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The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour represents 100 of the greatest architectural
achievements of
time.
all
In twelve elegant volumes, the splendor
and magnificence of each
edifice
ex-
is
plored through spectacular, full-color pho-
tographs and authoritative yet lively
text. It
spans thousands of years, from ancient civ-
Here are
ilizations to the twentieth century.
wood,
the creations in stone,

that
endure as the
steel,
and
glass
reaUzation of human
full
genius.
In total, the twelve
volumes of The Grand
Tour library present a panorama of photographic
art,
adventure, and history. You'll enjoy
through
an unforgettable journey
time
and
space.
Homes
of Kings
France /The Forbidden City. People's

Republic of China/Persepolis. Iran/The Kremlin.
U.S.S.R./Wawel Castle. Poland The Tower of
Versailles.
London. England /Palace of Knossos.

Crete /Hradeany Castle. Czechoslovakia
Shrines of Power
The Roman Forum. Italy/The Alhambra
at
Granada, Spain/The Imperial Palace of Kyoto.

Japan/St. Peter's Cathedral. Vatican City Karnak.
Egypt/Heidelberg Castle. West Germany/
Edinburgh Castle. Scotland /The Binnenhof of The

Hague, the Netherlands
Individual Creations
The
Escorial.
Spain/Sagrada Familia Church of
Barcelona. Spain/The Taj Mahal. India/Taivallahii
Church of Helsinki. Finland/Le Corbusier's

Chapel at Ronchamp. France/Fontainebleau,
France/Belvedere Castle
in
Vienna. Austria/
Guggenheim Museum. New York, New York
The Splendor of the Gods

Cathedral of Milan, Italy/Cathedral of Mexico
Mexico/Blue Mosque of Isfahan.

Iran/Temple of Nara. Japan/Kandariya
City,
Mahadevaof Khajuraho, India/Cathedral of

Chartres, France/Westminster Abbey,
England/Cathedral of
St.
Stephen, Austria
Architecture as Environment
The Marrakesh Casbah, Morocco /The French

Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana/Plaza Mayor
at
Salamanca, Spain/Machu Picchu, Peru/The Bazaar

in Damascus, Syria/James Joyce Street of Dublin,
Ireland /The Old City in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia/
The Wailing Wall, Israel/The Kaaba at Mecca,
Saudi Arabia/The
Mosque of Cordoba, Spain
Individual
Creations
The Grand Tour
Individual
Creations
Flavio Conti
Translated by Patrick Creagh
HBJ
New
Press
York
HBJ
Photoj;raphy Credits:
Press
President, Robert
J.
George
Vice President, Richard
Managing
AInnisv:
Kemp
Publisher, Giles
S.
Perkins,
Director, Valerie S.
Hopkins
Special Projects Editor, Carolyn Hall
Text Editors: Karen E. English,
26 top.
botlom
p.
Amanda
Pope
Editorial Staff: Betsie Brownell, Chris Heath,
Ann McGrath
23 top, pp. 24-25, p. 26 center & bottom, p. 27 bottom, pp.

28-32/ Code: p. 46/ Hassmann: pp. 73-96/
Phololeca Inlenwlioiuil: pp. 41-45, pp. 47-49, p. 52, pp.
106-116/ Magnum/ Marc RihoucI: pp. 121-132/ Oronoz:

pp. 50-51/ Phoiri: p. 157 bottom, p. 158 bottom right/
Radici: p. 169/ Re: p. 60 top right, p. 65 bottom Rizzoli:
pp. 57-59, p. 60 left, p. 60 bottom right, pp. 61-64. p. 65
top left. p. 65 top right, pp. 66-68/ Sheridan: p. 16 bottom
left, p. 20 top, p. 21, p. 23 bottom/ S. Visalli: pp. 153-156.
p. 157 lop, p. 158 top & bottom left. pp. 159-164/
ZuAovusAri.' pp. 137-148.
1977 by Rizzoli Editore-lnternational Division

Copyright 1978 by HBJ Press. Inc.
-'
Project Coordinator, Linda S. Behrens
All rights reserved.
Architectural Consultant, Dennis
J.
DeWitt
Text Consultants: Janet Adams, Elizabeth R.
Ann
S.
Moore
!SBN:'0-15-003726-0
Rizzoli Editore
Italian Edition:
Gian
Maria Tabarelli
Idea and Realization. Harry C. Lindinger
General Supervisor, Luigi U. Re
Graphic Designer, Gerry Valsecchi

Coordinator, Vilma Maggioni
Editorial Supervisor,
Gianfranco Malafarina
Research Organizer,
Germane
Facetti
U.S. Edition Coordinator, Natahe Danesi
Murray
in
may
be
any form or by any means,
or any inforination storage and retrieval system, without
Printed in Italy
Dr. Flavio Conti, Paolo Savole, Dr.
part of this publication
from the publisher.
Librarv of Congress Catalog Card
Design Implementation, Designworks
Authors of the
No
reproduced or transmitted
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,
permi.ssion in writing
DeWitt, Perween Hasan

Project Consultant,
27 lop/ Ccimhciier: pp. 9-15. p. 16

20 bollom, p. 22, p.
right, pp. 17-19. p.
M& W
Jr.
Text Director, Marcia Heath
Heller, Victoria
p.
lop, p. 16
Number: 77-94394
Contents
Chateau of Fontainebleau, France
The Escorial Spain

Taj Mahal, India
41
57
The Belvedere, Austria

Sagrada Familia, Spain
Chapel
at
73
105
Ronchamp, France
Taivallahti Church, Finland
Guggenheim Museum, U.S.A.
121
137
153
Preface
men are
any architect could possibly
equal before the law, or so the
reers
that
theory goes. In the history of architecture,
hope
for.
some names shine more
Chicago where, through
All
others; but architecture
is
brightly
than
democratic
art
honoring individual talent over ancestral
young man, he went
aptitude, he soon
began
and
his industry
to
make
way
moved
his
world. After a few years, he
in the
to
in
on
into private practice
volume the obstinate son of a Swiss
his
mentor, Louis Sullivan. By the time he
and inherited reputations. Thus,
titles
this
As
watchcase-engraver stands alongside an
Hapsburg monarch. Here,
all-powerful
both the strong-willed offspring of
too, are
a midwestern preacher
and that "Most
Christian King" of France who, having
but his honor, attempted to regain
lost all
some of his
prestige by building
what he
tect in
America. In his middle years
seemed
as
though he had
direction, but the last third
it
sense of
lost his
of his long
life
witnessed an unforeseen florescence that
even today
is
not fully appreciated.
and greatest works
his last
is
One of
the wonder-
immense
seashell in reinforced concrete
apply such an enlightened remedy
that rose
on
He was
neither the
first
volume stands the powerful, shap-
ing personality of a single individual

usually
the
royal client.
the character
architect,
but sometimes a
Each building
and
testifies to
effort
of
its
the integrity
marked by
is
builder,
ways, they reflect the

expressed
spirit
by
and
and persever-
ance of individual creation. In their
people,
own
of an era and a
the
ability and
often the sheer obstinacyof a single man.
one was more stubborn, nor more
able, than
Frank Lloyd Wright, who used
his talents
(about which he had a monu-
mental lack of modesty) to
Avenue
in
New
York
start
from
whose commercial buildings had
city,
creasingly
resemble huge
to
first
and
say
last
heim Museum,
insisting
the pictures
it
considered solely as a
regarded
as
for their work."
They had
experience,
As
Wright would undoubtedly have
any
countered
brusquely that
there,
by
criticism
if
for the pic-
suggesting
they did not look good
then they could always be hung
somewhere
else.
The work of Le Corbusier,
the other
master architect of our era, also shows

exalting
the
"architecture
artistic gift
other free
men can
man
of one free
be.
how
democ-
of
Speaking of
conception of the Chapel at
to
his
Ronchamp
him when he
first
he said:
architec-
An
idea crystallizes: here in these con-
ditions at the top of a lonely
hill,
we must have one all-embracing
Wright seemed
team of men working
at times to regard
himself
nique and intention,
god than prophet.
According
to
Wright, one day he
had
to
choose between "a
that he
his
tures.
justified.
tureby which he meant himself. Indeed,
as
is
it is
not, in his
and only prophet of modern
more
if
is
racy" the
opinion, listened to the voice of truth, the

first
building
museum. But
visited the site,
much
to exhibit.
if the
spatial
amply
in
it
but eclipsed
choice
in-
can't say as
all
was created
Maybe he was wrong,
added
on building
the shape of a spiral, which
vision that occurred to
regretfully, "It's a pity
And
everything.
Wright was intransigent over the Guggen-
filing
to love dearly
Wright the
to allow
in
the architects of these buildings, but he
felt
false
and
masters
as
one
men who
of their
trade.
here
craft,
in tech-
are free
Bonne
chance!
modesty and a healthy pride," and he

chose pride. Those
this
most
appeared
dramatic, and enduring ca-
come
Wright claimed
cabinets.
nothing and build for himself one of the

brilliant,
Fifth
City despite the opposition of the entire
problems.
Behind each of the eight achievements
No
he was the most famous archi-
forty,
nor the
in this
each
of
of the Guggenheim Museum, an
palaces.
to his
offices
ful spiral
intended to be the most magnificent of
last to
was
from the
who had
books, but
who
bravura were his

regularly
paid the price for
Poetic rapture ran strong in this Swiss
whose homes
who became more French than Parisian,

who eulogized the right angle and took
clients,
in
magazines
and
Cartesian
delight
came from
freedom
the
in
the rigorous
One
mathematics.
critic,
that
of this preoccupation with
apphcation of
is
writing of Le
tion to
and
a large
total
symmetry
totally superfluous construc-
one side of the Taj Mahal which

counterpoint to the mosque
Corbusier, stated that "only the French
was
make revolutions,
know how to
write the necessary manifestoes." The poetic manifesto of the Chapel at Ronchamp
on the opposite
was
Jahan himself was no romantic innocent.
should be allowed to
and cement,
and
steel
lishment to
The
His Chapel at Ron-
to his will.
champ brought
the architectural estabfeet,
its
he
us,
shouting, "scandal!"
so-called experts could not accept that
what they disparagingly referred
to as a
mushroom, a cave, and even a baroque

was
troglodyte
work of
fact the
in
fierce polemicist
torily
declared that "a house
to live in."
It
that
who once peremp-
same
is
a machine
seemed inconceivable
that
it
had been designed by the same "functionalist" architect
to
who
invited his colleagues
admire and imitate the cabins of ocean
liners, in
which "the most
the least,"
contained
is
and who designed
his
houses
with corridors as narrow as those of
way coaches. But
champ
is
the
also "functional" in
as a house of prayer.
hill is,
its
rail-
Ron-
at
own way,
The church on
the
as the architect wished, "a place of
silence,
of prayer, of peace, of inner joy," a
place where "all those

will
Chapel
in
who
climb the
hill
be able to find an echo of everything
we intended
ularly
for
Corbu, as he was pop-
it."
known, died
in 1965,
but his
transmuted into concrete form,

to us
from that hilltop
The Taj Mahal
is
in the
.still
Mahal, a lament for a
the throne, he
wife
his
away
in
Mumtaz
lost love. Yet,
indi-
and
make
would
feel
and assorted persecutions.
when Mumtaz Mahal
monument
its
to her
memory
proportions so perfect and
anyone who saw
some small
it
part of the tran-
scendent love that had united their two
No
souls.
of
witnesses can testify to the truth
this story,
but nonetheless the monu-
ment was constructed and
is
one of the
most beautiful and melancholy buildings

of
time the triumph, through
all
of
art,
The EscoriaL on
built
to
itself,
a royal palace
II
of Spain.
good Catho-
and moreover a Spanish Catholic
champion of
Philip
trait
death
is
around a royal mausoleum erected
by King Philip
lic,
the other hand,
the
Counter Reformation.
immortalized in a wonderful por-
is
by Pantoja de
dressed
in
la
Cruz.
He
shown
penitent black from his hat to
his boots, the long chin inherited
beard that
is
falls to his
from
his
skimpy blond
starched lace collar,
whole
the plan of the
form of a gridiron, the
instrument used
martyr that heroic
to
saint.
The
Escorial
also perhaps the only
is
Europe
royal palace in
mon-
to contain a
be a monastery
first
and
Philip but also nearly
Spanish monarchs after him are buried
all
in its vaults. If
made
France, Philip
St.
Louis XIV, the Sun King,
bedchamber
his
II
made
himself in
contrast
to
of
center
the
the great
Church of
Lawrence the pivot of his empire.
ip
Phil-
father,
his
Charles V, whose insistence on etiquette
and refinement
recalls the civilization
Byzantium was content with
of
a few bare,
whitewashed rooms, devoid of any deco-
When
ration but his paintings.
he died,
it
was on a simple bed, decorated with one

