him, the first native artist to be knighted, in the same year, he was master of the Painters Company and in 1723 fellow of the Royal Society
5.
History painting
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History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than artistic style. History paintings usually depict a moment in a story, rather than a specific and static subject. The term is derived from the senses of the word historia in Latin and Italian, meaning story or narrative. Most history paintings are not of scenes from history, especially paintings from before about 1850, History paintings almost always contain a number of figures, often a large number, and normally show some type of action that is a moment in a narrative. The genre includes depictions of moments in religious narratives, above all the Life of Christ, as well as scenes from mythology. These groups were for long the most frequently painted, works such as Michelangelos Sistine Chapel ceiling are therefore history paintings, History painting may be used interchangeably with historical painting, and was especially so used before the 20th century. Where a distinction is made historical painting is the painting of scenes from secular history, in the 19th century historical painting in this sense became a distinct genre. In phrases such as historical painting materials, historical means in use before about 1900 and he placed emphasis on the ability to depict the interactions between the figures by gesture and expression. This view remained general until the 19th century, when artistic movements began to struggle against the establishment institutions of academic art, which continued to adhere to it. Scenes from ancient history had been popular in the early Renaissance, and once again became common in the Baroque and Rococo periods, and still more so with the rise of Neoclassicism. In some 19th or 20th century contexts, the term may refer specifically to paintings of scenes from history, rather than those from religious narratives. Scenes from ancient history and mythology were also popular, artists continued for centuries to strive to make their reputation by producing such works, often neglecting genres to which their talents were better suited. The large works of Raphael were long considered, with those of Michelangelo, un Peintre qui ne fait que des portraits, na pas encore cette haute perfection de lArt, & ne peut prétendre à lhonneur que reçoivent les plus sçavans. He who produces perfect landscapes is above another who only produces fruit, a painter who only does portraits still does not have the highest perfection of his art, and cannot expect the honour due to the most skilled. By the late 18th century, with religious and mytholological painting in decline, there was an increased demand for paintings of scenes from history. Classical history remained popular, but scenes from national histories were often the best-received, the unheroic nature of modern dress was regarded as a serious difficulty. When, in 1770, Benjamin West proposed to paint The Death of General Wolfe in contemporary dress and he ignored these comments and showed the scene in modern dress. Although George III refused to purchase the work, West succeeded both in overcoming his critics objections and inaugurating a more historically accurate style in such paintings. M. W, conveniently their clothes had been worn away to classical-seeming rags by the point the painting depicts
6.
Blenheim Palace
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Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the residence of the Dukes of Marlborough. The palace, one of Englands largest houses, was built between 1705 and circa 1722, Blenheim Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Designed in the rare, and short-lived, English Baroque style and it is unique in its combined use as a family home, mausoleum and national monument. The palace is notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill. At the end of the 19th century, the palace was saved from ruin by funds gained from the 9th Duke of Marlboroughs marriage to American railroad heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt, the exterior of the palace remains in good repair. John Churchill was born in Devon, although his family had aristocratic relations, it belonged to the minor gentry rather than the upper echelons of 17th-century society. In 1678, Churchill married Sarah Jennings, and in April that year, in May, Churchill was appointed the temporary rank of Brigadier-General of Foot, but the possibility of a continental campaign was eliminated with the Treaty of Nijmegen. When Churchill returned to England, the Popish Plot resulted in a temporary three-year banishment for James Stuart, the Duke obliged Churchill to attend him, first to The Hague, then in Brussels. On the death of Charles II in 1685, his brother, on Jamess succession Churchill was appointed governor of the Hudsons Bay Company. He had also been affirmed Gentleman of the Bedchamber in April, following the Monmouth Rebellion, Churchill was promoted to Major General and awarded the lucrative colonelcy of the Third Troop of Life Guards. When William, Prince of Orange, invaded England in November 1688, Churchill, accompanied by some 400 officers and men, when the King saw he could not even keep Churchill—for so long his loyal and intimate servant—he fled to France. As part of William IIIs coronation honours Churchill was created Earl of Marlborough, sworn to the Privy Council, during the War of the Spanish Succession Churchill gained a reputation as a capable military commander, and in 1702 he was elevated to the dukedom of Marlborough. During the war he won series of victories, including the Battle of Blenheim, the Battle of Ramillies, the Battle of Oudenarde, and this flag is displayed by the Monarch on a 17th-century French writing table in Windsor Castle. Marlboroughs wife was by all accounts a cantankerous woman, though capable of great charm, the relationship between Queen and Duchess later became strained and fraught, and following their final quarrel in 1711, the money for the construction of Blenheim ceased. For political reasons the Marlboroughs went into exile on the Continent until they returned the day after the Queens death on 1 August 1714, legend has obscured the manors origins. King Henry I enclosed the park to contain the deer, Henry II housed his mistress Rosamund Clifford there in a bower and labyrinth, a spring in which she is said to have bathed remains, named after her. The Duchess, as so often in her disputes with her architect, won the day, the architect selected for the ambitious project was a controversial one
7.
