LE VAU, Louis

Constructed from 1656 to 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis de Belle Île, Viscount of Melun and Vaux, the superintendent of finances of Louis XIV, the château was an influential work of architecture in mid-17th-century Europe. At Vaux-le-Vicomte, the architect Louis Le Vau, the landscape architect Andr� Le N�tre, and the painter-decorator Charles Le Brun worked together on a large-scale project for the first time. Their collaboration marked the beginning of the “Louis XIV style” combining architecture, interior design and landscape design.

The site is surrounded by water, the French garden, designed by Le N�tre, occupies 33 hectares. The garden’s pronounced visual axis is an example of this style.

Constructed from 1656 to 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis de Belle Île, Viscount of Melun and Vaux, the superintendent of finances of Louis XIV, the château was an influential work of architecture in mid-17th-century Europe. At Vaux-le-Vicomte, the architect Louis Le Vau, the landscape architect Andr� Le N�tre, and the painter-decorator Charles Le Brun worked together on a large-scale project for the first time. Their collaboration marked the beginning of the “Louis XIV style” combining architecture, interior design and landscape design.

The site is surrounded by water, the French garden, designed by Le N�tre, occupies 33 hectares. The garden’s pronounced visual axis is an example of this style.

French château c. 6 km north-east of Melun, in the d�partement of Seine-et-Marne. It was built in 1656-61 for Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV’s Surintendant des Finances, by Louis Le Vau with the assistance of Charles Le Brun. The gardens were laid out by Andr� Le N�tre under Le Vau’s guidance.

The forerunner of Versailles, it is the most important château built in France in the mid-17th century; it was here that Le Vau, Le Brun and Le N�tre learnt to work as a team and to produce the unity of architecture, interior decoration and garden layout that distinguishes the Louis XIV style.

In the 1660s Le Vau had designed for the executors of Mazarin’s will the Coll�ge des Quatres-Nations, for the foundation of which the Cardinal Had left a large sum. The building, now the Institut de France, was placed on the south side of the Seine on the axis of the Square Court of the Louvre and was conceived as part of the same grand scheme. It is of importance in French architecture of this period as being one of the few buildings to embody some of the principles of Roman Baroque architecture. The domed church flanked with wings curving forward combines motifs from Pietro da Cortona and Borromini, and presents a dramatically effective ensemble not to be paralleled in French architecture of the seventeenth century.

Le Vau’s plan included a bridge which was to link the college with the Louvre. This was not built till the nineteenth century, and then only as the meagre Pont des Arts; but even this allows one to appreciate the effect which the architect intended to be produced on the visitor as he walks across the river towards the college with its semicircle spread symmetrically before him.

The engraving was executed by Gabriel P�relle.

It was in the interior of the château of Versailles that Louis XIV had to appear on the most important ceremonial occasions, it was here that he received the ambassadors of foreign powers, and it was here that the full complexity of court life was displayed.

The festivities of the Court took place in the seven rooms of the King’s Appartement, named after the seven planets, culminating in the Salon d’Apollon, which was the Throne Room. These rooms were approached by the most spectacular of all the inventions of this period at Versailles, the great staircase or Escalier des Ambassadeurs. This was designed by Le Vau, but was only begun in 1671, the year after his death, by his collaborator Fran�ois d’Orbay, who produced new designs on a more ambitious scale in 1674.

The form of the staircase was novel and filled a long, narrow space. A short broad flight led to a landing, where it divided into two flights following the long wall of the cage. The whole staircase was lit by an opening in the middle of the coved ceiling. Very richly decorated with polychrome marble, gilt bronzes and paintings, it was lit by its glass roof. All its decor celebrated the victory of the king in the Dutch War (1672-1678). The decoration, planned by Charles Le Brun, was of the greatest splendour.

This staircase was the finest example of the co-operation between Le Vau and Le Brun, and proved how brilliantly these two artists could adapt themselves to the needs of the new epoch. It opened the way for the second stage in the creation of Versailles, in which the name of Le Vau is replaced by that of Jules Hardouin-Mansart.

Poorly lit, rather dilapidated and rarely used by Louis XV, except for grand diplomatic audiences, the staircase was destroyed in 1752 on the king’s orders because of the difficulty of maintaining the glass roof and to permit the extension of his inner apartment.

The picture shows the model of the staircase.