beautiful Flemish tapestry, in the smallest
and simplest of
love over death.
monument
and
in the
Not only
to erect a
to
is
foremost.
lines so pure- that
its
building
mention other sundry cruel-
was on her deathbed, she asked her hus-
band
Saint Lawrence,
fact, to
that,
at the pre-
of the architectural complex of
cise center
astery-in
it
to the saint in
kingdom. Thus,
of two
tortures,
Legend has
monastery
to erect a
the heart of his
had defeated one of
rectly responsible for the deaths
ties,
Shah
open warfare and was
his brothers in
others, not to
Shah
erected by
father adorned with a rather
Vosges.
half a world
space and immeasurably far
spirit,
speaks
memory of
in
To gain
glass.
Le Corbusier not only convinces

bends us
Jahan
vowed
the Escorial stands a church dedicated to
side.
The Taj Mahal was
because only they really
finally realized in stone
built as a
ardy. In gratitude for this victory, the king
his
chambers from which
he could see the altar of the church as he

lay confined to his bed.
The
dreamlike
the
It
lacks
that
fantastic,
expression in
spirit that finds
work of another great Spaniard, AnGaudi. Barcelona, the Catalan
toni
that
much, but not
Escorial represents
of Spain.
all,
spawned
most
Picasso,
is
and
personal
city
dominated by the
overwhelming
of
churches: the Sagrada Familia, or Expiatory
Temple of the Holy Family. As
stands, the
Sagrada Familia
is
not so
now
much
it
the foreshadowing of a
while his eyes are cold and distant, and his
a church as
and philosophy from the small but monu-
mouth
church to come, for Gaudi was only able
mental French chapel. Strangely enough,
cation to duty, he
in
conception
set in disdain. In his utter dedi-
was dubbed the
"first
it
is
to build the apse, the crypt,
and a
single
West
bureaucrat of the empire." Austere and
facade. However, about twenty years ago,
imaginative and unpredictable, while
deeply religious, he built the Escorial as a
construction was taken up again in ac-
the product of the rational, prismatic

is
is
the ver)'
symbol of the mysterious and
turbulent East
is
a study in absolute
sym-
metry and geometric grace. Symptomatic
votive act.
gust
2,
On
Saint Lawrence's Day,
1557, the Spanish
Au-
army defeated
the French troops at St.-Quentin in Pic-
cordance with the plans

But
if
Gaudi had
left
lived,
by the master.
he would have
undoubtedly modified the plans
still
fur-
ther.
Gaudi was never content merely
send
his
site;
he spent
drawings along
to
to the building
days there, anxiously
his
No
watching over the construction.
draw-
Fontainebleau, Gilles Le Breton, was cer-
be
tainly considered to
ful.
King Francis
occasion
lost
I,
than success-
less
who on one
the king
everything except his honor,
Le
commissioned
Breton
king who by then had moved
the
to Ver-
company
saillesand asked to be given a
His Majesty's army. Ridiculed, he
in
for Austria,
where he ofiered
Emperor Leopold
left
his services
He was
to
become
in
history,
ing could translate the wealth and beauty
had
of the decorative effects he envisioned:
modelin
sohd masses of stone metamorphosed into
royal castle, but he decided that the de-
Prinz Eiigen, der edle Rilter ("Prince Eu-
flowing vines and leaves, fluid parabolic
signs of the master builder
were altogether
gene, the noble chevalier"), as his troops
and
arches,
of
intricate tableaux
An
human
efl'ect,
to totally
and unassuming
too modest
to
re-
rebuild his old
for the palace
to
I.
one of the greatest generals
On
eulogized him in song.
the battlefield
extravagant and
of the "Most Christian King." Le Breton's
he repeatedly blunted the ambitions of the
fascinating fragment, the Sagrada Familia
building followed the fashionable style of
Sun King. But he was
and animal
is
figures.
the Gothic expression of Gaudi's in-
tensely personal religious fervor
cation to his craft.
and dedi-
Gaudi constructed
his
extraordinary church in the middle of

Barcelona, with the approval and contri-
butions of his fellow citizens,
whom
he
in
turn rewarded with one of the most inarchitectural
triguing
achievements
to
the
Renaissance,
Italian
wanted
an innovator rather than a
to be
For
his glory, Francis
worthy of
artists
turned to the
"home of the
which he had admired so much
Leonardo da
his last years in a castle
subconscious
is
human
the church recently built
or rather excavated in Taivallahti Square

in
Helsinki by
lainen,
two
tects. It is
ferent,
It
Timo and Tuomo Suoma-
brilliant
young Finnish
the expression of
a,
archi-
rather dif-
almost subliminal, consciousness.
could even be likened to a kind of "ra-
cial
memory" of the time when rough
man's only protection
walls constituted
from nature. But there
is
like or surrealistic in the

this precisely
rock
nothing dream-
appearance of
achieved work. The church
was excavated from the heart of a rock

mass because
this
was the solution most
appropriate to the conditions of the
site: in
other words, for a rational rather than a
romantic reason. Although

called geometric,
logical
cannot be
can be seen to foUow a
and mathematical design. But most
important of
to
it
it
all,
the church
is
conducive
prayer and shows that the language of
contemporary architecture can be an

fecting
Not
af-
means of expression.
all
integrity.
in
his
was already the patron of
quer. Francis
the aging
the
arts," the Italy
youth and, indeed, had attempted to con-
modern consciousness.
to
who
Vinci,
close friend
deed, Leibnitz admired him so
he
left
him
all
was well versed
would
much
in art
intelligently
that
Eugene
his manuscripts.
and architecture and

criticize
the
whole
business of war, while personally practic-
one of the
ing
it
To
his
good
as
fine arts.
when he
taste
He
exercised
built his
summer
he employed other
residence outside Vienna, for he chose one
renowned masters, among them Primatic-
of the best architects of the day, Johann
work on
cio
and
his palace,
II
Rosso Fiorentino, as well as a
who would
few, such as Vignola,
later
win
Louis
XIV
did any French sovereign
eminent architect of the Austrian Ba-
The group of
quest.
artists
he gath-
ered at Fontainebleau lifted France out of

the Gothic era
Renaissance.
and
into the full light of the
The works of these
artists
the First School of Fontainebleau can

visitors
much about
the ruler
who
small castle and transformed
it
of
tell
took a
into the
setting for a magnificent court.
Many
years later, a
sickly
and
ill-favored
youth
named Eugene of Savoy. Because of his

health
roque, Bernhard Fisher von Eriach, whose
son installed a steam engine in the palace
gardens capable of throwing

seventy feet into the
military capabilities
Eugene, whose
battles
was
ill
and unattractive appearance, Eufor life in a semi-
had no vo-
buildings achieve such unity and
nary. However, feeling that he
cation for the priesthood, he approached
tural
is
of water
to his
and successes. Prince
name
linked with the
is
Malplaquet,
one of the most
finally able to build
Such
jets
Thanks
air.
of Oudenarde and
beautiful
young lady named
Olympe Mancini spent her adolescence at

Fontainebleau. Olympe, who was the first
love of the Sun King, was to become the
mother of a
a free hand. This palace, called the
Belvedere, was finished by the other pre-
his
in
carve such a niche for himself in the history of art.
rig-
Not
Francis succeeded
until
Lucas von Hildebrandt. After giving
orous instructions, he allowed his chosen
man
wide acclaim.
gene seemed destined
architect of
intellectual, alert,
and well-educated man, and a
spent
by the Loire.
The work of the
first
also that rarity in
House of Savoy, an
the
of the renowned philosopher Leibnitz. In-
conformist.
have emerged from the depths of the
Also subtly responsive
Francis
but
and peaceful of residences.
way of the
the
world. Architec-
masterpieces are not conjured out
of a void. But for the individual
who
the will power, tenacity, intelligence,

vision, as well as the
may be Ronchamp
Sagrada
Familia
Museum. The
admire.
And
rest
this
precisely that end.
has
and
means, the reward
or the Belvedere, the

or
Guggenheim
the
of us can look on and
volume
is
dedicated to
Fontainebleau
w^5r
I..JLJL
li
^^
8;;^
if''!''
% i f
\\\Utm^\\\\{{ii\%m\\\\
111
imuiii'iitu.fc.s.?'!':,'
rii^
France
Shii
r'/^Sk
/^!^
fO^ <S^
tf fiff^ff Ifîfif
rj
I!
;i!i:i!iiililf
The Wing of the Ministers (preceding page), us

came to be known under Napoleon, was built
it
in
a somewhat understated Renaissance stvie by
Gilles
Left
ion
Le Breton during the
reign of Francis
I.
and above left, the roof of the central pavilof the Wing of the Ministers, showing the
monogram and
the salamander,
symbol of Francis
1.
the heraldic
f|y'|i'-'iiiHirii
Above, the Wing of the Ministers. Right, a view
of the Wing of the Ministers from the great

double horseshoe staircase, completed in 1634 by
Du
Jean Androuet
widely
imitated
Cerceau.
The staircase
throughout
chateaux
in
France is the central focus of the huge Cour du

Cheval Blanc ("Court of the White Horse")
which was
named for
the equestrian statue of
.Marcus Aurelius that once stood in
its
center.
After his abdication. Napoleon bade farewell lo

his
Old Guard
also been
here.
known
Since then, the court has
as the
Cour des
Adieu.x.
5 VVBSPl,
^^
^l^
^^j
'''^^"i.ii
:-Jk-:S^.
*V-iW!?
'%,
t'ji.
BiiMf
^6ove,
//if groilu uf ihe Jardin des Pins ("Garden of I he Pines"). This small, ivpicallv Man-
nerist
building often found in
gardens dates from about 1543.
It
Renaissance
was probably
designed by Primaticcio; the figures are thought

be the work of Antoine Jacquet. The garden
was laid out by the Italian for Francis 1. Facing
to
page and right,
details
of the
grotto,
showing the
figures carved in gres, a local sandstone that.
though particularly
used
difficult to
at Foniainehleau.
work, was widely
The Pone d'Oree (above) is one of the oldest

pans of the palace. Commissioned bv Francis I
in 1528, it was constructed bv Gilles Le Breton
before the king began to relv upon Italian architects. Its design is
modeled after the faqade of

The Porte d'Oree.
the ducal palace in Urbino.
the original entrance to the chateau, leads to the
Cour Ovale ("Oval Court"). Left and below,

details
of the lower portal.
The
irregularly
shaped Cour Ovale (abuve
was constructed hv Francis

the original castle. It
is
primarily the work of
Gilles
Le Breton but was
Serlio
and
also
Philiberl Delorme.
were made
to the
right)
on foundations of
worked on by
Some
alterations
courtyard during the reign of
King Henry IV.
Immediately above, the portico attributed
to
Serlio.
Center and
named after
right, the
Francis
I.
entrance to the staircase
surmounted by a bust nf
Francis I flanked by classical gods.
3*
-
Among
the most beautiful
works
al Fontaine-
hleau are the decorations (below and right) carried out under the direction
and
lino
Priinaticcio,
artists
em-
The supreme example of

heir achievement is probably the bedchamber of
ployed bv Francis
I
of II Rosso Fioren-
two Italian
the
I.
Duchesse d'Etatnpes. Typical features are
the eighteen slender stucco female figures that
support the plaster frames of the frescoes. The

frescoes
I
themselves
represent
the
history
of
lexander the Great. This room was drastically
littered
during the reign of Louis XV, when Ga-
briel converted
monial
it
staircase.
into the top landing of a cereAlthough the staircase itself is
splendid and the original decorations remain,

the space has been irremediably changed.
Left,
a great
mask of Hercules on a doorway.
.4I
,/
\ M
^v-H
.^
^^^teSfefc*-""^!*!^
TVje Gallerv
of Francis
(facing page)
showpiece of Fontatnebteau.
The
is
gallerv.
the
forerunner of the famous Hall of Mirrors at