Marlborough House
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It was built for Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, the favourite and confidante of Queen Anne. For over a century it served as the London residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, the Duchess wanted her new house to be strong, plain and convenient and good. The architect Christopher Wren and his son of the name designed a brick building with rusticated stone quoins that was completed in 1711. The house was taken up by the Crown in 1817, Marlborough House was primarily used by members of the Royal Family, especially dowager queens and by Prince Albert Edward of Wales and his wife Alexandra. Queen Adelaide, widow of William IV, was given the use of Marlborough House from 1831 until her death in 1849. From 1853 to 1861 Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria, arranged for the building to be used by the National Art Training School, later the Royal College of Art. From 1861-1863, the building was enlarged to designs by Sir James Pennethorne, who added a range of rooms on the north side. This was done for the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, and his wife the Princess of Wales, Alexandra of Denmark, after Edward VII died in 1910, Alexandra reverted to Marlborough House as her London home, until her death in 1925. A late Art Nouveau-Gothic memorial fountain by Alfred Gilbert in the Marlborough Road wall of the house commemorates her, in 1936 Marlborough House became the London residence of their sons widow, Queen Mary. Mary survived George by 17 years, in the grounds of the house remains her pet cemetery. A thatch-roofed rotating summer house built for her still is in place, a plaque to commemorate Queen Mary was unveiled by the Queen in 1967 in the exterior wall closest to the corner with the Mall. The nearly cubical saloon retains wall-paintings by Louis Laguerre of the Battle of Blenheim, a cupola inserted in the ceiling is surrounded by paintings by Orazio Gentileschi for the Queens House, Greenwich,1636. There are paired staircases flanking the saloon, with further battle pieces by Laguerre, most of the interiors have been altered. Marlborough House is usually open to the public for Open House Weekend each September, the house is also open for group tours by prior arrangement. Visiting Information at The Commonwealth Secretariat Virtual tour Flickr images tagged Marlborough House
8.
Petworth House
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It contains intricate wood-carvings by Grinling Gibbons. It is the house of the manor of Petworth. For centuries it was the home for the Percy family. Petworth is famous for its art collection made by George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont. It also has a deer park, landscaped by Capability Brown. The manor of Petworth first came into the possession of the Percy family as a gift from Adeliza of Louvain. He later married the Percy heiress and adopted the surname Percy and his descendents became the Earls of Northumberland, the most powerful family in northern England. The Percy family, whose seat was at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, bordering Scotland. However, in the late 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I grew suspicious of the Percy familys allegiance to Mary, Queen of Scots, and confined them to Petworth. In 1682, at the age of 16 and already widowed, she married the 20 year old Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset. They became one of the wealthiest couples in England, the site was previously occupied by a fortified manor house built by Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy, the 13th-century chapel and undercroft of which still survive. He adds not so ancient blood to your family, as part of his plan he petitioned the king to grant him the additional title of Earl of Northumberland, with special remainder to Wyndham. The plan was opposed by his son the future 7th Duke, who petitioned the king against, in 2015 Smithsons descendant Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland still owns the said Percy estates. George Wyndham, created in 1859 by Queen Victoria Baron Leconfield and he attempted to make up for the loss of Petworth by building his own stately home in Devon called Silverton Park, which was widely deemed hideous and was demolished in 1901. The future 6th Baron Leconfield was in 1963 created Baron Egremont, the house and deer park were handed over to the nation in 1947 by Edward Wyndham, 5th Baron Leconfield and are now managed by the National Trust under the name Petworth House & Park. The Leconfield Estates continue to own much of Petworth and the surrounding area, the contents of the house, in particular the paintings and sculptures, are now the property of the National Trust having been taken in lieu of accumulated death duties. Lord Egremont and his live in the south wing, allowing much of the remainder to be open to the public. Lady Egremont has restored the gardens, todays building houses an important collection of paintings and sculptures, including 19 oil paintings by J. M. W
9.
