Palace Chapel (Versailles)
The palace chapel of the Palace of Versailles , inaugurated in 1710, was the last major construction project under Louis XIV after the palace was expanded in the 17th century. The exterior design of the palace church, dedicated to Saint Louis , differs from the strict style of the palace and is regarded as a baroque interpretation of the Gothic Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.
historical overview
The Palace of Versailles was expanded in several stages from a small hunting seat to one of the largest residences in Europe under the Sun King Louis XIV. Even in the old hunting lodge of his father Ludwig XIII. there was a solitary, small chapel from the first half of the 17th century, which was demolished around 1665 in the course of the construction of the Thetis grotto . A new, rather provisional chapel was located in the south wing of the so-called mantle , where the Salle des Gardes de la Reine , the Queen's Guard Room, is today. As a result of the redesign of the guard room, the chapel room moved into an adjacent room sequence, which, however, turned out to be too small for the needs of the growing courtyard. A new, two-storey chapel with more generous dimensions was located at the transition from the Corps de Logis to the newly built north wing from 1682 and remained there until 1710, the former church interior was rebuilt under Louis XV. later transformed into the Hercules Salon. The plans for the construction of today's chapel were drawn up in 1689, but could not be implemented due to the costs of the Palatinate War of Succession , so the project was suspended for several years. Work on the new castle church began after the end of the war and following the Peace of Rijswijk from 1699 under Jules Hardouin-Mansart and continued after his death in 1708 by his brother-in-law Robert de Cotte . The shell of the chapel was completed in 1702 and the exterior in 1710; the interior of the church continued until 1715.
The palace chapel was the spiritual center of the Versailles court society until the outbreak of the French Revolution . The Dauphin Louis Ferdinand and Maria Theresa of Spain and the future King Louis XVI married in it. and Marie Antoinette . After the revolution, the palace church was no longer of any great importance; it is presented to the present day as part of the Versailles Museum and serves as a regular venue for classical concerts.
The construction
The exterior
The palace chapel lies parallel to today's Gabriel wing, it protrudes from the large north wing of the palace, whose atrium it borders with its north wall. The schematic structure of the two-story church goes back to the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. Like this medieval palace chapel, it is dedicated to Saint Louis, the patron saint of the Bourbons .
The exterior of the chapel, which consists of two clearly separated structures, with its plastic design deviates from the strict baroque-classicist garden facade and the one in the style of Louis XIII. held courtyard facades of the Versailles Palace. The substructure, which is lit by large arched windows and houses the actual two-story church space, forms a rectangular body with a round apse . Above it is the slim roof structure, which illuminates the interior ceiling painting with its smaller arched windows. The upper structure is supported by lively buttresses and linked to the lower church space. Together with the steep roof area towering over the palace and the abundant decorative figures, the result is an almost Gothic, filigree ensemble. The roof was originally - also based on the Sainte-Chapelle - with a roof turret, which had to be removed as early as 1765 due to the dilapidation. On the north wall of the chapel, facing the atrium of the north wing, there is a tower-like extension, which was possibly intended as a bell tower, but was not completed.
The interior
The church hall, around 25 meters high, is designed in the style of a basilica and consists of two floors. The royal family and the members of the court followed the masses from the upper floor from the gallery , which could be entered directly from the large room of the castle via a vestibule in the north wing, stylistically oriented towards the chapel . The lower, ground floor floor of the church was used to accommodate the court , the kings only followed the services from here on high church holidays or when mass was held by a bishop .
The basement is structured by mighty pillars in an arcade position and is covered with a colored marble floor. In the choir area facing east is the altar and on the gallery above the large organ of the chapel . Where the stump of the tower can be seen in the courtyard, there are two superimposed altars in the interior, which are dedicated to Saint Ludwig and the Virgin Mary . The upper floor of the church is structured by circumferential Corinthian columns , on which the roof structure with the vault rests. The main theme of the decorative motifs are scenes from the New and Old Testament . The church hall is largely kept in white, gray and gold tones, which enhances the effect of the vaulted fields and the mighty ceiling painting, which depicts the Trinity . Antoine Coypel , Charles de La Fosse and Jean Jouvenet , among others, contributed to the equipment .
organ
→ Main article: Organ of the Palace Chapel of Versailles
In the castle chapel there is an altar organ that was built by Robert Clicquot in 1711 . It has 35 registers , distributed over four manuals and pedal .
rating
At the time of its creation, the magnificent castle chapel was rather ridiculed, Duke Saint-Simon called it a giant catafalk and the philosopher Voltaire described it as "astonishing frippery" . In the present, the building, which was highly modern for its time, is rated more mildly, the architectural photographer Robert Polidori even described the chapel as the most perfect building in the Versailles palace complex.
The church interior served Luigi Vanvitelli as a model for the construction of the castle church in the palace of Caserta .
literature
- Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos, Robert Polidori : Versailles. Könemann, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-89508-424-7 .
- Nicholas d'Archimbaud: Versailles. Stiebner, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-8307-0172-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Versailles Palace. In: arch INFORM ; Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ Jean M. Pérouse de Montclos, Robert Polidori: Versailles. Könemann, Cologne 1996, p. 106.
- ^ A b Jean M. Pérouse de Montclos, Robert Polidori: Versailles. Könemann, Cologne 1996, p. 107.
- ↑ Nicholas d'Archimbaud: Versailles. 2001, p. 60.
- ^ Jean M. Pérouse de Montclos, Robert Polidori: Versailles. Könemann, Cologne 1996, p. 104.
Coordinates: 48 ° 48 ′ 18.2 " N , 2 ° 7 ′ 19.5" E