English Period: Middle Renaissance: English Restoration | Reviews

Becca: I really liked Becca's informative furniture descriptions. She had a great layout and paragraph formation that explained the details perfectly. She listed features as well as provided images that backed up her descriptions. I now understand this period more because of it.

Erin: The focus was primarily on furniture just like Becca's. I enjoyed her information in list form because it didn't add fluff to what she wanted to say. She listed descriptions and characteristics that were very important during this period.

English Period: Middle Renaissance: English Restoration

The Middle Renaissance, otherwise known as the English Restoration period, started in 1660 and ended in 1750. During this period, there were several important people that made design thrive. Charles II and James II helped aid the Restoration, Stuart, or Carolean Period. William and Mary sparked the age of the walnut. Queen Anne set out for furniture, and George I and the portion of George II's reign started the Early Georgian or Early Chippendale period.

Sir Christopher Wren was an important figure during this time. Due to the Great fire of 1666,  it had burned a large section of London. Sir Christopher Wren, because of that, set new standards of design. This was called the Baroque urban design. It was greatly influenced by the French. He developed a new standard for housing. This included wall thickness, floor heights, and materials. This also started the zoning and construction regulations that have carried on to today. He was also the most renowned English architect of all time. His masterpiece is the St. Paul's Cathedral. This included 52 churches that have influenced other church designs as well. Their main focus of worship leaned towards Protestant rather than Catholic.

William and Mary was the age of the walnut. Their furniture consisted of straight turned legs or cup turned legs. The bottom included a low horizontal X-stretcher that was common in a lot of their furniture. Veneers were perfected, and there was also marquetry and lacquer work. Some of their furniture includes the William and Mary highboy and lowboy. They also created the settee. Some of the fabrics that they used within their design was velvet, brocade, chintz, leather, and needlepoint.

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Images | Current





Extra Credit | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m71G-PjdIpQ
Secret rooms of St. Paul's Cathedral

Neoclassical Style | Reviews

Amanda: It was interesting to read more of an insight within the English Period. She provided great examples, such as listing off the important people of this time. I also enjoyed her images, both present and past. They represent the periods greatly.

Lisa: I liked how she went into more of an explanation with directoire. Her current application images really helped me understand the period more in depth.

Neoclassical Style

During 1760 through 1789, the Neoclassical Style came about during the French period. Because the previous period was led by women, the Rococo period ended by the women. This was very different from the past because the king and court did not rule this ending. King Louis XV's favorite women of the time turned the Rococo style into the classicism. These women included Madame de Pompadour and Madame du Barry. Madame de Pompadour developed art and architecture in France, sponsored work of Sevres, and lead the movement toward Eastern products. Madame de Pompadour also suggested the Petite Trianon. Madame du Barry received the Petite Trianon from the aging Louis XV, but Marie Antoinette was closely associated with it. The Petite Trianon represented the Roman forms. It had strict architectural schemes for the buildings. This included hospitals, government offices, and railroad stations. Their favorite capital of the time from the Roman forms was Doric.

The architecture was not the main focus of this period. The walls were painted to look like marble instead of actually using the material. Dark greens and reds were used to represent Pompeii. Ancient Egyptian ornamentation and decorative details resembled military symbols of the Roman armies. Like stated earlier, architecture was not as distinctive during this era; furniture stood out more than anything.

The interiors did not bring over the curves of the Rococo period. If curves did exist, it was semicircular and not free-flowing. Lines and proportions were more slender, and walls were paneled and painted with raised outer moldings. This was decorated with classical ornamentation such as the egg and dart. The panel corners often had square rosettes. The colors were pale and white/off-white with a touch of gold. The ornamentation and motifs were influenced by the Roman and Greek architecture.

Images | Past

Images | Current

Extra Credit | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Elfq5qlUY

French Baroque | Reviews

1) Kiera: I like how she went into detail about the architecture and the furniture. She provided great examples for each, such as the Palais de Versailles and the Louis XIV chair.

2) Savannah: Her images, both past and current, were beautiful. The demonstrated the exuberant fabrics and colors of this time. They also captured the subtlety that was also provided through the design elements.

French Baroque

          In 1643, Louis XIII ended up dying off. With that, Louis XIV was proclaimed King at the young age of five years old. Throughout Louis XIV's reign, he created a national style of art. The Jean Baptiste Colbert was a French statesman. This included Venetian glassmakers and Flemish weavers. French workmen could not emigrate at this time, and they enforced textile regulations. With that being said, the Academy of Painting and Sculpture was organized tor the new style of art. This was a school that was established for 60 children under the King's protection. They were said to become "Masters" of their craft throughout their schooling.

          Another important figure during this time was Nicolas Fouquet. He was the superintendent of finances in 1655-1661. He was the owner of the Vaux-leVictomte. Within this large structure was 105 lavish rooms, 170 acres of gardens, Persian carpets, crystal chandeliers, gold clocks, and silver vases. The structure entertained roughly 6,000 guests due to its massive area. Due to the Vaux-leVicomte being so rich in materials and structure, Nicolas Fouquet was imprisoned for life. The King was essentially envious of what he had owned, so he took care of it by making sure he wouldn't enjoy it for the rest of his life. On another note, Louis Le Vau was the architect, Andre Le Notre was the garden designer, Charles LeBrun was the painter for the interiors, decorator, and architect, and Puget was the sculptor.

          Palais de Versailles was another structure that had great meaning. It was originally a hunting lodge for Louis XIII. It started in 1668 and continued for almost a century. It was 12 miles southwest of Paris and housed 10,000 people; much larger than Vaux-leVictomte. Le Vau designed the central block around the original Louis XIII building. Louis Le Vau was the architect, Andre Le Notre was the garden designer, Charles LeBrun was the painter for the interiors, Puget was the sculptor, and Jean Berain was in charge of the decorative engravings. These names are repeated several times in several other structures; just like the Vaux-leVictomte as stated earlier.

Images | Past

Images | Present

Extra Credit | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsQK6F7hmJk

French Renaissance #1 | Reviews

Katie: I enjoyed the grand windows in her current application images. In the first current image, the drapery really shows off the design of this period. It is dramatic yet elegant all at the same time.

Claire: She did a good job providing examples of how this period took its time on their exteriors.The chateau examples were great to include to back up her findings. Her second image is nice because it shows the large drapery on the canopy bed.