Burghley House
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Burghley House is a grand sixteenth-century country house near Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. It is an example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, built by. Its park was laid out by Capability Brown, the exterior very largely retains its Elizabethan appearance, but most of the interiors date from remodellings before 1800. The house is open to the public and displays a circuit of grand and it lies 0.9 miles south of Stamford and 10 miles northwest of Peterborough city centre. Burghley was built for Sir William Cecil, later 1st Baron Burghley and it was subsequently the residence of his descendants, the earls and, since 1801, marquesses of Exeter. Since 1961 it has been owned by a charitable trust established by the family, the Olympic corridor commemorates her father. Her daughter Miranda Rock is now the most active live-in trustee and it has a suite of rooms remodelled in the baroque style, with carvings by Grinling Gibbons. The main part of the house has 35 major rooms on the ground, there are more than 80 lesser rooms and numerous halls, corridors, bathrooms and service areas. In the seventeenth century, the open loggias around the floor were enclosed. Although the house was built in the plan shape of the letter E in honour of Queen Elizabeth. The so-called Hell Staircase has substantial ceiling paintings by Antonio Verrio from 1697, although depleted of a number of important pieces by death duties in the 1960s, the Burghley art collections are otherwise mainly intact and are very extensive. The house still displays several hundred paintings, a proportion of which are of the 17th century, bought in Italy by John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter. Both visited Italy more than once, bringing back large quantities of art, the Chapel has a large altarpiece by Veronese and his workshop, and two large paintings by Johann Carl Loth, a German painter active in Venice with few works in British collections. There are in total seven works by Luca Giordano, including a self-portrait, in the Pagoda Room, there are portraits of the Cecil family, Elizabeth I, her father Henry VIII and Oliver Cromwell. Many delicately painted walls and ceilings of the house were done by Antonio Verrio, the Billiard Room displays six oval portraits of members of the Order of Little Bedlam, the 5th Earl’s drinking club. There are a number of outstanding pieces of furniture and silver, a new Treasury space in the Brewhouse displays annually changing exhibitions highlighting aspects of the collections. The avenues in the park were all out by Capability Brown, paying due respect to pre-existing plantings. Brown also created the parks man-made lake in 1775–80 and he discovered a seam of waterproof blue clay in the grounds, and was able to enlarge the original 9-acre pond to the existing 26-acre lake
10.
