Chapel of
Versailles - 300 years exhibition
Until the end of the Ancien
Regime, the chapel of Versailles was the
most famous place for religious ceremonies of the court of France. An
exhibition
celebrates its tercentenary, illuminates the extraordinary richness of
its decoration and remind the magnificence of his property removed. His
story is gorgeous. The chapel at Versailles is a special building
for its architecture as for its scenery. Its construction, spread over
twelve long years - 1698-1710 - making it a monument of transition
between the seventeenth and eighteenth century, at a time when the
power does not change but which taste is changing rapidly. The chapel
is located on the fringes of the movement of
French art and even of European religious art. Because of very strict
rules have led to its special formulation: they wanted to do the
extraordinary, and even the wonderful because we had both honor God and
King. The political ends have played a big role here. The
daily Mass, to which Louis XIV was present more often than his
platform, was a pretext for a procession that took place around the
king's Flat. "Going and returning from Mass, he spoke to wanted after
saying the captain of the guards, if not distinguished people," wrote
Saint-Simon. During this procession, a solemn and familiar at the same
time, it happened to Louis XIV to launch itself a new, as this day of
July 1684 when he announced, very satisfied, a twenty-year truce with
the Emperor Leopold I, the truce of Regensburg. Delegations that had
not been hearing, as envoys of Algiers in 1681, seized the opportunity
to worship in its path. It also happened that an incident disturbs the
order of procession, as during the harsh winter of 1711 when a groom
fell dead at his feet. During the Mass, they sang anthems and, for the
birth of children of France or in connection with military victories,
we played the Te Deum. On holidays, including Christmas, the show was
even more grandiose, that the bad language of Saint-Simon is forced to
recognize. Louis XIV was the first to introduce an orchestra in a
sacred precinct, three bays of seats received 90 singers who
interpreted the works of Lully and Delalande. With age, the
piety of
the king becoming more evident, he also attended the vespers, the
salutes, the sermons and ordered to Brissac, Major of the Guards, "let
him know the names of those who caused the mass . For even during
religious ceremonies, the label who ruled life at Versailles was
causing quarrels: François de La Rochefoucauld declined to
attend the
sermon claiming "he could not settle to go, as the last of the Court,
seek a place at the officer who distributed them and do it early to
have a good ". Saint-Simon, once again, told how the search made by the
great ladies feast days when they had the honor of being singled out by
the Queen and the Dauphine was originally an ugly dispute between the
princesses and duchesses of Lorraine. The chapel, however, had to
remain a sanctuary to the glory of God. It is clear that in 1682 the
idea of replacing the first chapel, which was near the apartment of the
queen, by a larger building. The enormous costs caused by the war of
the League of Augsburg will force the king to postpone this project for
ten years. Mansart, who is the chief architect, the device rejects the
usual cross-shaped plan: he draws a simple rectangle terminated by a
semicircle. The intention is very clear: the plan of the chapel of
Versailles, taking up one of the Sainte-Chapelle, a tribute to St.
Louis. He belonged in fact to Louis the Great to renew the act's most
pious Christian of his predecessors, especially since the "L" could be
crowned with an allusion to Louis IX as well as Louis XIV. The
dedication was held June 5, 1710, while the decoration work is far from
complete. But it soon becomes apparent that we have here is an artistic
renewal: we can no longer speak of "Louis XIV, even late, but youthful
style. This is partly due to artists who work for the chapel : Antoine
Coypel, who painted most of the vault, will become one of Regent's
favorite painters. Claude Audran, who heads the glazing, will be a
master of Watteau. Charles de La Fosse, who was chosen by Louis XIV
himself, uses colors that evoke the Venetian painting. Degoullons, who
sculpts the organ, then worked for Louis XV to the development of small
apartments. The skies of the chapel show the parallels between the Old
and New Testament: the paintings of the vault represent the three
persons of the Trinity. In the center, the Eternal Father in glory
bringing the world the promise of redemption, by Antoine Coypel, in the
apse, The Resurrection of Christ by Charles de La Fosse, and above the
royal tribune, The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Virgin and the
Apostles, by John Jouvenet. As the carvers, their art "amiable" is
already one of the eighteenth century. Thus, all combine to make the
new building a summit of French art. Of the total budget for the
building of the Chapel Royal, estimated at 2.5 million pounds, nearly
one million was also allocated to the painted and carved. But nothing
is insignificant at Versailles: the great carpet of the ship had been
ordered from the Soap Factory. Recently, one of the central compartment
could be bought for two million euros by the castle-museum. We may
discover at the exhibition. The organ, located in the gallery above the
altar, opened in 1711, was a work of Robert Clicquot. Around this
organ, whose most illustrious owner was François Couperin,
placed
themselves musicians and singers. Finally, the missal was illustrated
by Charles-Nicolas Cochin. Wherever one looks, the decoration of the
chapel of Versailles was brilliant. What he was criticized, however, as
early as the reign of Louis XIV was accused before of being an act of
faith, to be an act of glorification Royal. Stunning chapel. Wonder
artistic, less for the asking, the apotheosis of the House of France.
