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CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
THE BAROQUE IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND
Video Links:
The Frick Collection: The Fragonard Room
Compare and Contrast
France: The Style of Louis XIV
Key Images
Jacques Callot, Hangman s Tree, from The Great Miseries of War, p. 739, 21.1
Georges de La Tour, Joseph the Carpenter, p. 740, 21.2
Simon Vouet, The Toilet of Venus, p. 740, 21.3
Nicolas Poussin, The Death of Germanicus, p. 741, 21.4
Aerial view of Versailles, p. 749, 21.12
Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Garden front of the center block of the Palace
of Versailles, p. 750, 21.13
Hardouin-Mansart, Louis Le Vau, and Charles Le Brun, Galerie des Glaces (Hall of
Mirrors), Versailles, p. 750, 21.14
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Primary Source: Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), from an undated manuscript, p. 742
The Art Histor : Forgeries and The Book of Truth, p. 747
In the seventeenth century, France was the military and cultural power in Europe, and
Paris vied with Rome as the capital city of the arts.
Poussin regarded history painting as more intellectual than the naturalistic paintings
of Caravaggio, reportedly telling a contemporary that Caravaggio had come into the
world to destroy painting.
Baroque Architecture in England
Key Images
Inigo Jones, West Front of the Banqueting House, Whitehall Palace, London, p. 754,
21.20
666 drawing after the Grand Fire, p. 755,
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Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace (21.20) in London, although the style only
took hold in the early eighteenth century during the Palladian Revival.
Sir Christopher Wren was the country s preeminent architect, renovating St. Paul s
Cathedral (21.22) and rebuilding London after the Great Fire of 1666.
Key Terms/Places/Names
classicism
history painting
catalogue raisonné
Jules Hardouin-Mansart
Discussion Questions
1. In what ways does Sir Christopher Wren s design for St. Paul s Cathedral (21.22) in
London demonstrate a thorough knowledge of contemporary architecture in Italy and
France?
2. Why is French Baroque art sometimes regarded as an expression of absolutism?
How is this political ambition communicated in the art and architecture patronized
by Louis XIV?
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6. Portrait of Louis XIV (21.10)? What
messages are conveyed in this portrait?
Resources
Books
Berger, Robert W. The Palace of the Sun: The Louvre of Louis XIV. University Park:
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993.
DVDs
Versailles. (2004). Educational Video Network, Inc. 34 min.