Louis XIV style

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

The Sun King made France into the wealthiest and most powerful country of Europe. 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;

  • Balance: a quest for symmetry and perfection that gave a strong sense of order, formality and classicism;

  • Originality: new decorative motifs, new canons of beauty and architectural rules.

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