While Italy and Germany embraced the opulent baroque, France took the fundamentals of Renaissance classicism even further, becoming more imitative of ancient models -- this represents a change from the Renaissance preference to find inspiration in the classic era.
During the reign of Louis XIV, art and architecture were subservient to political ends. Buildings were grandiose and severely ordered on the Versailles model. Opulence was saved for interior decoration, which increasingly (especially from 1715 to 1750, after the death of Louis XIV) became an excessively detailed and self-indulgent rococo (rocaille in French). Externally, this later style is only noticeable by a greater elegance and delicacy.
Rococo tastes didn't last long, though, and soon a neoclassical movement was raising structures, such as Paris's Panthéon (1758), even more strictly based on ancient models than the earlier classicism was.
Identifiable Features
Symmetrical, rectangular structures. French classicism concentrated on horizontal and vertical lines and simple proportions.
Classical throwbacks. Classicism was favored for the very fact that it brought back such elements as classical orders (Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian) and projecting central sections topped by triangular pediments.
Mansard roofs. A defining feature and true French trademark developed by François Mansart (1598-1666) in the early 15th century, a mansard roof has a double slope, the lower being longer and steeper than the upper.
Dormer windows. Unlike the larger Renaissance ones flanked by showy stone scrolls, later dormers tended to be lower, less extravagant, and wooden.
Oeil-de-bouef windows. These small, round "ox-eye" windows poke out of the roof's slope.
Excessive detail. Rococo interior decoration is often asymmetrical and abstract with shell-like forms and many C- and S-curves. Naturalistic flowers and trees are sometimes playfully introduced.
Best Examples
Palais du Louvre (1650-1670). A collaborative classical masterpiece, the Louvre was designed as a palace. Le Vau (1612-70) was its chief architect, along with collaborators François Mansart, the interior decorator Charles Le Brun (1619-90), and the unparalleled landscape gardener André Le Nôtre (1613-1700). The structure subsequently had several purposes (see chapter 7 for the complete history) before becoming a museum.
Versailles (1669-1685). Versailles is France's -- indeed, Europe's -- grandest palace, the Divine Monarchy writ as a statement of fussily decorative, politically charged classical architecture, though the interior was redecorated in more flamboyant styles. The chief architects of its complete overhaul under Louis XIV were the oft-used team (see Palais du Louvre, above) of Le Vau, Mansart, Le Brun, and Le Nôtre. Mansart's grand-nephew (and Louis XIV's chief architect) Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646-1708) took over after Le Vau's death, changing much of the exterior look. The Clock Room is a good example of rococo interior decoration.
Panthéon (1758). This Left Bank monument is a perfect example of the strict neoclassical style.
