The masterpiece of architecture that inspired Louis XIV to build Versailles: Palais Vaux-le-Vicomte

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The Palace of Versailles did not appear out of the blue - despite its erection in the middle of the marshes. It may not have appeared at all - or it would have become different if it had not been for another architectural masterpiece, recognized as a model of French palace and park architecture and the subject of the fierce envy of King Louis XIV. The castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte, although it was created by a man of very dubious reputation, nevertheless became one of the greatest creations of French geniuses.

How Nicolas Fouquet built himself a house

Nicolas Fouquet took life lightly and was sure that everything around exists only for his pleasure. Born in 1615 into the family of an influential French politician, he early gained access to power and the state treasury, and in 1650 bought for himself the post of attorney general at the Paris Parliament. Troubled times of riots - Frondes, which brought ruin and misfortune to someone, Fouquet used for his own good.

He managed to become the right hand of Mazarin himself, the first minister of France. Thanks to the patronage of the Italian, Nicolas Fouquet received from the young King Louis XIV the post of Superintendent of Finance of France. It happened in 1653. At the same time, Fouquet decided to create the most luxurious, the most beautiful palace - especially since money was always at hand.

The choice of land for construction was made very well: as early as 1641, Fouquet invested from his wife's dowry in the purchase of a small estate not far from the road connecting Vincennes Castle and Fontainebleau - two royal residences. At that time, Vaud was surrounded by a forest, there was a farm and a small chapel from the 14th century. Two rivers flowed through the estate - this will have a beneficial effect on the irrigation of gardens in the future. It was there that the construction of the best palace and park ensemble in France began.

Fouquet approached his project on a grand scale - why not? He was young, ambitious, knew how to make connections, including with women - among his victories was the king's favorite Louise de Lavalier. Then all this - especially the last - will turn against the favorite of fortune, but in the late fifties, when the construction of Vaux-le-Vicomte was underway, life favored Fouquet.

How masterpieces appear

For the construction of the castle and the regular park, the best were invited - the real geniuses of their craft. The architect Louis Leveaux created the residence, relying on old French traditions and introducing new ideas into his work, which will become a reference point for future generations of architects.

Initially, the facades were planned to be made of bricks, but white stone was still used. When creating the palace, the architect deviated from the then rules for the arrangement of rooms according to the enfilade principle: two rows of rooms were created, in addition, corridors were made - in France this was a novelty … The best rooms were, of course, intended for the owner of the estate, Nicolas Fouquet, no less luxurious for King Louis. In those days, the practice of giving the monarch apartments in castles was very common - the royal court moved a lot. Louis XIV's rooms were richly decorated with marble and gold, decorated with statues of lions and ancient gods - but the king himself never slept here.

Charles Lebrun, an artist and art theorist, was invited as a decorator; his turn to continue the creation of an architectural masterpiece came in 1658. The palace was constantly replenished with more and more new works of art - antique statues, paintings by the best artists of France and Italy, tapestries, marble, gilding, mirrors - later generations of connoisseurs could not be surprised with this luxury, because after the castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte, Versailles was created in the same traditions …

The main building housed one hundred rooms with an area of two and a half thousand square meters. The Oval Drawing Room became unique for the 17th century - there were no such premises in French residences before.

The architecture and interior decoration of the castle were in perfect harmony with the landscape - Fouquet's particular pride was the park, for the creation of which André Le Nôtre was invited. The area of the parkland of Vaux-le-Vicomte was 33 hectares, a total of 20 kilometers of aqueduct were laid. Thanks to the efforts of the chief gardener, the forest retreated. Fountains, a waterfall, grottoes were erected in the garden … Le Nôtre embodied an amazing idea, when looking at the park, the observer was at the mercy of an optical illusion: objects located far from the castle were larger than those close, the perspective was distorted and it seemed that the elements of the garden were closer than they were in reality.

