During the unrest and exciting turn of events of the 17th century France and England became the greatest patrons of art Most of the art produced during this period was architecture which symbolized wealth for each nation The government between France and England differed since France was ruled by an absolute power while England was ruled by a shared power between the king and Parliament Both nations changed dramatically in the 17th century as war and strife plagued the population and economic The Protestant and Counter Reformation continued throughout the 17th century as France remained Catholic and England was Protestant Although the Mannerist style continued in France classicism became the staple of 17th century French art In England classism was applied to art and architecture such as hospitals churches and country houses Other important works of Englands art were found in literature such as the works of William Shakespeare John Don John Milton and The King James Bible King Louis XIV and the Style of King XIV In the 17th century Paris and Rome were competing with each other to become Europe s artistic center The French kings ministers and advisors influenced the events during this time King Louis XIV was known as The Sun King because he used the symbolic imagery of the sun found in the Greek god Apollo to promote his absolutists policies Any art created in Louis XIV reign was known as the Style of Louis XIV which expressed his absolute rule Much like the high point of the High Renaissance the Style of Louis IV represents the highpoint of Baroque art This style represented not only Italian art but classism found in the High Renaissance making this art known as Baroque Classicism Georges de La Tour Although the reasoning is unclear like many French artists Georges de La Tour was influenced by Caravaggio s use of naturalism and light La Tour created religious pictures that depicted the complex mysteries surrounding CHristian faith such as his painting titled Joseph the Carpenter Although the painting is often compared to Caravaggio s The Calling of Saint Matthew La Tour s simplified forms palette and movement are characteristics of his restrained and focused vision Classism Nicola Poussin Nicolas Poussin who was one of the most influential artists of the 17th century created many works in Baroque classism Because he spent his career studying Roman ideas he was able to combine Italian classicism with French art The Death of Germanicus reflects Poussin s studies in perspective anatomy and ancient sculpture found in classism For the next two centuries many artists used this painting as an example on how to make heroic deathbed scenes The Abduction of the Sabine Women Another piece wrapped in classism by Poussin is The Abduction of the Sabine Women which depicts statuesque figures that are frozen in action Before creating the painting Poussin made draws and set wax figurines on a stage until he was satisfied with the composition Quite obviously Poussin draws inspiration from Giovanni s Bologna s The Rape of the Sabine Woman Because Poussin painted the figures to represent statues there is a lack of spontaneity or exuberance in the scene Poussin valued representations of noble emotional and dramatic human actions As he relates to the historical event to The Abduction of the Sabine Women Poussin draws a comparison between painting and literature He believes viewers read the emotions of figures relation to the story Although it was not a peaceful event Poussin does not exaggerate the amount of suffering from the woman as his work is labeled heroic Landscape with St John on Patmos In the 17th century the ideal landscape represented a generalization of a beautiful place However Poussin s landscape did not use Dutch ideas Poussin applied classism to one of his landscapes titled Landscape with St John on Patmos This landscape is considered to be an ideal landscape because its uses the actual site and the ideas of classism Claude Lorrain The greatest French landscapist of the 17th century was Claude Lorrain He was influenced by Poussin s idyllic aspects of landscapes and seascapes He spent almost all of his career in Rome and copied Callot s sketches from The Great Miseries of War Callot was also one of the first artist to create oil studies outside An example of the historical or classical themes that Claude created was A Pastoral Landscape This painting is referred to as into the light because the sunrises or sunsets are often in the center of the horizon line The Palace of Versailles and Garden of Versailles Exterior The Palace of Versailles is Louis XIV largest enterprise which exterior was developed by Jules Hardouin Mansart King Louis forced the aristocrats to live in his Palace away from Paris in order to prevent another uprising that occurred in his minority The Palace had to be expanded in order to house all the aristocrats Although they were not visible on Palace s exterior Baroque features appeared in the palace s interior to reflect the king s interests Interior Garden of Versailles The interior designer of The Palace of Versailles was Charles Leboon He was commissioned to create arts that expressed the king s absolute power Like many of the artist of this period Leboon drew from Baroque classicism in order to create his paintings Besides the magnificent exterior of the Palace of Versailles the most magnificent feature is The Garden of Versailles that was designed by Andre Le Notre The Garden of Versailles was originally a natural forest that was transformed into a controlled park which represented the absolute power expressed by King Louis as it suggests his rule over nature The sculptures in the Gardens which represented an important aspect in the landscape usually depicted images of Apollo the king s favorite symbol