Versailles, is the
most complete and significant
achievement of the First School of Fontaine-
group of artists who introduced the art

of the Italian Renaissance into France. The
building itself is the work of Gilles Le Breton,
bleau. the
but the splendid interior, a masterful blend of

frescoes, stucco,
of
II
and woodwork,
is
the creation
Rosso Fiorentino, Primaticcio, and their
pupils.
The overall theme of this decorative work
(above and
left) is the glorification of the king,

whose monogram and name are used as motifs
thrnughoul.
<^
^\)
V<
^^V^^^V"^
.^^^
Preceding page, the dramatic double horseshoe

leading
staircase,
Blanc
from
to the Gallery
This page,
the
Cour du Cheval
of Francis
I.
and of
views of the staircase
courtyard. Originallv built in about
place for tournaments,

nies, the
courtyard
Napoleon
I.
vi>as
During
festivities,
the
1540 as a
and ceremo-
substantially altered by
his restoration
of the cha-
teau after the Revolution, Napoleon demolished

the buildings on the side
site
the staircase.
Far
right, the
of the courtyard oppo-
Pavilion of Arms.
HJin**''
Left, the
Porte d'Oree (to the rear
photo)
left in
linked bv the arched windows of the ballroom to

the
Chapel of Francis
I,
bevond which
is
the
Pavilion of the Dauphin. The variety of brick
chimneys provides a picturesque quality
to the
and service buildings on the south
side oj
offices
the
Cour Ovale (below
created bv the architect

1
The simple, almost
These wings were
left).
Remi
Collin for
Henrv
rustic, style is well suited
to their function.
Right, the
Pool.
Grand Pavilion, overlooking
Completed
in 1 748,
it
the Carp
reflects the
coming
maturity of French Neoclassic architecture.
^^*}\m\\m%m\m{{w
^'
M^ y
Ihove, the
iiiine.
On
I'avilion,
I'lus
(
Carp Fool and ihe Cuur de
or
VII.
Wing of
On
the
la
Fon-
Grand
Queen and of Pope
the near side of the court
the far side
Omedie, so called because
it
is
the
of the fountain of Diana

in
the
Originally, four bronze dogs surrounded the
once contained a
tury bather along the Great Canal. Far right, a
commissioned during the reign of Louis

but destroyed in 1856. It is also known by its
decorative sphinx.
Following page, the Great Canal
which derives from a huge fireplace once deco-
constructed in the time of Henry IV.
rated with a life-size equestrian statue of Henry
A one
t
with a
time the Carp Pool was embellished
little
temple, but has lung since been
demolished.
At any of the statues commissioned for Fontainehlcau- including Cellini's Nymph of Fontainelileau. originally
intended for the Porte d'Oree
have been removed. Others, like the equestrian

sialue from the
1603)
statue of the huntress. Right, a seventeenth-cen-
the
previous name, L'Aile de la Belle Cheminee,
I V.
fca.
north garden.
Ancienne
is
llieater
Left, detail
by Barthelemy Prieur,
Cour du Cheval Blanc or
ualue of the Tiber which once stood

Parterre du Tibre, have been destroyed.
in
the
the
in the
park,
\7
V,
'*fi
'4
Chateau of Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau dates
Chateau of
Fontainebleau
France
bears
137
document dated
"apud foniem
legend
the
from the
at least
reign of Louis VII.
Bleaudi in palatio nostra" ("in our palace
near the spring of Bliaud"). This palace
was probably a tower erected by the

father. Louis VI.
Some
the spring of Bliaud

belle eaii ("beautiful
spring
this
steeped
far as to declare:
.to
"The peasant has
property before God, and
his
above that of the king himsejf."

Despite this early setback, the castle
scholars claim that
Saint Louis added to the original tower
was
also
known
as
water") and that from
Fontainebleau
received
its
and
built
Holy
an abbey for the monks of the

In succeeding years,
Trinity.
Saint Saturnin.
it
to the Virgin
and
to
The chapel was conse-
and used the
castle as a royal
hunting
lodge and palace. Some, such as Philip IV

(Philip
the
Fair),
were born and died
"the true residence of kings, a house that
Thomas a Becket,
archbishop of Canterbury, who was at
belongs to the centuries." Tradition holds
time a political refugee in France. Only a
tions of the
Carp Pool (Etang
year after consecrating King Louis' chapel
Isabella hated her son Charles VII so
in history
that even the fish in the
it
des Carpes) are hundreds of years old.

Unfortunately, this story
is
more
poetic
than precise. The royal carp survived the
Revolution and prospered under the

pire but
fell
Em-
crated in 1169 by
Fontainebleau,
at
the
kings of France hunted frequently in the
already famous forest of Fontainebleau
tower and dedicated

is
.so
a right
grew. In 1359, Louis IX-later canonized
Louis VII added a chapel to the original
and legend. Napoleon called
ing to a contemporary account, he even
went
king's
name.
The Chateau of Fontainebleau
33
Becket
there. Isabella
the
of buildings that today form the founda-
returned
Canterbury, where he was murdered
to
in his
cathedral.
victim to the Restoration.
names
to
first
of
many famous
be linked with Fontainebleau. At
Cour Ovale ("Oval Court").
that she falsely claimed to have
much
committed
adultery for the perverse pleasure of calling
Becket's was the
of Bavaria added the series
the
him a bastard. Charles VII whose ap-
pellation
changed from "the Indecisive"
to
"the Victorious"
when Joan of Arc had

Reims
They
finished
up on
the table of the gen-
the start, though, the willfulness of an
him crowned
erals
who.
1815, reinstated the Bour-
anonymous peasant had a considerable
standably disliked his mother's chateau
and allowed
in
bons on the French throne. The pool was
influence on the chateau. In fact, the site
restocked, b,ut a similar fate befell the sec-
had
ond dynasty of carp. They were devoured
his field,
by the high
command
War II.
of the Wehrmacht
during World
An
eighleenlh-ct'iutirv view
of the chateau and
the parterre, with the canal in the
background
to
be changed
when he
refused to
sell
which was within the area chosen
at
it
map and made
have been a remarkable king, for instead
ner of Versailles.
of exercising the usual prerogative, he had
gouleme
that's
how
down. At
legend would have
it.
least
Accord-
sophisticated king
put Fontainebleau back on the
by the royal architects. Louis VII must
the "illegal" chateau torn
1429-under-
to fall into decay.
The flamboyant and

Francis
in
in
it
the magnificent forerun-
Bom
the
Comte d'An-
1494, Francis succeeded his
cousin and father-in-law Louis XII
had no male
heirs.
who
The pope gave Francis
li^
"mim^%
xm
^V..'i
*r
34
the
title
of "Most Christian King," a
became hereditary
that later
monarchs. Francis celebrated

tion
for
his
title
French
nomina-
by making an alliance with the Mus-
lim Turks to the detriment of the Holy
Roman
Emperor.
northern
in
trous battles in
all is lost
in
tagesthan
two young sons as hos-
resumed
he
against his bitter
emperor,
Charles
the
struggle
enemy, the Hapsburg

V.
Francis
was well
Fontainebleau was not the king's only

building venture, but
urious, the
was the most
it
to his heart. In 1528, after returning

his
lux-
most famous, and the dearest
wretched imprisonment
from
in Spain, the
aware that the power of a king was dem-
king adopted
He commissioned
abroad but also by a splendid court
at
builder Gilles Le Breton to rebuild the ex-
campaigns
in
isting
history,
he
message commu-
to his
mother: "Mad-
except honor.
Madrid
rulers,
onstrated not only by military strength
."
.
for Francis.
home. During
Italy,
his military
which was then the center of Ren-
aissance civilization, he
The defeat meant two years of imprisonment
was customary among warring
defeated at Pavia
for his
news
nicating the
medieval
one of the most disas-
French military
became famous
ame,
When
Italy, in
hind, as
But no
sooner had he been released leaving be-
had learned
appreciate artistic excellence.
He was
to
de-
termined to spare no expense in enlarging
and decorating
his
own
palaces.
as his favorite residence.
it
medieval
saving
castle,
than the foundations. In

tions of
Queen
Cour
the
still
more
medieval struc-
form of Le Breton's
The
Ovale.
around the court
little
the founda-
fact,
Isabella's
tures determined the
irregular
master
Parisian
the
remain
buildings
at the core
of
whole complex.
Despite his reputation as an accomplished Renaissance architect, Le Breton
was more a master builder

was then
tradition that
alive
in
France.
in the
medieval
much
very
still
Francis probably had
rather vague notions about the rationale
behind the new Italian

terpreted
more
philosophical
ful
style,
which he
in-
as a set of rules than as a
movement. Thus, the
care-
proportions of the Porte d'Oree, the
great "golden" entrance portal to his Fon-
tainebleau,
show an understanding of the
aims of Italian Renaissance architecture.
The
are
and medieval
in spirit.
name from
Italian
Above, a delailed plan of llw chateau,
mack
during the ancien regime. Notice the moat thai
once surrounded the central complex of buildings, even cutting through the Cour du Cheval
Blanc,
the
and
the square island, since removed, in
Carp Pool.
Right, a plan for the improvement
of the Cour de
la Fontaine. It
of the facâde
was never used.
however, that complete the
tall roofs,
composition
the
gilt
unequivocally
French
This portal takes
its
ornament added by the
Francesco Primaticcio
in
1535 to
1536.
form, which consists of three
lis
Above, a meeting between
XIV and
Cardinal
porches, one above the other, appears to
Louis
be based rather freely on the then
Chigi at Fontainebleau
nowned ducal palace
at
re-
Urbino. But
common
to
it
displays an
by Le Brun.
awkwardness
Le Breton's buildings. The

windows,
of certain
for
in
1664, as depicted in the Goin

belin Tapestry
several details
35
example,
sills
Left.
Louis VII, and far
Francis
rest
I,
the king
left,
who made
oddly on the pediments of the windows
Fontainebleau into a Ren-
below them.
aissance masterpiece.
Lc Breton did preserve

palace
the
the
original
in this part
of
twelfth-century
Ma-!v_i
At/
keep, or tower, which was the residence of

the chatelain, or master of the palace.
he added in
known
1531
long gallery,
as the Gallery of Francis
I.
It
To it
now
con-
statue of
Marcus Aurelius.
Niccolo
But Le Breton's work did not
He wanted
Francis.
the exteriors of his
nected the Cour Ovale with the abbey
palace to achieve the
founded by Saint Louis. The monks, how-
excellence as the interiors.
ever,
to
were soon evicted from
make room
for a
their quarters
huge courtyard which
was surrounded by two-storv buildings and

eventually
became
the scene of tourna-
ments and pageants. This splendid courtyard, the

the
Cour du Cheval Blanc ("Court of
White Horse"), was so named
plaster cast of a
for a
famous Roman equestrian
Francis
1530.
Florentine
artist.
II
on the
interiors.
by
ticcio, to
nal
same standard of
As
early
as
had employed a noted

Giovanni
Battista
Rosso
Rosso, "the Redhead") to work
(called
later
.satisfy
his
He was
joined two years
countryman Francesco Prima-
oversee the decoration and inter-
arrangement of the new buildings.
They were aided
in this
by others, notably
dell'Abbate,
grino, Jean
Francesco
Pelle-
Cousin the Elder, and Geof-
frey Dumoutier.
They formed
the nucleus
of a group of artists that became famous as

the First School of Fontainebleau.
The work of these
artists
is
exceptional.
Although the Gallery of Francis
is
unre-
markable on the outside, the interior

marvelous
example
of decorative
is
art.
With paintings by Primaticcio and woodcarvings by Scibecco da Carpi,
compared
to
the
it
has been
more famous Hall of
Mirrors at Versailles.
36
Above,
an eighteenth-century
from the Cour de

of Louis
for
left
X V,
la
looking
view,
Fontaine toward the Wing
which was not completed.
Rome
to
make
a series of plaster
French
casts of classical sculptures for the
On
chateau.
foundry
chitect
he installed a
Fontainebleau, where the ar-
at
Giacomo da Vignola began
by helping
reer
return,
his
to
cast
the
his ca-
statues
in
bronze. Another arrival at the court was
Benvenuto
tiful
the
fashioned a beau-
intended for the
Porte
d'Oree,
ended up instead on the portal of the
Medicis. whose apariments
cJe
who
famous Nymph of Fontainebleau. This
statue,
Above, Catherine
Cellini,
gold saltcellar for the king as well as
were replaced bv the Wing of Louis XV. and her
Chateau d'Anet a
husband. Henry II
Henry
(right).
W'nmnwi'vrmwiwfî
II,
gift
to his mistress
from Francis' son,
Diane de
Poitiers.
Also dating from the reign of Francis

