Transcript intro_frenchculture_rev

1600-1800
 King Louis XIV (1638-1715) was
the model for absolute monarchy
in Europe. He had total control
over every art of the French
government.
 He reigned for 72 years.
 The French flag used in New
France, the empire in North
America during 1604 – 1763, had
three gold fleurs-de-lis on a white
background. It was based on the
French Royal Banner first used in
the late 1300s.
 White was the French royal color
beginning about 1600.
Source: http://www.worldbookonline.com/
Louis XIV in a portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud.
 French writer, born in Paris
 He became a high-ranking civil servant
and a member of the French Academy
under King Louis XIV.
 Best known for a book of fairy tales he
collected, Tales of Mother Goose.
 The collection, published under his
son's name in 1697, includes "Sleeping
Beauty,” “Little Red Riding Hood,”
"Bluebeard,” “Puss in Boots,” and
“Cinderella.” Source: http://www.worldbookonline.com
 Conspicuous wealth was a way to
demonstrate power.
 This was seen in the spending to build
the King’s palace at Versailles. The Palace
of Versailles was built during the 1600s as
the royal residence of France and has
1,300 rooms.
 Landscaping of the Palace of Versailles
may have been the greatest achievement
of the French landscape designer Andre
Le Notre, who designed extravagant
gardens for some of the greatest
chateaux in France from 1650-1700.
Photo by Pierre Berger, Photo Researchers
Source:
http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/extmedia?id=a
r583770&st=gardens+at+versailles&em=pc305325
Chateau of Versailles from the East (1668), oil painting by
Pierre Patel (Bridgeman Art Library © photo by Peter Willi)
 Outlandish dress and extravagant social display were expected.
 Corsets were mainly worn during the Enlightenment and
Victorian periods to make the waist look smaller.
 “A stomacher is worn over the breast or chest. At one time it
was fashionable for both women and men to wear
stomachers. Women's stomachers were often highly
ornamented.” Source: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/notes.html
Woman wearing
stomacher and corset.
http://collectionsonline.
lacma.org/mwebcgi/mw
eb.exe?request=record;id
=204390;type=101
Above: stomacher
Right: corset
www.metmuseum.org
 Balls were exclusively for the
privileged or wealthy.
 Participants dressed in their
finest apparel.
 “Perrault's experience and interest
in fancy dress is emphasized in his
version of Cinderella. He provides
more detail and description of the
ball clothes than most other
versions of the tale.”
Source:
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/notes.html
 Fine glass was a sign of
conspicuous wealth.
Venetian glassmakers
created fine art for
European aristocracy for
centuries.
 Gold and silver are precious
metals, therefore they have
always been signs of wealth.
 Glass mirrors were a sign of
luxury and wealth.
 Citrons are lemons.
 Citrus fruit was a sign of wealth, as it
needed to be refrigerated.
 During the 1600s, access had been
limited, if not cut off, due to Muslim
control of North Africa and Spain.
Spain was fully restored to Christian
control in 1493, but citrus would
have remained expensive.
 Serving this fruit would have been
another sign of conspicuous wealth.
Source:
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/notes.html
 Mice and rats represent
connections to poverty.
 Pumpkins were cheap,
accessible food during 1600
France. They were connected
with poverty.
 The carriage in “Cinderella; or
The Glass Slipper” could
demonstrate Cinderella
stepping out of her status,
which would have been a great
violation of social protocol.
 Catholicism and Absolutism both
required strict obedience. In 17th
Century France everyone would have
been guided by both of these
ideologies.
 Strict obedience to the aristocracy, the
monarchy, and the Catholic Church
would have been expected, even
demanded. This expectation would
have been extended to the family,
including godparents.
 Godparents were moral and spiritual
guidance for godchildren and were
expected to raise the child if they
became orphaned
Source: http://www.worldbookonline.com
 “In general, fairy godmothers are
supernatural benefactors to their
human charges.”
 The fairy godmother figure is
derived from the three Fates who
were thought to visit a newborn
baby and bestow good or ill fortune
upon it…The fairy godmother is a
wholly benevolent character,
however, while the Fates were
capable of causing good or evil to
occur.”
Source: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/notes.html