The Glory of Versailles
Versailles has been described as a temple created to one man…King Louis XIV. Enormous is scope, the entire complex is one of the most impressive I have ever seen. Multiple palaces (for the mistresses of the King mainly) and grounds complete with their own Venetian style canals and an Orangerie. The Sun King was perhaps nearly revered as a god among men, and requisite with this theme is a lack of Christian symbology anywhere in the multiple palaces, with the notable exception of the Royal Chapel.
All Worship…uh Hail…the King
In keeping with this “the king is pretty much a deity” theme, during daily worship the Royal Court of King Louis XIV’s time would kneel with their back to the alter (not pictured below, but directly below the organ seen) and look up to our pictured vantage point, where the King and his family would be worshiping. They would in essence have the pleasure of watching their King worship God with their own backs to the alter. An interesting big of symbolism, for the end of the Renaissance and what would eventually usher in the Age of Enlightenment. I don’t mean to suggest the airs of King Louis XIV where the foundation of “Reason” but simply mean to point out the interesting correlation. Isn’t history fun when its framed about pretty stuff?
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