are
At that time, the royal picture

tions
in
France included
masterpieces, including the
collec-
many Italian
Mona Lisa and
Rome and
then pursued a career in Ven-
noted for helping to popular-
ice.
Serlio
ize
the so-called
is
Palladian
window an
works by Raphael and Andrea del Sarto.
arched central window flanked by two
Experience with the work of the greatest
smaller flat-topped windows.
As
it
turned
had created a refined
out. Serlio did not leave a significant per-
1540 the
sonal stamp on the construction at Fon-
king looked to Italy for an architect to
tainebleau apart from the Cour Ovale,
Renaissance
artists
taste for the style. Inevitably, in
replace Le Breton
moted
to a
more
who would
then be de-
technical post.
His choice was Sebastiano Serlio, a Bolognese
who had
studied with Peruzzi in
where there
is
a portico
named
after him.
Nevertheless, his arrival in 1540 coincided
with the beginning of drastic Italianization

at
Fontainebleau. That year, Primaticcio
the
d'Ulysse
splendidly
and
the
decorated
bedchamber of
Duchesse d'Etampes, which was

verted into the upper end of a
tal staircase.
Galerie
the
later con-
monumen-
In addition, an Italian-style
garden was begun, and workshops for
weaving tapestries were opened.
The death of Francis
in
547 did not
end the construction. Only the architect
was changed. The Frenchman
Philibcrt
Delorme, who enjoyed the patronage of
Diane de
Poitiers,
was appointed. Under
Delorme's direction, the arches of the
ballroom (originally an open loggia) were

enclosed with huge windows.
Delorme
was an exceptionally talented
architect,
but on Henn.
death in 1559, he. too.
ll's
was replaced. Primaticcio was chosen

succeed him. not only because of his
to
artis-
but also because he enjoyed the
tic ability
favor of the Italian Catherine de Medicis.
who had become
regent
son
her
for
end of the
at the
wing and a block of
abutted on the Cour Ovale.
Fontainebleau. In
1601
the heir to the
throne, the dauphin-later Louis
was born
at
Fontainebleau. In 1606 he was
baptized at the
new outer main
The gateway has
as the Porte
tistery, in
For nearly
was no more
thirty years there
building at Fontainebleau, as the wars of
work on
religion took priority over
Henry
chateau.
Finally,
emerged
victorious
the
Bourbon
of
from these wars and
was crowned King Henry IV of France
He proceeded
1589.
heritage with
its
bleau.
and
As Henry
three things that
been
honor of the event.
spent long periods at the chateau,
main residence outside
it
Paris.
However, under Louis XIV, the Sun
King,
it
the
new
was relegated
architectural
to
second rank by
wonder at
Versailles.
Fontainebleau was used for only a month

or two each
autumn during
the hunting
season. In 1657, during one of these so-
journs, the chateau
was
her throne to
become a
deschi,
the scene of a
had been unfaithful
had him assassinated
to her.
cuckoldry. This
the reign of
immense
Henry
hundreds of pairs of
many
trace,
him
to
said of himself:
sit
ill
with avarice:
do
"I
make
Henry was an
ac-
his mis-
and
tresses included Gabrielle d'Estrês
young Henriette d'Entragues.
on Fontainebleau was
sum
compared
a trifle
grandson Louis XIV was

Nevertheless,
was the
it
to
spend
to
larg-
spent by a French king on a cha-
teau up to that time.
Henry IV increased
Fontainebleau to
present
tered the
Canal
its
size.
Cour Ovale and dug
in the park.
He
He
the
Cour du Che-
val Blanc. His
French and Flemish
ists-including
Martin
Dubois,
Freminet.
Antoine
Toussaint Dubreuil-are
the
al-
the Great
also designed the
Carp Pool and modified
broise
Caron,
art-
Amand
now known
as
Second School of Fontainebleau.
The palace
tered
at the time
of Henry IV cen-
around the Cour Ovale and the
large, rectangular
Henry
also
to
antlers, the trophies
walls.
its
own enemies had been
disappear suddenly without a
declared that the business struck
bad
as being "in very
was soon arranged
that
taste,"
Queen
and
it
Christina
leave France.
Ninety years later another famous person was to offend the court with his bad
taste.
The
culprit
Arouet, better
was Francois Marie
known
as Voltaire. In
Oc-
Far
left,
Francis
Henry IV,
Bourbon
II. Left,
first
of the
Below,
kings.
one of the magnificent

ceremonies of the time,
Paris of
Cardinal Farnese.
Fon-
tainebleau was often the
scene of such spectacles.
The amount of money Henry lavished
at Versailles.
during
name
its
royal deer hunts, along
Louis XIV, whose
known
hall, built
owes
IV,
the entry into
est
of
Stags presumably a deUberate allusion to
on
livres
Fontaine-
enlarging
knowledged military hero, and
his
She
in the Gallery
Gascon
to belie his
this characterization.
what
out
Giovanni Monal-
in
war, love, and palaces." History bears out
the
was a
Catholic,
when she found
that her Itahan lover,
of
Anne of Aus-
using
as their
queen who had given up
the Protestant
tradition of miserliness by
spending two and a half million

embellishing
gate of the
since
Dauphine, or the Bap-
Louis XIII and his wife,

tria,
XIII
37
scandalous murder. Christina of Sweden,
guest at the palace
This period was the splendid heyday of
known
The Heyday of the Chateau
Cour des
one of the short sides of which
Princes,
chateau.
Charles IX.
east
buildings around the
service
Cour du Cheval Blanc.
added a new rectangular court
38
XV, the
whose home he had
Above, the Great Canal of Fontainebleau, a
Louis
precursor of the canal at Versailles.
Gabriel rebuilt the right wing of the Cour
inherited.
du Cheval Blanc and erected a
spected the decorations of his predeces-
architect
tober 1757, he was received at Fontaine-
viUon in the Cour de
bleau along with his protectress of the
all,
Madame
time,
de Chatelet. This lady had
a single passion gambling. She indulged

this
passion at the table of the queen and
soon
lost
sum, part of
a considerable
which she had borrowed from Voltaire.

Livid with rage, the writer whispered to
"But don't you realize you're playing
her:
Though
with rabble!"
uttered in a whisper,
that,
it
was no
less
his
judgment was
and
in English at
harsh for being true.
Cheating was the norm

court.
Only a
at
swift flight in a
the
French
coach saved
la
Jacques-Ange
large pa-
Fontaine. Worst of
rebuilt in the style of the empire, while the
king's
bedchamber of the Duchesse d'Etampes
room.
make way
for the top landing of a great
During the reign of Louis XVI, a new

wing was erected adjacent
of Francis
I,
made
in
its
windows.
were
chateau
to
the
honor of a
visit
Marie Antoinette,
lution
to the Gallery
blocking half
Other alterations
the
Du
Cerceau, placed within
Cour du Cheval Blanc
a great,
if
cessively exuberant, staircase in the
ex-
form
of a double horseshoe, which was widely
now
by his queen,
in 1786, but the
Revo-
was imminent, and because of the
called
stripped of
its
"nest
of tyrants,"
was
valuable furnishings and
for his mistress
Madame
First, the
military-minded
Napoleon turned the Cour du Cheval

Blanc into a parade ground by demolishing
its
western side, which was then re-
placed with
iron
railings.
The second
change, although attributed to Napoleon,
was almost
certainly
commissioned by
his
wife Josephine de Beauharnais.
Empress Josephine had two passions:
There was no connection between the two,

though when she died, the Bourbon police
pubhshed an obituary
that read:
observed
The death of Mme. de Beauharnais has

caused general mourning. Desperately
little,"
one commentator, "but
it
lot.")
The empty building was used
as a prison
and partly
partly
as a school. There-
when Napoleon Bonaparte,
fore in 1804,
Fontainebleau as his residence,
it
was
XIV
necessary to restore and furnish virtually
de Maintenon
the entire palace. Ironically, the revolu-
was decidedly a mistake. Then, under
His two most important modifications
has stolen a
Revolution has destroyed
newly crowned emperor, decided to use
For example, the apartment in the
throne
decorations, which were then sold. ("The
other changes were artistically less suc-
Porte d'Oree commissioned by Louis
the
her husband and the study of botany.
imitated throughout France. Most of the
cessful.
bedchamber became
were external.
ceremonial stairway.
During the Revolution, the chateau,
Jean Androuet
gallery overlooking the Jar-
and
and he altered the
the Galerie d'Ulysse,
never actually saw them.
part of the chateau. Louis XIII's architect,
re-
destroyed the Baths of Francis
briel
to
he
din de Diane ("Garden of Diana") was
widespread confusion of the times, she
every
Only the
possible,
Ga-
wrath of the queen herself
made unfortunate changes in almost
sors.
Whenever
following orders from the king,
the philosopher and his lady from the
The kings who succeeded Henry IV
vative than the kings
tionary general proved to be
more conser-
unhappy during her husband's
reign,
she sought refuge from his brutality and

neglect in the study of botany.
She used her

second.
part
From
first
passion to satisfy the
1809 to 1812, the western
of the garden
of Fontainebleau,
which contained the ancient spring of
Above, the Carp Pool, with the Cour de
la
Fon-
taine in the background.
39
was transformed by the
"beautiful water,"
architect
Heurtaut into a romantic English
garden.
of Sweden, who had her unfaithful lover murdered at Fontainebleau.

Left. Christina
Fontainebleau
is
range of styles of
Below
right,
left,
Madame de Moniespan and below

Du Barry, two of the royal fa-
Comtesse
vorites
whose
stories are linked to the chateau.
famous
justly
for the
gardens, which re-
its
cords more than three centuries of fashions

in
landscaping. There
Napoleon and
is
Carp Pool
Josephine's Jardin Anglais; the
of Henry IV (later embellished by Napoleon with a pretty Neoclassic temple on an

island); a fine Italian
laid out for
Henry
garden (the parterre
IV);
and a large park
the French style, designed
great landscape gardener
There
named
is
in
by Louis XIV's
Andre Le Notre.
also the elegant Jardin de Diane,
for
its
statue of the goddess.
Decline in Political Prominence
Napoleon did much more than
restore the
appearance of Fontainebleau. Under him

the palace
was the scene of several

There,
political confrontations.
Napoleon welcomed Pope Pius

had come
years
later.
to
crown him.
And
historic
1804,
in
VII.
who
there, eight
Napoleon imprisoned the pope
after His Holiness
had not taken kindly
the suggestion that he
become
to
a sort of
private chaplain to the Master of Europe.

Finally, after
more than a year of
incar-
40
ceration, the
pope acceded
On
25, 1813,
Januaiy
cordat, by
it
emperor.
which he relinquished
powers but
poral
to the
he agreed to a contem-
his
venture that had spilled
Europe and had
down
a path
it
set that
the
blood of
continent moving
has followed ever since.
for a very short time, as
turned out.
It
was
at
Fontainebleau, too, that Na-
poleon abdicated
of France and
hogany
1814 from the thrones
in
(The
Italy.
table at
little
round ma-
which he wrote can
still
be
seen in the former library of Louis XVI,
now known
as the Abdication
Chamber.)
The Russian steppes had swallowed
Grand Armee;
the
the
armies were
allied
converging on Paris. Napoleon's marshals,
and
his relatives,
his friends
doning him. Even

suicide
had
his
Banished
failed.
bade an emotional farewell
Old Guard on April
to Elba,
known
he
to his faithful
20, 1814, in the
du Cheval Blanc. Since

courtyard has been
were aban-
attempt to commit
that
Cour
day,
as the
the
Cour des
Adieux.
After the Restoration, Louis XVIII and
Louis Philippe initiated some mediocre

restorations that are
still
partially evident.
But with the departure of Napoleon, Fontainebleau's six

political
hundred and
years of
fifty
prominence were ended. The
glorious old palace
still
stands, however, a
magnificent expression of France's

cultural,
today
day
and
much
in
marked
political
as
heritage.
artistic,
It
looks
Above. Pope Pius VII and (center) Napoleon

Bonaparte.
them
at
dramatic confrontation between
Fontainebleau resulted in Napoleon
taking the pope prisoner.

it
did on that windy April
1814 which save for Waterloo-
Below, an eighteenth -century view of the Cour
the conclusion of
Ovale.
its
last
epic ad-
The Esconal
'h.!
^ ^
Spain
Wc'
-^'"L
^^-^^^m^
'
'^,fl!
^
"
'"'!
ij-4iUii
.-XllÛl
>^j^^r>-^-\^"^
Preceding page, reflected
in
a reservoir,
the
southern fafade of the Escorial, which overlooks

the slopes of the Sierra de Guadarrama.
left is
Above and
tery,
To the
the Convalescents' Gallery.
left,
main facade of the monas-
the
facing west, attributed to Juan de Herrera,
who began working on
it
in
about 1576. The
fagade marks the introduction of the Baroque

