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Still acts as the guardian of the French language. The
forty members of the Academie, the “immortels” remain
to this day the official authority on the usage, vocabulary
and grammar of the French language. So nearly 400 years
on they are still fighting to keep the French language French
and condemning le hashtag, le email, le supermodel and
le takeaway to the same poubelle as le parking, le weekend
and le low cost airline.
Like his father he was a great patron of the ballet. He
established the first ballet school in France, the Academie
Royale de Danse, today the Ballet at the Paris Opera.
There the profession of ballet dancer was created and
their five basic ballet positions are still those taught in
ballet schools today. Louis was no mere spectator though;
he was an accomplished dancer in his own right, dancing
in eighty roles. Famously, when he was still a teenager
he appeared in a ballet commissioned specially for him,
Le Ballet de la Nuit, which culminated as his appearance
in a horse drawn chariot as Apollo, God of the Sun,
resplendent in a gold breastplate and radiating rays.
The Sun King was born.
Louis’ dancing master Lully turned composer, writing ballet
music that is still played to this day. The first few notes of
his music for Le Ballet de la Nuit invoke for me a sense of
the grandeur of Versailles, much more than a trudge around
the Hall of Mirrors. Lully collaborated with the playwright
Moliere making performance and spectacle at the heart of
the court at Versailles. Another of the V&A’s treasures
that will be on display is the original libretto of “Roland:
A Tragedy in Music” written by Lully in 1685 and first
performed in the specially adapted stables at Versailles
Italy to France. It was their patronage that produced
some of the most sumptuous, intricate and expensive
craftsmanship ever seen.
Louis XIII was the first of the Bourbon Louis. He relied
heavily on his Chief Minister, the legendary Cardinal
Richelieu. It was Richelieu who made Louis an absolute
monarch and who colonised, amongst other places, parts
of North America. He also stopped the brain drain of
French artists leaving France for Italy by giving them
commissions closer to home, putting France at the heart
of European cultural life. He introduced the fashion for
the wearing of wigs which we see in some of our law
courts to this day.
The V&A own the original designs for 69 costumes for
the Ballet du Roy (The King’s Ballet) with wonderful
characters such as the Androgynous, the Dowager, a
Bonneted Bottle and the Two Dog Monster and these
will form part of the new Music Displays.
Louis XIII also married advantageously; His wife,
Anne of Austria was the daughter of Philip of Spain.
They had to wait 23 years for the arrival of their much
longed for heir to the throne. His birth was seen as being
divine, literally a gift from God and so he became
known as Louis the God-Given but we know him best
as Louis XIV, the Sun King
.
During the 72 year reign of Louis XIV France grew into
the most powerful nation in Europe with his royal palace
at Versailles at its core. His influence like his image
radiated throughout Europe and history. Like his father,
he gave his patronage to the Academie Francaise which
