Louis XIV style

Download printable PDF version

From the second half of the 17th century to 1715.

The Sun King made France into the wealthiest and most powerful country of Europe. Following the impulse of the newly established Academies and favored by policies that encouraged the arts, commerce and industry, the Louis XIV style shined through all the courts of Europe. In 1664, Colbert created the Royal Manufactory of furniture for the Crown gathered under the direction of Charles Lebrun the best painters, engravers, stone cutters, sculptors, iron foundries, cabinet makers and carvers of ebony and wood that all served to promote the creations and export luxury products abroad. This nation style would help limit imports.The Chateau of Versailles established French classicism and gave birth to a National School of Art, which dominated Europe for the next hundred years. The Louis XIV style can be summed up in three words:

Majesty: a tendency towards luxury, the monumental and the grandiose, with a wealth of sculpture and gilding. The contempraries of Louis XIV were struck by the splendor of the court, espcially during the period when The Grands Appartements in Versailles were furnished in solid silver furniture: mirrors, balustrades, torcheres, chandeliers and candelabras (tragically melted to finance the Habsburg war in 1689.)

Balance: The wealth of decoration was never excessive, nor heavy. A quest for symmetry and perfection that gave a strong sense of order, formality and classicism, following the classical laws set by Lebrun for all the Academies.

Originality: new decorative motifs, new canons of beauty and architectural rules. Great designers such as Jean Lepautre (1617-1682) or Bérain (1638-1711) marked their times with their amazing compositions.

Ebony, blackened pear tree, rosewood, sycamore woods were often used for marquetry, and splendid cabinets with elaborate secrets and mechanisms were created – such as the famous Mazarin desk. The commode was created in 1708 and the flat desk by André-Charles Boulle. Other names are to remember Auburtin Gaudron, Daniel Marot, Nicolas Sageot; Pierre Gole and Domenico Cucci.

  • Photo 1: Louis XIV surrounded by his family, Louis XIV with Louis le Grand Dauphin, Louis, duc de Bourgogne, and Louis, duc de Bretagne and the Duchess of Ventadour, governess of the Royal Infants, formerly attributed to Largillière, 1710-1715, Wallace Collection. This painting not only presents the King and his family but also the Louis XIV style. As was required by the Etiquette, the King sits on a high back luxuriously covered chair. Behind him against the wall is a gilded and sculpted wood console table upon which is placed a white and blue vase. Pedestals support the bronze busts of Henri IV and Louis XIII. The wall decoration includes warrior trophies as well as a grisaille rendering of the Race of the Sun chariot.
  • Photo 2: Siamese embassy of King Narai to Louis XIV, in Versailles in 1686, engraving of a painting by Larmessin.
  • Photo 3: Engraving of the designer Jean Bérain I. Painter, aquarelle artist, appointed designer of the Chamber and the King’s cabinet in 1674, and decorator of the Royal Academy of music in 1680. He owned his great success to his reinterpretation of the Renaissance motif called grotesque, renamed arabesque. This new ornament was largely used in all domains of interior decoration.
  • Photo 4: Detail of the wall tapestry Louis XIV visiting the Gobelin tapestry factory with Colbert, October 15th 1667, giving insights into the decorative arts during the reign of Louis XIV

Related Pieces