Spanish architecture.
Far
right,
the two niches above the
trance, containing
and
the
in
main en-
a statue of Saint Lawrence
arms of Philip II surmounted by the
royal crown.
Right,
the symmetrical northern fafade.
four square towers
at the corners
(seen also above right) are reminiscent

alcazar, or
Moorish
fortress.
The
of the palace
of an
R -I
* -I
nTTnTunTnTn
a*.
-'-*>
ft
^ T
Facing page, one oflhefour corners oflhe Escorial. The mighlv square
corner lowers
design
is
reflect the austere, rigidly
geometric concept on which the
Bautista Monegro, they are
dome and one of the
hell towers
of the church
seen above the dormered southern faqade.
Below
right, the
the statues
in fire-gill bronze,
southwest tower, which looms above the upper level of
the Convalescents' Gallery.
Escorial" because
left,
except for their nuirhte
are the work of Sebastian Fernandez.
based.
Above, the Renaissance
Below
made of granite
heads and hands. The scepters, crowns, and insignia,
of David and Solomon in the Patio de los Reyes

The work of a sculptor from Toledo. Juan
("Court oflhe Kings")
fac,ade.
it
The gallery
is
called the
"smile of the
has the effect of enlivening the otherwise somber
'
'
'
--K.
flMJili'ii
[Ming page, above and below

characterized by a
basilica,
this
strict
right, the
southern arcade of the palace.
geometric restraint. Below
left, the apse of the

which protrudes through the eastern facade of the Escorial. On
one side
at least, the dignified serenity
of the exterior
is
relieved both
by the fragmented blocks of the royal apartments surrounding
it
and by
the relative richness of the dome. The dome, normally obscured by sur-
rounding buildings, can only be seen properly from
this point.
Above, the lower arcaded loggia of the Convalescents' Gallery.

loggia (right) overlooks the gardens
and
Its
upper
the surrounding countryside.
The
interior
of the Escorial is austere, as
building planned as a monastery. But

contains rooms oj singular beauty.
befits
it
aho
A bove center,
of the Battles. Above right, the

Rubens Room; Rubens made the cartoons fur
the great Gallery
the tapestries on the walls. Below, the hall con-
taining Charles V's campaign stool, which was
used as a throne by his son Philip
bedchamber of King Charles
the
II.
A bove
left.
IV of Spain.
Below right, the richly evocative Pantheon de

Reyes. Here, one above the other,
lie
los
the marble
sarcophagi containing the remains of the Spanish
sovereigns
Pantheon
in the
and
their
queens.
Above
the
church proper are two remark
able groups of sculptures, one portraying Philip

II
and
his
Charles
family
(left),
the other representing
V and his family.
Following page, view of the Escorial and the
surrounding country of the Sierra de Guadar-
rama near Madrid.
The
The
kings of Spain. Philip chose a
Escorial
Spain
Escorial
the
struction of the Escorial, the genius gov-
erning the project was that of the king
site in
among moun-
himself. Philip followed with close interest
tains as austere as the character of the king
every detail of the design and construc-
rama, near Madrid. Here,
among
forests
abounding
in
tion,
always inspecting, correcting, and
streams and game, he built the Escorial,
improving
one of the most formidable of
temporary standards, the work was done
all
Spanish
buildings.
quickly.
It
has been said that the Escorial was an
attempt to "baptize the Renaissance." The
the
troops of
King
August
Philip
2,
1557,
of Spain
II
style
of the Escorial echoes the classical
spirit
of the time, epitomized by the work
of the Italian architects Bramante and
achieved a long-awaited victory. They de-
Vignola.
feated the French forces at St.-Quentin in
the influence of the medieval religious be-
Picardy. Hardly a year later, Philip's fa-
liefs
ther, the
emperor Charles V who had ab-
burial place.
son build him a
his
However, Philip conceived a
grander idea to construct a
honor both
and
his father
monument
to
and Saint Lawrence,

empire
also the vast Spanish
Planning began immediately.

23, 1563, Philip laid the
On
Escorial also incorporates
The
Escorial
was completed
unknown
On
pert in stonework
miera, where this art

for
generations.
called in from
him
called
"the
site virtually
I
1
W*
'
J*
1567, he
all
ex-
had been cultivated
miniaturists, sculptors,
and organ builders were

over Europe. In time, the
became
a school of the fine
The
E.scorial
is
Though many had
Day
its
construction,
and by the
design and appearance.
austerity of
Few
eral layout
exact,
hand
in the
con-
only ornamentation
..AVa
in
in
the
worked with the utmost mastery.
The ground plan
is
an enormous grid-
iron covering 500,000 square feet. Philip
himself
is
thought to have been responsi-
ble for the gridiron plan, which supposgrill
Lawrence was roasted
_\-.X
lies
careful choice of the materials that are
M.JBL :j[I]^[E[jm'LJC~T^
A^;/;
.^- i'C:'i:jinQapnaaL'i^,^:Lm-'
L^'J
.
^#.
__\'i
and
the play of the proportions,
on which Saint
alive.
A ho vc.
jiiuni
an
mathematical
of the restrained moldings,
._]L_i)'( j/HJi
The gen-
details are rooted in
obsessive,
logic. In fact, the
in the details
own
decorative elements soften
and the
almost
its
overall con-
Its
ception reflects the severity of Philip's

character.
ab-
its
symmetry of
solute unity, by the geometric
Left,
But the plan
I'hilip II
-Jo/
in 1586.
characterized by
edly symbolizes the
arts.
throned monk"), and a mausoleum for the
,-/]
in
Carpenters, goldsmiths
and metalworkers,
to serve as a church, a royal palace,
monastery to which he could retreat (Phil-
death
from the valley of Tras-
April
painters, masons,
contemporaries
his
direc-
was succeeded by Juan de Herrera, an
of the Escorial. This somber complex was
ip's
was appointed
architect,
tor of works.
relatively
in
work was
begun. The church was consecrated on the

eve of Saint Lawrence's
the stern aspect of the building.
Juan Bautista de Toledo, a
itself
foundation stone
end
that prospered in Spain until the
of the eighteenth century.
dicated in his son's favor, died leaving a
modest request: that
The
By con-
his architects' plans.
1584, twenty-one years after the
Saint Lawrence's Day,
53
harsh country of the Sierra de Guadar-
himself,
On
poll rait
by
of
Tilian.
view
of the
Escorial in a sixieenth-
cenlury print. The gridiron pattern
divides
it
into sections facing spa-
cious court vards.
54
Right, longitudinal
and
cross sections through
the church.
pl-vt
îiiîippMi.|
iliwrniiwill]
?i!r""*^-*'^!"--Ui-ni"3
a -^ î
[,J_-U'
fc
a'
I
I
iniiirlriii
Above, floor plan showing
how
the Escorial
is
laid out in the form
used
to
of a gridiron, the instrument

martyr Saint Lawrence. In the center is
the church, in the form

right
is
school; bottom right
is
the bottom
the library
also practical since
it
sierras.
On
the
of Flanders and Burgundy,
left is
the
and Conva-
helps differentiate
which were
at that
time domains of the
king of Spain.
The
rows of identical windows
smooth
walls,
vary in
interest.
set in
The
three
at the center
monastery
the center and rear.
south;
the
to the north;
and
to
it
An
the
extension of the
imposing dome, which
southern
to the
work of Donato Bra-
Gallery, the only external loggia of the
elements that compose the
rest
of the
building.
faqade
Escorial.
The
firmary
and
is
the
Convalescents'
gallery, situated
sheltered
sive structure with
its
aspects.
The mas-
four square towers,
may be considered
the last of
near the
from
mountain winds, was used as
Escorial also reveals certain Arabic
for example,
the
Its
mante, dominates the hnear and symmet-
The church
and engineer Pa-
itself is in the
the
in-
cold
a solarium
by convalescing monks.
St.
Lawrence occupies a
sult,
to
is
end of the church but

in the nave.
As
a re-
from the outside the church appears
form a Latin
cross,
with the nave longer
than the apse and transepts. Yet, from the

inside
it
seems
to
be a Greek
cross,
with
all
four arms stretching an equal distance
from the dome.

In front of the church, immediately inside the central gate of the Escorial,
large courtyard called the
is
Patio de los
Reyes ("Court of the Kings"). This court-
At the heart of the immense palace, the
Church of
form of a cross
customary Spanish fashion, the choir
on a raised platform
the complex of church and royal palace in
The
The
attributed
with enormous frescoed barrel vaults. In
the three principal divisions of the build-
school, symmetric to
and northern European
is
thought to have been interpreted and re-
situated not at the
church, the monastery, and the schools.
rical
at Versailles.
da Urbino, whose drawings are
ciotto
great doors of the western faqade lead to
of the buildings: the royal palace, the
owes much
to the ItaHan architect
faqades, impressive with their re-
lentless
ing:
of the complex.
bedchamber
vised by Herrera.
the spaces devoted to the diverse functions
The church, of course, stands
the king's
original design for the church
left,
lescents' Gallery.
is
fortresses that often
other hand, the steep roofs of the towers

recall the roofs
of the Bourbons; bottom center
the Patio de los Reyes.
Arab
cross; to the
the Patio of the Evangelists; to the
the royal palace

is
of a Greek
the alcazars, the
crowned the tops of the
posi-
tion in the Escorial equivalent to that
of
yard
is
named
for the six large statues
Old Testament kings that overlook

the faqade of the church.
it
of
from
"
The
Philip
II
showed
usually
excellent dis-
crimination in his choice of
though
al-
artists,
appointment of Luca Cam-
his
biaso to fresco the vaults of the church
He had
proved unfortunate.
When
Venetian
the
lected
originally se-
Paolo
Veronese.
Veronese declined the invitation,
Philip
had
biaso,
who had
to settle for the
Cam-
Ligurian
good reputation
as a
perspective painter. But the middle-aged
Cambiaso's ceaseless amorous entangle-
ments robbed him of time and energy,
making
it
impossible for him to devote
sufficient attention
Ironically,
Charles
II, last
to the
was the
it
king's palace.
sickly
of the Spanish Hapsburgs
who
(he ruled from 1665 to 1700),

ally
and
dull
discovered a more capable
eventuartist to
was Luca
fresco the Escorial. His choice
Giordano of Naples, one of the leading

decorative artists of the day.
named Luca Fa
He was
nick-
Presto ("Speedy Luke")
because of the incredible swiftness with
which he carried out

If Philip
his
commissions.
was disappointed with Cam-
biaso. he was,
on one occasion,
by
skillful in
would sometimes
the use of stone, Herrera
try his expertise to its limits.

in
terrified
Extremely
his architect Herrera.
For example,
the monastery he built a choir that
stood over an almost
flat
and
granite arch,
on the keystone of the arch he calmly

placed
an
heavy
extremely
lectern
marble and bronze. The king did not
of
trust
the stability of the structure
and
that the arch be supported
by a sturdy
column. After
that,
insisted
whenever he passed
beneath the arch. Philip was reassured by

the presence of the mighty support. But
the
column was actually nothing but pa-
pier-mache
When
construction was
fin-
Ahove. the interior of the church in an eighteenth-century engraving by Alegre.
It is
Holy
and hundreds of candles have been

lighted before the main altar.
Week,
Right. Pellegrino Tibaldi.