Of course, garden plants were also planted - in fact, the very phenomenon of the French, or regular garden, originates from the estate of Vaux-le-Vicomte.

A just punishment for a criminal or a manifestation of the envy of a king?

Fouquet created his palace on a truly royal scale - in fact, he hoped to soon take the place of the dying Mazarin and take the helm of the French state with a fairly young king. But the Italian, with whom the enterprising superintendent had seriously deteriorated over time, recommended Louis XIV to rely on Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who was indifferent to the luxury and conventions of secular life and who devoted himself entirely to serving the king.

As for Fouquet, by that time Mazarin had managed to expose him in a very unattractive light. Nicolas Fouquet continued to enjoy wealth and luxury, the company of women, the improvement of his residence, not particularly caring about how to recover the spent funds from the state treasury. In order to close holes in the budget, he resorted to loans at high interest rates, and did not hesitate to forge documents that he presented to the king. Fouquet did not know that all his records were carefully checked by Colbert on behalf of Louis.

The king had long been ready to get rid of Fouquet, but he, being the attorney general, according to the rules could only be tried by parliament, and Louis had serious reasons to believe that the guilty one would be acquitted. Then Colbert persuaded Fouquet to sell the post of prosecutor, and transfer the proceeds to his Majesty in order to arouse goodwill. He agreed.

The last holiday in the palace Vaux-le-Vicomte Fouquet gave on August 17, 1661 - it was an evening dedicated to the king. More than six hundred guests were present, among them were artists, Moliere read his new play. Fireworks took place in the park at night. Apparently, the contemplation of all this unrestrained extravagance was the last straw for Louis XIV. On September 5, three weeks later, Fouquet was arrested during the royal council in Nantes by Lieutenant d'Artagnan.

Vaux-le-Vicomte was confiscated, his wealth was gradually exported. The king used elements of the decoration of the castle and garden to create Versailles - his own pearl of palace and park art. Orange trees and shrubs, chestnuts, carps from the ponds of Vaud, sculptures went to the royal residence. But the main acquisition of Louis was the team that Fouquet put together: Louis Leveaux, André Le Nôtre and Charles Lebrun were now working on the architecture, landscape and interior decoration of the Palace of Versailles, developing the very "Louis XIV style" that arose when the estate of the disgraced minister was created.

Fouquet's trial took place three years later, the sentence was life imprisonment. Fouquet was sent to the castle of Pignerol, where he died fifteen years later. The conditions of imprisonment were extremely strict: it was forbidden to correspond, walk and communicate with people in any way; only a year before Fouquet’s death was allowed to see his wife and children. Soon after her husband’s death in 1680, Madame Fouquet handed over the palace of Vaux-le-Vicomte, which was graciously returned to her by the king, to her eldest son. In 1705, he died without leaving any offspring, and the palace was sold.

For a long time, the estate belonged to Marshal Villard and his family, and Vaux-le-Vicomte was visited by the next king of France, Louis XV. Choiseul-Pralen became the owner of the castle in 1764. Having survived after the Great Revolution thanks to the cunning of the owners, the castle and the park later became the property of Alfred Saumier, a wealthy industrialist who was ready to invest very serious sums in the restoration of the then desolate residence.

Carefully engaged in the restoration of the palace and the garden and trying to preserve the atmosphere of the 17th century in it, he gave up electricity for a long time - however, in 1900 it was nevertheless supplied to the castle.

Currently, Vaux-le-Vicomte, located 55 kilometers from Paris, belongs to the descendants of the same Saumier. The castle and the garden are open to tourists - up to three hundred thousand guests are examined during the year of ownership. Of course, filmmakers do not ignore this residence: dozens of films were filmed in Vaux-le-Viscount, including Angelica and the King (1966), James Bond: Moon Rider (1979), D'Artagnan's Daughter. (1994), The Man in the Iron Mask (1997), Marie Antoinette (2006).

And here is the history of Versailles starts differently and the fame of this residence has acquired much wider.