Fridays:

The History of Paris – Architecture, Urbanism, Society - Part 3:
Paris under the Bourbons: The Age of Louis XIV I, 1643-1690.

Meet this week:

Meeting point for Versailles is inside main gate to chateau courtyard on the right at 10:45

Louis XIV, the “Sun King” is undoubtedly the greatest royal figure in French History. His long reign (72 years) dominated his era, which came to be known as the “Grand Siècle”. This course will trace the youth of the great King marked by the presence of his mother, Anne of Austria, his first great minister Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde the last rebellion of the French against royal authority before the Revolution. The death of Mazarin in 1661 signals the beginning of Louis’ personal government (“l’état c’est moi”) and the period of his great building projects including the new Louvre, the Chateau de Versailles and the Hotel des Invalides. The creation of the royal academies, the Gobelins manufacture and the rise of the “Grand Style” favored by the King’s first painter Charles Le Brun, provide the magnificent cultural and artistic background to the reign from 1661 to 1690. Love, after war, building and hunting, was the other great pastime of the King and we will examine his romantic relationships with the official royal mistresses, notably the beautiful Louise de La Vallière and the resplendent Athénais de Montespan.

Course Schedule:  Fridays 10:30 am – 12:00 noon.

1. 17 Sep - Gallery – The young King, 1643-1670.
2. 24 Sep - Visit – The Royal Louvre and the Collège des Quatre Nations (Institut de France).
3.   1 Oct - Gallery – Love and Power, the royal mistresses and the creation of Versailles, 1670-1690.
4.   8 Oct - Visit - 11am to 1pm - Château de Versailles.
5. 15 Oct - Visit - The King’s painters and sculptors, from Classicism to the Grand Style. Musée du Louvre.
6. 22 Oct - Visit – Hôtel des Invalides and the Church of the Dome.

Course fee: 120 € for the 6 sessions or 25 € for one session> Students are responsible for their museum entrance fees. Louvre: 9,50 €; Versailles: 9 €; Invalides: 7 €