REBLOG – From 2017
This morning I took time out of my busy schedule to wander around the sumptuous Vaux-le-Vicomte, one of the many Chateaus around Paris. The Google Art Project sponsored this trip, and after setting up my iMac deskspace, I was there within under a minute. My wife has been watching the joint British and French production of Versailles. My curiosity piqued, I was confident that there was a digital experience awaiting me.
Some 32 kilometres from Fontainebleau, Vaux le Vicomte. After doing some research online, I discovered that it was the creation of Nicholas Fouquet. Fouquet was the minister of finances when Louis XIV was a young man. Fouquet was celebrated as Minister, courtier, conversationalist and patron of the arts. He had the gift of attracting to his services the most talented men of his day.
LeVau, the architect, Lebrun the painter and decorator, Le Notre, the gardener. In 1656 Fouquet bought all these geniuses together and created the gardens of Vaux le Vicomte.
Vaux-le-Vicomte is privately owned (which blows my mind) and has been open to the public since 1968. The rooms are all fully finished, and with a 360-degree view, I am afforded fantastic views of all corners of each room.
Many are hung with Gobelin tapestries and decorated with ceilings and wall panels painted by Le Brun. The rooms are decorated in the styles of the Louises, XIII through XVI.
The official website http://www.vaux-le-vicomte.com/en/decouvrir/the-chateau/ incidentally is quite well designed.
If you enjoyed reading this post, you might also be interested in reading;
Angelica Dass – Beauty of Human Skin in Every Colour
Gestalt – design from chaos to order
The difference between font and typeface