Chatsworth House
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Chatsworth House is a stately home in Derbyshire, England. It is in the Derbyshire Dales, about 3.5 miles north-east of Bakewell and 9 miles west of Chesterfield and it is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire and has been home to the Cavendish family since 1549. Standing on the east bank of the River Derwent, Chatsworth looks across to the low hills that divide the Derwent, Chatsworth has been selected as the United Kingdoms favourite country house several times. The name Chatsworth is a corruption of Chetels-worth, meaning the Court of Chetel, Chetel was deposed after the Norman Conquest and in the Domesday Book the Manor of Chetesuorde is listed as the property of the Crown in the custody of William de Peverel. Chatsworth ceased to be an estate, until the 15th century when it was acquired by the Leche family who owned property nearby. They enclosed the first park at Chatsworth and built a house on the ground in what is now the south-eastern part of the garden. Bess began to build the new house in 1553 and she selected a site near the river, which was drained by digging a series of reservoirs, which doubled as fish ponds. Sir William died in 1557, but Bess finished the house in the 1560s and lived there with her husband, George Talbot. In 1568 Shrewsbury was entrusted with the custody of Mary, Queen of Scots and she lodged in the apartment now known as the Queen of Scots rooms, on the top floor above the great hall, which faces onto the inner courtyard. An accomplished needlewoman, Bess joined Mary at Chatsworth for extended periods in 1569,1570, Bess died in 1608 and Chatsworth was passed to her eldest son, Henry. The estate was purchased from Henry by his brother William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire, few changes were made at Chatsworth until the mid 17th century. William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of Devonshire was a staunch Royalist and was expelled from the House of Lords in 1642 and he left England for the safety of the continent and his estates were sequestrated. Chatsworth was occupied by both sides during the Civil War, and the 3rd Earl did not return to the house until the restoration of the monarchy and he reconstructed the principal rooms in an attempt to make them more comfortable, but the Elizabethan house was out-dated and unsafe. This called for a rebuilding of the house, which began in 1687 and he enjoyed building and reconstructed the East Front, that included the Painted Hall and Long Gallery, followed by the rebuilding of the West Front from 1699 to 1702. The North Front was completed in 1707 just before the Duke died, the 1st Duke also had large parterre gardens designed by George London and Henry Wise, who was later appointed by Queen Anne to the post of Royal Gardner at Kensington Palace. Connoisseur of the arts the collection include paintings, Old Master drawings and prints, ancient coins and carved Greek, Palladian furniture designed by William Kent was commissioned by the 3rd Duke when he had Devonshire House in London rebuilt following a fire in 1733. Upon the sale and demolition of Devonshire House in 1924 the furniture was transferred to Chatsworth, the 4th Duke made great changes to the house and gardens. He decided the approach to the house should be from the west and had the old stables and offices as well as parts of Edensor village pulled down so they were not visible from the house
11.
Frogmore House
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Frogmore House is a 17th-century English country house owned by the Crown Estate. The house is situated within the Frogmore Estate, which is located within the grounds of the Home Park, Windsor. Half a mile south of Windsor Castle, Frogmore was let to a number of tenants until the late 18th century, the house is currently uninhabited, but it is used by the royal family to host both private and official events. It is a Grade I listed building, the Frogmore estate has been under royal ownership since the 16th century and was then leased to a series of Crown tenants. Construction on Frogmore house was not begun until 1680 for tenants Anne Aldworth, work continued until 1684 and is thought to be the work of Hugh May, an architect employed by Charles II at Windsor Castle and uncle of tenant Thomas May. The houses first royal resident was George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, the duke died in 1716, but his wife continued to live at Frogmore until her death in 1738. There were a number of tenants, including Edward Walpole, until 1792 when George III purchased the house for his wife. Queen Charlotte used the house as a retreat for her and her unmarried daughters. They used Frogmore as an away from court life where they could practice their pastimes of painting, drawing, needlework, japanning, reading. The Queens interest in botany is reflected in a number of the rooms at Frogmore, including a room decorated with painted flowers by the artist Mary Moser. Great attention was paid to the gardens, where the queen planted a number of Spanish chestnut, laburnum and birch trees, when Charlotte died 1818, she left the house to her daughter Princess Augusta Sophia, who lived there until her death 1840. The house was in condition, but to make it fit for royal inhabitants, James Wyatt was employed to enlarge. Between 1795 and 1804, Wyatt enlarged the floor, added flanking pavilions to the north and south of the house and extended to make room for a new dining room. After the Princesss death in 1840, Queen Victoria gave it to her mother, during this time the house was subject to a number of alterations. The Duchesss taste differed greatly to Queen Charlottes and much of the decoration from her time was lost. The house was used regularly between 1841 and the death of the Duchess of Kent in 1861, with Queen Victoria often visiting and a number of private family functions were held there. Victoria wrote of the house, All is peace and quiet and you hear the hum of the bees, the singing of the birds. Frogmore was used intermittently for the remainder of the 19th century, helena and her husband moved to Cumberland Lodge in 1872
12.
Louis XIV of France
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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
