Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
French Art
Picasso warned us: 'All art is a lie'. I would be lying not to
admit that my enthusiasm for the arts does not centre around
museums. Since there are libraries on the subject of French
art and the museums of Paris are world renown, I just offer
the briefest historical review here. Get ye to the museums
to learn more!
In the 16th century, the Renaissance came to France
from Italy. The discovery of the world beyond Europe and
the Middle East, the rediscovery and development of the
sciences and the invention of the printing press in Germany
all created an intellectual explosion across Europe. King
François I invited gifted Italian artists of the day to France.
Leonardo da Vinci (who actually died in France), Benvenuto
Cellini and Titian decorated his new castle at Fontainebleau
so magnii cently that other wealthy landowners took up the
trend. The fabulous chateaux sprinkled along the Loire river
valley remain. In 1546, this King began the 'new' Louvre
castle and the Tuileries in Paris, built upon the foundations
of city fortii cations going back to Roman times.
By the 17th century, Paris counted among the great cultural
capitals of Europe. Under the direction of Cardinal Richelieu,
the streets were paved and the
Ile St Louis
and
Marais
i lled
with magnii cent hotels, city residents of both aristocrats
and the new merchant class. The Luxembourg palace and
gardens were completed on the left bank, the Louvre enlarged
and gilded. Louis XIV built Versailles into a magnii cent
central point of royal power—economically, socially and
physically. Here, he kept his nobles in splendid coni nement,
encouraging their petty ini ghting and squabbles to prevent
their gathering force against him.
In the countryside, artists such as Georges de la Tour and
the brothers Lenain depicted the simple peasant and his
work. They rel ected the new value of humanism that became
the foundation of the democratic principles on which France
stands today.
The turbulent politics of the 18th century brought a decline
in both the decorative arts and individual expression. Art and
architecture became a function of politics. The old Bastille
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