Versailles is a jewel, the palace of a sun king. It is the crowning work of Andre Le Notre, Louis Le Vau, and Charles Le Brun--and later Mansart. The beauty, legacy and influence of Versailles is staggering. Louis XIV's palace is remarkable in so many ways, from the breadth and scope of the gardens and landscape, to the richness and craft of the boiserie lined interiors. One can hardly claim which is better, the classical architecture, the art, the landscape, or the rich symbolism of the sun king. Spatial organization is masterfully played out in the sequencing of courtyards, bosquets, alleés, axes and cross axes, and finally in the planning and organization of the envelope and wings of the palace. The allegory of the sun king plays out through architectural planning, sculptural narrative, and decorative painting. The use of geometry organizes and provides the foil on which the logic of the architecture and garden rooms unfold. The architectural legacy of influence here is overwhelming. The decidedly French interpretation of the classical language of architecture generated a pure, rational, and elegant strain of classicism that rivaled that of Italy. The architecture, landscape, and interior of Versailles were echoed throughout the courts of Europe. Here life imitated art, indeed the spatial sequencing and prominant use of the enfilade promoted a courtly manner of life that was enacted on and enabled by the very architecture and ordered landscape of Versailles. A much under-appreciated part of Versailles is the beautiful and fanciful rocailles interiors that swept through the many private apartments of the palace in the years following the Louis XIV's death. The plaster and carved boiserie lined walls tell another tale in the history of Versailles, one of lightness and pleasure embodied in the whismy and charm of Watteau and Boucher. Versailles is a true masterpiece. in the canon of world architecture. There are so many facets to it that beg for attention, this a place to be visited over a lifetime.