One of the most significant of the city palaces in the first half of the seventeenth century in Paris is the H�tel Lambert on the Île St-Louis. Le Vau used a completely new layout here which reflected the narrowness of the site: instead of siting the garden along the portal-courtyard-accommodation axis, he moved it to the right, close to the ‘cour-d’honneur’. The latter, with cut-off corners, opens onto a monumental staircase which, flanked by oval hallways, leads into the gallery which is laid out sideways and is interposed between the garden and open ground.

The decoration of the fa�ade combines French elegance and monumental Roman features. Doric orders superimposed on Ionic are used on the courtyard fa�ade and a continuous entablature runs right across the wings. The dominant motif is provided by the stepped entrance with its pediment and free-standing Doric columns at ground-floor level.

The picture shows the courtyard fa�ade.

View the ground plan of the H�tel Lambert, Paris.

One of the most significant of the city palaces in the first half of the seventeenth century in Paris is the H�tel Lambert on the Île St-Louis. Le Vau used a completely new layout here which reflected the narrowness of the site: instead of siting the garden along the portal-courtyard-accommodation axis, he moved it to the right, close to the ‘cour-d’honneur’. The latter, with cut-off corners, opens onto a monumental staircase which, flanked by oval hallways, leads into the gallery which is laid out sideways and is interposed between the garden and open ground.

The decoration of the fa�ade combines French elegance and monumental Roman features. Doric orders superimposed on Ionic are used on the courtyard fa�ade and a continuous entablature runs right across the wings. The dominant motif is provided by the stepped entrance with its pediment and free-standing Doric columns at ground-floor level.

The picture shows the courtyard fa�ade.

View the ground plan of the H�tel Lambert, Paris.

In 1656, Le Vau began his architectural masterpiece, the Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte, owned by France’s wealthy finance minister Nicolas Fouquet (1615-1680). Probably the most important French château of the Baroque period, it possesses all the archetypal classical characteristics of order, balance and symmetry, while its monumental form conveys a sense of enduring power. Its fa�ade is dominated by a large pediment and oval dome, accompanied by alternating patterns of windows and pilasters. The building, whose interiors were decorated by Charles Lebrun and others, stands in formal gardens designed by Andre Le N�tre.

This structure, according to contemporaries, outshone everything which had previously been achieved in the field.

The picture shows the entrance front.

View the fa�ade and ground plan of Château Vaux-le-Vicomte, Maincy.

In 1656, Le Vau began his architectural masterpiece, the Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte, owned by France’s wealthy finance minister Nicolas Fouquet (1615-1680). Probably the most important French château of the Baroque period, it possesses all the archetypal classical characteristics of order, balance and symmetry, while its monumental form conveys a sense of enduring power. Its fa�ade is dominated by a large pediment and oval dome, accompanied by alternating patterns of windows and pilasters. The building, whose interiors were decorated by Charles Lebrun and others, stands in formal gardens designed by Andre Le N�tre.

This structure, according to contemporaries, outshone everything which had previously been achieved in the field.

The photo shows the view from the rond d’eau of the garden.

View the fa�ade and ground plan of Château Vaux-le-Vicomte, Maincy.

From 1662 Le Vau (assisted by Fran�ois d’Orbay) was involved in the design of the Coll�ge des Quatre Nations, Paris (1661-74), now the Institut de France. By employing a pedimented fa�ade (with a tall cupola behind) flanked by two quadrants ending in pavilions facing the River Seine (thus giving the structure a concave fa�ade bordered by the wings), he showed a strong affinity with Italian Baroque art, and with the work of both Bernini and Francesco Borromini.

View the ground plan of the church of Coll�ge des Quatres-Nations, Paris.

Versailles became the ultimate European palace, not only because of its size, splendour, and advanced layout, but also because of the ideal manner in which it expressed absolute power. Versailles was the symbol of timeless domination, the residence of the Sun King, whose life and works of an exemplary nature and were therefore subject to strict regulation and ritual.

The conversion of Louis XIII’s small hunting lodge in Versailles had been set in motion by 1668. With Le Vau, Le Brun and Le N�tre, the king brought in those artists who had already developed significant new concepts at Vaux-le-Vicomte, the palace of his minister Fouquet. The setting of the natural landscape and the concept of “between courtyard and garden” distinguished this new, but much more ambitious extension.

The picture shows the garden fa�ade of the palace.

In 1656, Le Vau began his architectural masterpiece, the Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte, owned by France’s wealthy finance minister Nicolas Fouquet (1615-1680). Probably the most important French château of the Baroque period, it possesses all the archetypal classical characteristics of order, balance and symmetry, while its monumental form conveys a sense of enduring power. Its fa�ade is dominated by a large pediment and oval dome, accompanied by alternating patterns of windows and pilasters. The building, whose interiors were decorated by Charles Lebrun and others, stands in formal gardens designed by Andre Le N�tre.