tects to
one
Herrera, perhaps the best

tects
oj the /irsi archi-
work on the monastery. Center, Juan de
of the Escorial. Far
known of the
right,
ther Jose de Siguenza, poet
and historian, whom
Philip II considered to he "one

the Escorial.
archi-
a portrait of Faof the wonders of
Escorial
55
56
main
corridor in the
of the Escorial,
depicted in an eighcloister
The building
holds
1598, in these austere
II,
which
collection
of
the medieval notions of royal
way
bons,
remained the
it
Under
the Bour-
royal resi-
official
dence, but the rulers abandoned
books.
age and
power gave
to less rigorous attitudes, the Escorial
declined in importance.
4,742 rare manuscripts
and over 40,000 printed
modem
As Spain entered the
still
contains the library be-
gun by Philip
13,
surroundings.
engrav-
teenth-century
ing.
on September
as often
it
gloomy palaces of
as possible for the less
Granja or Afanjuez. The Escorial came

back into favor during the reign of Charles
III in
the late eighteenth century,
Age of Reason
when
the
reinstated a taste for clas-
sical restraint.
Charles
had been Duke of Parma
III
and king of Naples before becoming king
He had been
of Spain.
city
in
Naples when the
of Pompeii was discovered, an event
depicted in the tapestries in his apart-
philosopher-king ruled dur-
ments.
If this
ing the
Age of Reason, he
also ruled dur-
ing the "age of bureaucracy." In fact, he
considered the vast Escorial far too small

to
accommodate
had
ished, Herrera
demolished before
it
place reminded
the very eyes of his uneasy sovereign.
The king entrusted
be the most powerful on earth,
the Italian sculptors
them
Juan de Villanueva
were noth-
the huge complex: the casita of the prince
pomp and
splendor
and
to
merous
vine grace and ultimately transitory, a
main
mere
original
and funerary
religious
statues.
groups of their figures, those of the
families of Charles
V and
seen in the Church of
Mary
St.
Philip
II,
can be
Lawrence. Only
of England, Philip's third wife,
is
not represented.
Over the high

cifix
which they were born was a
is
a beautiful cru-
by Domenico Guidi, a
fine
work
in
of
di-
vanity.
The
Escorial
is,
nevertheless, a reposi-
the
like
gathered over the centuries by the kings of
and Herrera.
lection of water colors
by Diirer and an-
The
other of early printed books. There
is
also
in
many
Escorial
architecture for
it
was
addi-
after the
perfectly with
fit
most Spanish architects of
riches include a matchless col-
to
complex because Villanueva,
building,
sympathetic to
The
The two
two hundred years
tions, built
tory for a vast accumulation of treasures
Spain.
altar
gift
to
casita of the infanta.
Leone and Pompeo Leoni with the nu-
Two
architect
his
add two annexes
this resting
that they
ing but dust, that the
functionaries. He,
all his
commissioned
therefore,
built.
But
was
his time,
of the ideas of Philip
was a model
for
Spanish
more than a century

this austere royal
after
monas-
cannot be said to be typical of
gilded bronze dating from the seventeenth
a picture gallery representing centuries of
tery
century. Directly under the altar
European painting; a
Spanish architecture. Standing at the ad-
Pantheon de
los
the
is
Reyes, designed by the
architect Giovanni-Battista Crescenzi
serve as a royal
mausoleum. Nearly
all
to
the
kings and queens of Spain since the time
of Charles
which
with
is
gilt
were not
built
lie
in the great
Pantheon,
bronze. However, the monarchs

laid to rest in the
Pantheon im-
ten years in a sort of
first
anteroom
to
the place of eternal rest, a vile-smelling
place
known
as el pudridero.
Though
the
monarchs of Spain believed themselves
to
and an immense
relics;
library of
Islamic manuscripts, collected by Philip

III,
who was
pitiless in his
the Moriscos, those
persecution of
Arabs who had con-
Unlike the later embellishments of the

Escorial, the
rooms of Philip
II
are plainly
and modestly whitewashed, decorated by

equally modest blue Talavera
the furniture
his
is
II,
tiles.
Even
humble. All the pictures
in
rooms, however, are the works of great
masters. Enfeebled
ministrative center of Spain

pire,
at
the heart of a
from
stretched
Escorial
is
and
its
and withdrawn, Philip
the true architect of the Escorial, died
all
em-
dominion which
America
to
Asia,
the
an assertion of the essential
European heritage and character of
verted to Christianity.
of polished marble accented
mediately after they died. They were

left for
of holy
priceless collection
Spanish people. But above
all, it is
the
a per-
sonal building, the perfect artistic expression of the soul of Philip
II.
Taj Mahal
India
Î
A hove,
lite
arched alcove under the great central
iwan, or half dome, which
is
a convention of
Persian architecture, adapted here to blend with
elements of
eral view
Left
and
Mogul
design.
Above
of the Taj Mahal and

right, details
Human
Far
a gen-
minarets.
and
stylized de
figures are excluded
dense ornamentation, as
Islamic
right,
of the mausoleum, show-
ing the intricate inscriptions

signs.
its
is
from
the
frequently the case in
art.
right,
one of the
icniral dome.
lesser cupolas that flank the
larrJ
Facing page, the swelling central dome of ihe

Taj Mahal which is the dominant architectural
feature of the complex. Above, one of the slender
minarets, which rise to a height of
138 feet at the
corners of the tomb. The minarets serve to bal-
ance the group of buildings, as well as
to lighten
the effect of the massive dome.

Right, above
and below, Indians
visiting
the
tomb ofMumtaz Mahal, one of the most popular

shrines in India.
-:S5eî.^^
Facing page, the central chamber of the mauso-
leum showing the Iwo svmboUc sarcophagi of

Miimlaz Mahal and her devoted husband Shah
Jahan
side
bv side. The emperor's sarcophagus
slightly higher than that
one
side,
of his wife and
is
is
set to
thus becoming the only infraction of
symmetry of the mausoleum. Howwas not part of the original design. Shah
Jahan had planned to build himself a vast tomb
the overall
ever,
it
across the river from the Taj Mahal. But
when
he died, his son Aurangzeb betrayed his father's

wish
Left,
and buried him beside Mumta: Mahal.

an archway leading through the delicate
screens which surround the two sarcophagi. The
tombs are opulently inlaid with precious and

.semiprecious stones
tations
.Above,
and
are inscribed with quo-
from the Koran.
the filigreed
lamp
that burns in
the
chamber, casting an intricate glow upon the two

sarcophagi.
Following page, the Taj Mahal, renowned the

world over for
its
serene
and
timeless beauty.
fei
Taj Mahal .69
been the qualities that have inspired
Taj Mahal
India
to build.
ever,
is
domed
who
The famous
a notable exception.
building
is
memorial
vent love of Shah Jahan, the

the
Mogul empire,
fifth ruler
to legend, the
so beautiful that
proverb, but rarely does

for
the
architect.
it
Faith
provide work
and
vanity,
throughout the centuries, have more often
Mopil emperWhen he was a young prince, he fell in love

with the beautiful Arjumand Bunu Begum, the
Above, Shah Jahan. Jiflh of the

ors.
daughter of his father's prime minister, and
On the day of her corowas given the honorary name of
eventually married her.

nation, his bride
Mumta: Mahal, the "Chosen One of the PalWhen Mumta: Mahal died. Shah Jahan
built the wonderful Taj Mahal in her memory.
ace. "
Right, a Mogul illustration of the Taj Mahal.

Although the building was strongly influenced
by the Persian architecture of the time,
become
the
supreme symbol of India.
it
has
of
for a cherished wife,
queen's
wish was that the shah build a
to the
to the fer-
died in childbirth.
According
Love moves mountains, according
men
The majestic Taj Mahal, how-
whoever saw
last
monument
it
could not
many tourists and pilgrims. Visitors are as

moved by the many legends surrounding
creation as they are spellbound by
its
The
first
meeting between the prince
and
his future wife took place in 1607, in
the
royal
Meena
bazaar.
which was attached
turbed by men, the
women
Indeed, since
its
metics.
seventeenth
century,
the
tranquil gardens
and
shimmering
bazaar,
harem,
was a private marketplace where, undis-
racy could buy waxes,
monument of white marble,
This
to the royal
help but sense the perfection of their love.

construction in the mid-
its
serene elegance.
On
oils,
of the aristoc-
and other
certain days, however,
cos-
normal
protocol was reversed, and the bazaar be-
among
came a
lively
pools, has attracted
classes.
Relaxing their reserve for a day.
set
meeting place, open
to all
70
a drawing of ihe screen around the iwo
Lefl,
sarcophagi in the mausoleum.
Below, a floor plan of ihe whole complex, in
which
mausoleum
the
flanked hv
bottom
at
is
mosque and
its
the "reply.
center,
"
love to his side, he
dreamed
instead of making her immortal.
He would
call his lost
mausoleum
build her a
who gazed on
love
it
the city of Agra,
miracle of
on the banks of the broad
his wife's greatest
it
feel the
and the cruelty of death. He selected
Yamuna the
slow stream of the
the
so perfect that all
would
scene of
happiness as the
site
of
tomb of the "Chosen One" and named
"Remembrance of
the Taj Mahal, the
the Palace."
Strangely enough, the architect of the

Taj
noblewomen would
the
and peddle
and wares
their baubles
to the
who came
that
was on one of these
"contrar)' days"
Shah Jahan, who was then known
Prince
Begum,
love
with
He immediately
According
her.
when Khurram
bottom of a
father, the
He
quest, pleasing
mission to marry the trinket

gir
gave permission, for he,
ried for love.
However,
before the couple
Shah Jahan was
was
first
seller.
united,
pean
had been
this
One
One." In
their nineteen
years together,
Mumtaz Mahal was more

wife.
She was a
many of his
close
than a harem
companion, privy
royal dehberations.
to
She bore
daughter on the battlefield of
birth to a
After the death of his wife, the shah was

stricken with grief
his
rooms
drink.
He
stayed weeping in
for eight days, refusing to eat or
It is
later,
another Euro-
by a Western architect
dian version of the history of the Taj
her husband on his campaigns.
She died soon
deaux, also a goldsmith. However, the In-
"King of the World," the shah could be
fatal to her.
years
this
."
.
last
Turkey or
"Chosen
said that he
after giving
her husband fourteen children, but the
Burhanpur, having insisted on following
for his
It is
Frenchman Austin de Bor-
time the
was
hved only
manner of a
concluded that the Taj Mahal
built
new name, Mumtaz

Mahal, the "Chosen One of the Palace."
Although the name Shah Jahan means
said to have
re-
the beauty of his
Agra: a Major Sleeman, who,
visited
in his turn,
Khurram and Arjumand Banu
and the bride was honored by her
wife.
him know when
let
been spent
all
Two hundred
passed
father-in-law with a
him with
rupees and "to
sum had
poUtical marriage with a Persian princess.

Eventually,
dead
his
ordered Veroneo to spend thirty million
Jahan-
make
em-
a large
rage at the projected costs, which he con-
actually married.
obliged to
for
sidered disgracefully low.
had mar-
five years
make
proud barbarian," the emperor flew into a
to ask per-
too,
was a
Geronimo
priest, the
designs. But "in the arrogant
Khurram
then went to his
emperor Jahangir,
called
Veroneo complied with the emperor's
smiled and withdrew the ten thousand

rupees from his sleeve.
tomb
sumptuous
diamond, Ar-
rupees.
goldsmith
preliminary drawing of his design for a
in
a price only a prince could
thousand
afford ten
1642 to ransom a
in
peror requested Veroneo to
buy from her the
tried to
bottle cut like a
jumand named
fell
Agra
Veroneo. According to the
tradition,
to
to
Venetian
as
beguiling daughter of the
prime minister.
are legion. Father Sebas-
colleague, relates that the architect
Khurram, saw Arjumand Banu

the
unknown, aUhough claim-
is
title
Manrique, a Portuguese missionary
tian
milling crowd.
It
Mahal
ants to the
cast off their veils
said that during this time his
beard turned quite gray. Powerless to
re-
Mahal
credits
Ustad
Isa,
an itinerant from
Persia, as being the designer.
legend
tells
that
Ustad
was an inconsolable widower
Isa himself
in
search of
an opportunity to erect a worthy monu-
ment
to
his
own
wife.
Other accounts
claim .variously that he was from the
cities
of Isfahan or Samarkand or from Russia
Taj Mahal. 71
and
was
that he
either a Christian, a Jew,
It
probable that the Taj Mahal was
is
not the
depicting
a single master at
procession
neral
craftsmen from
many
artists
and
over Asia. Begun
all
in
eternal
his
resting
place alongside his heloved wife.
mausoleum took some 20,000
1631, the
workmen twenty-two
years to build at a
Below, a gold coin from
Shah Jahan 's
the
cost of forty million rupees.
however, the legends con-
detail,
reign.
Persian in design
It is
cur.
of
but
ail
to
one
the fu-
Shah Jahan. taking him
work of
the concerted effort of
In
P^T^
Righl. a \toi;i(l miniature
or an Arab.
and style.
Shah Jahan was apparently so pleased
mausoleum
with the elegant
headed
that he be-
chief architect, cut
his
hands of the
architect's
off the
assistants,
and
blinded the draftsmen, so that they would
never be able to create a building to rival

it.
And
the legends are correct on another
tomb
count: There has never been a
to
surpass the cool, white beauty of the Taj
Mahal.
It is
a balanced
of buildings.
and symmetric grouping
harmonious synthesis of
the architecture of Persia, India,

tral
Asia,
and cen-
combines, for example, the
it
traditional design of
Mogul gardens with
the characteristically Indian use of minarets, or towers,
and a dominant dome.
The placement of a dome over an arched

