Day 190 - Louis XIV chair


September 23, 2019

Gallery 531 is another large, dark space, made even dimmer by the deep red brocade that lines its walls down to the hip-high wainscotting. In the gallery, we move backward in time to the era of Louis XIV. If home furnshings in the time of Lous XV were meant to impress through their elaborateness and use of costly materials, those of the previous century were meant to impress through their elaborateness, materials, and mass. Gone is the exuberance of the high rococo style. The objects in this gallery strike me as big, weighty, imposing, and rather graceless. . 

One example is an armchair dating from about 1700-1710. It is made of carved and gilded walnut with a caned back (surprising to me - I didn't expect to see caning) and crimson velvet upholstery that looks so worn, it might well be original, although I know that's highly improbable. It's all very solid and geometric. The placard says that the chair is decorated with a double L (Louis' monogram) and fleur-de-lis (although I find it hard to make these out in the dim light) and may very well have belonged to the Roi-Soleil himself. Better in his home than in mine.

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