This structure, according to contemporaries, outshone everything which had previously been achieved in the field.

View the fa�ade and ground plan of Château Vaux-le-Vicomte, Maincy.

In 1656, Le Vau began his architectural masterpiece, the Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte, owned by France’s wealthy finance minister Nicolas Fouquet (1615-1680). Probably the most important French château of the Baroque period, it possesses all the archetypal classical characteristics of order, balance and symmetry, while its monumental form conveys a sense of enduring power. Its fa�ade is dominated by a large pediment and oval dome, accompanied by alternating patterns of windows and pilasters. The building, whose interiors were decorated by Charles Lebrun and others, stands in formal gardens designed by Andre Le N�tre.

This structure, according to contemporaries, outshone everything which had previously been achieved in the field.

One of the most significant of the city palaces in the first half of the seventeenth century in Paris is the H�tel Lambert on the Île St-Louis. Le Vau used a completely new layout here which reflected the narrowness of the site: instead of siting the garden along the portal-courtyard-accommodation axis, he moved it to the right, close to the ‘cour-d’honneur’. The latter, with cut-off corners, opens onto a monumental staircase which, flanked by oval hallways, leads into the gallery which is laid out sideways and is interposed between the garden and open ground.

Much of the decoration of the interior survived until the fire in 2013 which destroyed or damaged some of it. The most striking is the Gallery of Hercules (heavily damaged in the fire), one of the finest rooms of the period. The walls are decorated with a series of stucco reliefs, bronze and gold in colour, by Gerard van Opstal, representing the Labours of Hercules, to whom the room is dedicated. On the side opposite the windows these reliefs alternate with landscapes by Rousseau. The ceiling was painted by Le Brun, who continued the story of the hero in a huge decoration which was in its time the most ambitious piece of Baroque illusionism to be executed in France. Le Vau was presumably the controlling mind behind this magnificent scheme, and it shows his qualities at their best.

After crossing the vestibule, we reach the Grand Salon, placed under the dome. It is oval: an innovation for the time, which preferred the galleries. The idea is directly inspired by Italian Baroque. The salon is relatively staid in its ornament, white stucco composite pilasters below and stucco caryatides above; but the ceiling was to have had frescoes by Le Brun which would have added greater richness. (Le Brun had planned a vault with the theme of “Palace of the Sun” which was not realized.)

The photo shows the Grand Salon.

The rooms in the château are elaborately decorated, some with painted grotesque panels, others, like the King’s apartments, in a style new of France which Le Brun had brought from Italy. This is based on a combination of stucco, gilding and painting, which Le Brun seems to have learnt from studying Pietro da Cortona’s rooms in the Palazzo Pitti. In the King’s apartments Le Vau and his team of collaborators, Le Brun for painting, Gilles Gu�rin and Thibault Poissant for sculpture, invented the style which was to be used in the decoration of Louis XIV’s first rooms in Versailles. This style is a compromise, a Roman Baroque tamed to suit a northern taste.

The photo shows the King’s bedroom.

The rooms in the château are elaborately decorated, some with painted grotesque panels, others, like the King’s apartments, in a style new of France which Le Brun had brought from Italy. This is based on a combination of stucco, gilding and painting, which Le Brun seems to have learnt from studying Pietro da Cortona’s rooms in the Palazzo Pitti. In the King’s apartments Le Vau and his team of collaborators, Le Brun for painting, Gilles Gu�rin and Thibault Poissant for sculpture, invented the style which was to be used in the decoration of Louis XIV’s first rooms in Versailles. This style is a compromise, a Roman Baroque tamed to suit a northern taste.

The photo shows the King’s bedroom.

From the 17th century in French art, the interior decoration of a building was conceived as an extension of architectural design. This relationship assumed full force in the 18th century. The conception and decoration of interior space was the object of sustained reflection for a century and half, producing infinitely varied responses such as the Gaming Room at Vaux-le-Vicomte, where the walls are densely decorated.

The photo shows the Gaming Room in Château Vaux-le-Vicomte.

Of Le Vau’s private houses one of the most interesting is the H�tel Tambonneau, begun in 1642. Here the openings are arched so that the effect is like logge to be found on many Roman churches of the early seventeenth century.

The building was demolished in 1642, it is known from the engraving by Jean Marot.