alcove
is
a characteristic of Persian archi-
tecture, successfully
Mahal
to
Mogul
adapted
in
the Taj
design.
At the heart of the complex stands the
mausoleum
itself:
a massive eight-sided
structure inset with arched iwans, or half
domes, of a
classically
Mogul
design.
It is
not a setting for rec-
white marble. At different times of the
reation and pleasure but rather a retreat or
day, the marble surfaces take on varying
the Persian garden
is
sacred refuge from the disorder of tem-
and
poral
claim that the only
life.
Under
onal
the great
hall,
dome, within an octag-
are the sarcophagi of the two
by a screen of carved mar-
lovers, enclosed
crowned by an immense, bulbous dome,
ble.
which
tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. Next
is
surrounded and
minarets that
Flanking
domed
the
mosque and
known
rise to a
set off
by four
height of 138
feet.
are
structure
a second matching building,
larger
the
couple are
to
idyllic
oblong pools,
at the front
of the mauso-
leum. These pools, in turn, are divided

into fourths
by avenues, four being the
number sacred
The
to Islam. This
planned and
calculated reordering of nature
and the
severe regularity of the lines of trees are

characteristic of Persian gardens,
which
are intended to invite spiritual contempla-
Unlike English and French gardens,
The
him beside
his
Sweden
part of the
to
for himself
his son, refusing
of another tomb, be-
last
wishes and buried
beloved consort.
Perhaps the single most alluring aspect

of the Taj Mahal
is
more descriptive and
Mahal was
across the river from that of his loved one.
trayed his father's
the
Victorian-accounts of the sin-
written by Prince William of
mausoleum
However, when he died,
its
gular effects of light at the Taj
Shah Jahan had planned
to incur the expen.se
One of
distinctly
by moonlight, when
on an almost incandescent
Shah
small crypt beneath the
build another vast
glow.
is
travelers
but a
tomb was not
shah's
original plan.
Mahal
Some
to fully appreciate
it,
to
actual graves of the royal
in a
the Taj
surface takes
way
that of
burial hall.
square garden, divided by

is
is
the memorial
whole complex. However, both tombs
maintain the symmetry of
is
and higher,
is
Jahan-the only asymmetrical element of
are empty.
the entire composition.
tion.
little
as the jawab, or "reply." Its sole
function
An
In the exact center
delicate casts of color.
the pervasive use of
one of his
site in
in
travel books, after he visited the
1832:
'
72
The sun shone
so intensely on the dead-
ever,
who was governor general of Bengal

who disapproved of
was
India,
active in the efforts to preserve
white marble that one was forced to
from 1828 to 1833 and
look with half-closed eyes or to wear
the
smoked
India, proposed that the building be dis-
now appears much the way it did

when the great Mogul emperor. Shah
mantled and auctioned off
Jahan, was
glasses to avoid being dazzled.
The many dehcate
now
details
ap-
peared to great advantage, and the

laid
work, especially with
masterly;
otherwise
wealth of
its
stones of different colors,
in-
seem
to
preferred
be
the
lovely moonlight effect of the evening
before with
its
and
feeling,
atmosphere of profound
it
is
thus that
choose to remember
among
all
The Taj
would
gem
this costliest
the treasures of India.
Mahal
abashed praise from
received
many
such
other
un-
visitors,
including such distinguished travelers as

the
seventeenth-century
Baptiste
Tavernier,
the
essayist
Jean-
English
poet
Edwin Arnold, and Rudyard Kipling.

the 1830s, Lord William Bentinck,
mf'W
In
how-
"decadent"
During
Mogul
this period,
architecture
in
England.
many tombs and
dels were destroyed. Fortunately, the
attempted auction of Taj Mahal
England was a dismal
failure,
were no further threats
in
first
and there
to the building.
Nonetheless, throughout the nineteenth

century,
the
British
completely
disre-
to his vigilance, the
building
alive.
Because of Curzon and other conserva-
cita-
relics in
Thanks
the Taj Mahal.
tionists, the
nificent
Taj
Mahal
survives as a
Indian history. The rare beauty of the Taj
Mahal and
have
in
the reasons for
stirred hearts since
1664.
Edward
it
r-
construction
was completed
Lear, the Victorian au-
thor and humorist,
summed
marble terrace was used for formal dances
quip, "Henceforth
let
which were accompanied by brass bands.
the world be divided into two classes
Picnics
and croquet matches were held
the gardens, which eventually
became
more than badly maintained
tle
in
lit-
was a dramatic
ain's attitude
art.
up with
his
as has seen the Taj
Mahal and them
as hasn't."
parks.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, there
them
it
the inhabitants of
revival in Brit-
toward precolonial Indian
Lord Curzon, an Englishman living in
(I European drawing of the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal has long fascinated European
Below.
visitors
including
Rudyard
Kipling,
Jean-Baptiste
and Edward
tpt=M=dVt=:M=dVfn^^t^^
r'-
its
garded the sanctity of the Taj Mahal. The
mag-
reminder of a unique period of
''r
(rarTTnmX^fMMt^WT^TTTTTTT r r
Lear.
Tavernier,
The Belvedere
^^
Austria
>
^<^,
,*r^*^
Baroque palace in
Preceding page, an aerial view of the Belvedere. This
Savoy (1663Vienna was the summer residence of Prince Eugene of
1736).
one of history's most
.Above, the
huge
triple
brilliant military strategists.
wrought -iron gate
in front
of the Upper Palace.
On either side of the central gateway, gentlefaced lions hold Eugene's escutcheon and coroHoly
net, symbols of his title of prince of the
Roman Empire
(above,
and
detail far right).
This heraldic coronet appears five times on the
gate (detail righl)-an emphatic reminder of

Eugene's nobility The lions once inspired the
epigramist Nikolaus Klauserwitz to pen the fol-
Latin impromptu: "Indomiti Ducis

ungue tenent insigne liones. Nam leo magninimi signa leonis amat" ("Lions bear in their
lowing
claws the shield of the invincible prince, for the

lion
loves
the
insignia
brother"). Left, detail
of his magnanimous
of the
gate.
Above, the entrance facade of the Upper Palace,

reflected
on the smooth surface of the pool. The
central entrance portico once provided shelter
for the carriages of visitors. The statues in front
of the palace include an athlete taming a wild

stallion (far left)
Right,
an ornate,
converted to
and a benign sphinx

wrought-iron lantern,
eleclricity.
(left).
now
//)( curves and broken lines

of the facade of the
Upper Palace are more than matched by its ex-
uberance of detail. Above
left, the coat of arms of

Eugene of Savoy on the pediment of the central
portico. Paired pilasters (left) flank the ornate
windows, while copper domes (above), patined

with age.
crown the four corner pavilions.
Facing page, the entrance portico of the Upper

Palace seen across the pool. Dozens of statues,
the pagodalike roof
and a wealth of
inventive
details lend to disguise the fact that the
of the palace
is
relatively simple.
massing
The sloping
terraces
and geometric gardens
contribute an impression of height

to the
the
and elegance
comparatively simpler garden fatâde of
Upper Palace
(above). Left, detail
of Ba-
roque ironwork from one of the palace gates.

Right, a sculptural group ofputti frolicking with
a mermaid, which contrasts with the dignified

statues of classical gods
(far right).
and goddesses nearby
Abuve, ihe gardens and Lower Palace as seen
from the pool
at the top
of the cascade.
Right, one of the staircases
ing the upper
ramp
is
circles,
and lower
and ramps connect-
levels
of the garden. The
decorated with ornamental squares and
now
barely
visible,
which are Chinese
symbols for the earth and the skv.
Facing page, the central pavilion of the Upper

Palace and the cascade. The sculptural groups at
either side of the cascade portray heroes subdu-
ing primeval monsters. Left, Hercules fighting

the dragon of the
Hesperides.
Right, Apollo
conquering the Pvthon.
Following page, a fountain
(left,
above and
below) near the garden fa(;ade of the Lower

Palace. Right, the
Lower Palace
dens and Upper Palace beyond.
with the gar-
^,
ÛKBUfc^.'-.-s.-^R
the vaulled Hall of the Giants in the

Upper Palace, which opens direcllv onto the
.l/)<;ic' left,
garden. The staircase in the background leads
up
to //if sala terrena (facing page).
The giants
supporting the arches of the vault (detail above)
symbolize mililarv strength.
The bases of the
arches they carry are surrounded by war trophies. Left,
one of the stucco cherubs that sup-
port the lanterns on the white staircase. Top,

detail
of the balustrade of the
staircase.
-,
J-acing page, four Jrescoed ceilings al the Belvedere.
Clockwise from above
left,
are from: an octagonal ground-floor
the ceilings
room
in
one
of the end pavilions on the garden side of the

Upper Palace, decorated in a "Roman" style hv
Jonas Drentwitt: the more Baroque central hall

of the Upper Palace, decorated by Carlo Carlone: the
ace,
Hall of Grotesques
in the
Lower Pal-
executed by Jonas Drentwitt; and the chapel
of the Upper Palace, also bv Carlo Carlone.

Above, the reception hall of ihe Upper Palace.
The fresco by Carlo Carlone on the ceiling

picts the allegory
de-
of Apollo and Diana. Other
frescoes in the palace, such as the octagonal
room by Jonas Drentwitt
(right),
are less specific
allusions to Eugene's military glories.
>
*
iTj.^
Facing page, the Golden Cabinet. Parallel mir-
a dizzying regression of gold and

The statue represents the apotheosis of
rors create
glass.
Prince Eugene. The decor was further enriched
bv Maria Theresa. Below, details of the painted

gilt walls
of the Golden Cabinet.
Right, a statue, completed in
Maria Theresa, wearing the
1 766.
of Empress
of queen of
Hungary. Maria Theresa purchased the Belveregalia
dere some years after Eugene's death. Below
an equestrian statue of Eugene. Below

tail
of a table
in the
Golden Cabinet. The
which dates from the time of Eugene.

the typically
Rococo tendency
left.
right, de-
table,
e.xhibits
to enliven every
surface with decoration.
Following page, the south faqade of the Upper

Palace, overlooking the reflecting pool. Today,
the arcades
of the faqade are glazed.
w^
"^
The Belvedere 97
and
for building
The Belvedere
Austria
Where
restoration.
the
thoughts and desires of the young soldier
and splendid mansions. Thus, the
of the
Danube throughout
every province
of the Hapsburg dominions. Even

remotest valleys, the
common
lowed the example of the

siasm. Village bell
of
architectural
flourished in
and flamboyant
the
styles,
Baroque
Europe during the seven-
teenth and early eighteenth centuries. In

Austria,
vitality
it is
characterized by a particular
and exuberance.
For more than a century, Austria had

struggled
fitfully
against
the
threat
domination by the Ottoman Turks,

the
enemy was
at last repulsed
gates of Vienna in 1683.
was
that
felt
of
until
from the
The joyful
relief
throughout the nation was
immediately reflected
in
an enthusiasm
elite
engravers. Below, one of the innumerable
early views of the southern fa^-ade of the
Pahu
<
Upper
It
illuminates
the
rose to glory despite his physical dis-
advantages and
spent
in the
his
unhappy
early years
France of Louis XIV.
fol-
with enthu-
towers were topped
When
France
Louis
in
XIV became
643 at the age of
king
five,
of
the re-
mother Queen Anne, confirmed
gent, his
with onion-shaped domes, and scrolled
the wily Cardinal Mazarin in the oflice of
pediments adorned the windows of mod-
prime minister and virtually handed him
est
country inns.
Pomp and
the reins of government. Mazarin, a bril-
splendor were the watch-
words of the Baroque. The show of wealth
and
prestige
was not only an end
in itself
liant
statesman, was the center of political
intrigue
and conspiracies
but also a symbol of power and promi-
three children to join
them became
expressed
the
Reformation,
Church of
the
triumph of the Counter

ascendancy
the
Rome
of
the
over Protestantism. In
homes of royalty and
the nobility, Ba-
at the court.
reasons of his own, he sent for his
nence. In religious buildings, the Baroque
time, the
king.
him
in Paris.
For
sister's
One of
a favorite playmate and, in
amorous consort of the young
Her name was Olympe Mancini.
Court gossip suspected Mazarin of hoping to marry his niece to the sovereign.
roque architecture was an aflirmation of
However, a
absolute authority, designed to overawe
vision
the populace with
tained such a scheme, given the insuper-
its
display of wealth and
politician
could
not
of his subtlety and
seriously
have enter-
able obstacle of their unequal birth. After
The Belvedere Palace
and
who
of Savoy.
in the
people
brilliance.
The Belvedere was a favorite subject for painters
founder. Prince
the Austrians built churches, royal pal-
Austrian Baroque spread from the valley
the most opulent
its
Eugene
aces,
One of
and preoccupations of
Turks had wreaked havoc and destruction,
in
Vienna
is
the
quintessence of this Baroque conception
of princely sovereignty. But
it is
more than
Louis had outgrown his youthful if not so
innocent diversions with Olympe, the
girl
departed from the royal apartments with
an impressive monument to money and
impeccable
power.
her hand on the Count of SoLssons, Prince
It
also mirrors the personal ideals
political credentials, to
bestow
98
of Savoy. The count was a general in the
French army. His frequent absences
Olympe ample freedom
to
pursue her
left
liai-
18,
1663.
him:
Eugene of Savoy was a homely
The Duchess of Orleans wrote of
child.
"He was small and
son with the king. However, her political
turned nose and flaring
machinations led to her eventual banish-
upper
ment from
the
mother of eight
dren. Eugene, the youngest
pected by
chil-
so narrow that he cannot shut his
(who was
sus-
many to have been a natural son
of the king), was born in Paris on October
which are
teeth
Solomon Kleiner published an
entire
volume of engravings of the Belvedere. This volume was the source of these two views of the Hall
of the Giants, the vestibule of the Upper Palace
that leads to the gardens. In the
ing, the artist
ceiling with
much on account
old,
When
he was just ten years
Eugene himself was determined
He engaged
in a rigorous
he
left
ofl"ered his services to the
peror Leopold
was
1.
at the gates
The Turkish army
of Vienna. In the west,
XIV had just
Louis
was hungry
taken Strasbourg and
more German
for
Eugene had much

Leopold. As a
Austrian em-
Leopold's domains were
threatened.
severely
to
be a
program
territory.
recommend him to
member of the House of
to
Roman
Savoy, he was a prince of the Holy
fend the Christian faith against the
Moreover,
and
Versailles
Empire and thus eminently suited
for a life in the church.
soldier.
HumiUated, the young prince took a

fateful step. In 1683,
Eugene was excluded from the
Louis decided to have him prepared
army, Louis refused
in the
his brother,
to deinfidel.
Louis Julius, had
upper engrav-
has erroneously replaced the real
one based upon that of the adjacent
entrance portico.
is
of his unfortunate looks as his mother's
French court.
I7il.
He
always dirty and has lanky hair, which he
intrigues.
//;
visible all the time.
never curls." Possibly as
commission
his petition.
an up-
and an
nostrils,
mouth." She added: "He has two large
the kingdom.
Olympe was
lip
ugly, with
met a hero's death while
of riding, fencing, and gymnastics to de-
recently
velop his strength and stamina. However,
the Turks in
when
had been spurned by Louis
the
young Prince of Savoy requested
Lower
fighting
And Eugene
XIV, who was
Austria.
Leopold's adversary. Leopold, therefore,
welcomed Eugene
to his refuge
Passau in eastern Bavaria.
He immedi-
graciously
at
ately placed
paign
Eugene
the
divert
to
in
charge of a cam-
Turkish
siege
of.
Vienna.
Eugene's valor and military genius were
soon widely recognized and rewarded. At

the age of twenty-one, he
was decorated
with the Golden Spurs and was given
command of the
regiment of dragoons of
Kufstein. At twenty-two, he
major general;
mander
in chief
an imperial
was named
twenty-seven,
com-
of the cavalry; at
thirty,
at
field
marshal;
president of the Imperial
and
War
finally,
Council.
His success was prodigious, even for a

prince of a reigning house, but
it
was well
merited. His campaigns against the Turks
culminated
battle
won
in
the
for
The
Battle of Tisza.
ended Turkish hopes
in
Europe and
Eugene the name of savior of
Christianity
and Western
civilization.
These honors and promotions were ac-
companied by
Hapsburgs
prestige
showered
and wealth. The
him
with
money, and land. Having arrived

tria
titles,
Aus-
in
with only twenty-five guilders to his
name. Prince Eugene was by the age of

thirty a rich
at
and powerful man. His
the time of his death
estate
was valued
at
twenty-five million guilders.
Eugene loved Vienna and made
it
his
The Belvedere 99
'JrfttrdVrtrt:/nnu iPrnt.iptr^î.i
Left, an eighteenth-
century view of the Belvedere gardens.
home. However, he never used German,

relying solely
ing
on
his
French, both in writ-
and conversation. He
for himself,
just steps
in the center
away from
perial court,
of town.
one
built
ered appropriate Olympian sites for those
and a second on the
residences.) But
the
city,
outskirts
for
memsum-
their winter
Eugene did not
retire to
on the contrary, he continued
win great military successes. In
to
same lime
as he
was planning
palace, the Belvedere, he
was
fact, at
his
also
new
cam-
paigning victoriously against the armies of

Louis
XIV
War
in the
of the Spanish Suc-
his
to acquire the land for
when he was only
country estate
elect spirits
who guarded
the destinies of
entire nations.
The Belvedere
sensitivity
Eugene's
reflects Prince
and refinement rather than
thirty.
his
enormous fortune although the palace

and gardens can scarcely be called
tarian. In fact, the
utili-
Belvedere consists of
not one but two palaces, one cresting the

slope and the other at
its
separated
foot,
by acres of spacious gardens. Yet, Prince
Eugene spent
On
little
time at the Belvedere.
those rare occasions
when he was
in
rooms
in
residence, he occupied only a few
cession (1701-14).
Eugene began
the Ba-
of the
bers of the aristocracy to spend the
civilian life:
to
roque imagination since they were consid-
the Hofburg, the im-
mer only a few miles from
since disappeared.
Moreover, hilltops appealed
two palaces
was then customary
(It
campments had long
the
Lower
Palace.
Having
for the rituals of court
life,
little
inclination
he had no need
Eugene of Savoy servea as general

perors. In his long career,
once, at the
The
site
he chose for
sloping pasture.
this
palace was a
The palace
is
known
the Belvedere ("beautiful view").

crest
of the
manded
hill,
the
On
as
the
Upper Palace com-
sweeping panorama of the
woods of Vienna stretching eastward

the plains of the
Danube. The
to
location,
overlooking the scene of Eugene's earliest

victories,
may have been
nostalgic
choice, though traces of the Turkish en-
for vast
numbers of reception rooms or
assembly and banquet

continued
to
be
halls. Instead,
absorbed
by
he
military
matters and affairs of state until his death
and spent
his
few leisure moments
in the
company of artists, philosophers, and men

of science. The philosopher Leibnitz was
among
ful
his close friends. In his rare peace-
years between the Peace of Passarowitz
in 1718.
which
finally
thwarted the ambi-
to three
em-
he suffered defeat only
hands of Vendbme at Cassano. The

of his time, he was surpa.s.sed
greatest strategist
as a tactician only by his friend
and
ally,
the
Duke of Marlborough. Napoleon ranked him

among the seven commanders who had contributed most to the art of warfare. This engraving
(above) shows
time,
Eugene
in
armor which, by
was more emblematic than functional
his
100
of the times, he commissioned a pal-
spirit
ace that both
embodied
and
magnificence
glory.
was depicted
All
flUcLlssIMVs Longc IVIt
Cxfiirls
0:in ^(tiratt anf Sfcfct mi km S5i(i>)i ôiJS

SiUc
\m
I'ctibc j
V&
ilrJh.JZ'Z^^
]f|f fc iBcif tntiftntt
ffinngtnfiiinwrr/hiii'luMJfii'urc
'".rJ^Tr'^Z.
(cnhTJt briftlidJiTI.5i>ffmumi
'J^'-.^t'ZSZ
The
va-
dominated and con-
are laid out geometrically to
complement
and
adjoining
the
buildings. In their formality

tion with the palace
9(ff (Ur
icj).
the
reflect
measure and proportion.
is
The gardens
echo
also
status of the prince.
garies of nature are

trolled.
XIV
palacejust as Louis
at Versailles.
The palace gardens

power and
as
Apollo on one of the
fiery
ceilings of the
cX VtrotA'c
own
his
Eugene had himself represented
handsome,
his era's taste for
celebrated
and integra-
complex
as a whole,
they follow the vogue for the French gar-
dens popularized by the work of Louis
""
Wii^burtfliiSrwH(>fi/
"om fiiTgrti
(in
XIV's landscape architect Andre Le Notre
^f iiffdJcT.
WrffSlPifa'n/ninniild (iiTiffrllwfftia/
tvfi iiJt)frr
at Versailles.
lmiiib/ dn Qrtrnirr Igrrrfilibrrr;
The parterres formal planting beds-
lllmM^^M%to(^lltfi:
Eugene died
in 1 736 ai the
age of
73.
His em-
balmed bodv. dressed in regimental uniform,

in stale for three days.
Upper Palace, although once
closest to the
Cr|tBt(/ ipnlt<rrScMrOC><vnjnN.
lay
more
In accordance with con-
elaborate, have always
and mostly
treeless.
been open
Statues and decora-
temporary custom, his heart was sent to Turin to

tive urns accent the clear
be buried with his Savoy ancestors. The funeral
MM iVaC et
VC9 tVpalV.
procession (above) took three hours to reach the
nearby
St.
Above
right,
cVgr-..l\
hut
ta'.^t
<
iDVnKtVVailHUjI
'/ litiiKjf
Stephen 's Cathedral.
tions of the Turks,
and the
of the Polish Succession
Eugene spent
Eugene established one of the
largest zoos
time, collecting over fifty species
He
was particularly interested
(below),
of his
of mammals.
in
wild birds
and he fed his eagles bv hand whenever
he was at the Belvedere.
and an
army and
his
start
in
of the
War
1733, Prince
time reorganizing the
collecting
works of
its
cial waterfall
exemplifies the Baroque fas-
as a
museum. He wanted above
build a
monument
to
Lower
the
vast spaces,
artifi-
all
to
himself True to the
Near
Palace, the parterres of hedges
and squarely pruned shrubs, aligned

perfect order, underline the
the design.
art.
But Eugene did not erect the Belvedere
Still
pools mirror
cination with flowing, swirling water.
a broad sheet published by Elias
Baeck eulogizing the dead prince.
and spare design,
divided by neat .symmetrical paths.
in
geometry of
Formal but not portentous,
and
festive but not frivolous, the palace
and
its
gardens were conceived as a har-
monious
refined,
unity, displaying
an idealized,
and perfected nature.
The arrangement of the Belvedere, with

its
two facing palaces,
is
unique in
all
Europe. The huge Upper Palace com-
mands
the
hill.
The Lower Palace below
is
smaller and more intimate by princely

standards. Architecturally balanced, the
palaces are finked by the central axis of

the sloping garden, the "spine" that also
the
unifies
in
Any
design of the garden.
undue emphasis or oddity of detail
is
the overall impression of order
lost
and
harmony.
The design of
from
fertile
the Belvedere resulted
collaboration
between
The Belvedere
Prince
Eugene and
Johann
his architect
Lucas von HiJdebrandt. Hildebrandt had

served under the prince as field architect
army
imperial
in the
campaigns of 1695
he had studied
traction,
Piedmontese
in the
to 1696.
Of Italian
ex-
firsthand
the
works of the great Italian Baroque and

northern Italy and
Mannerist architects
in
Rome.
was appointed court
1700, he
In
engineer.
He
architect
and was employed by many
later
noble Austrian
became
a leading court
Moreover, the
families.
talented and superior craftsmen
employed
by Eugene and Hildebrandt worked with

exceptional
of these
skill
artists
and inventiveness. Most

were
Italian,
including
Martino Altomonte, Carlo Carlone, Gaetano Fanti, Santino de Bussi, Francesco

Solimena. and
Giacomo
del Po.
The Lower Palace was
between
built
1714 and 1716. Typically Baroque in conception,
it
however,
is,
less
flamboyant
than the Upper Palace. Primarily a single

story in height, the building has a distinctive
horizontal emphasis, which
vened by
truly
its
interesting roof line.
dramatic element
is
is
enli-
The only
the grand en-
Above, below, and center, three eighleenlh-cenlury views of the

vedere, with its
Upper Palace. The Upper Bel-
shimmering
reflecting
pool and
geometric garden, was conceived as a magnificent architectural gesture,
reflecting
roque fascination with stunning
effects.
the Ba-
101
102
From
top to bottom: the
eiUrance fagade of the
Upper Palace: the garden fagade: the plan of

the upper floor; the plan
of the main floor
and
the
plan
ground floor
trance salon, which projects out slightly
Today, the Lower Palace houses the
from the quietly elegant facjade into the
Museum
spacious courtyard. Despite the urns, mil-
rooms have been preserved
itary
trophies,
cherubs,
and
allegorical
figures representing the prince's
and strength, the predominant
wisdom
effect
is
one of simpHcity.
knew them:
the
as
its
outstanding
in
red and white (the colors of
House of Savoy, whose family coat of
arms was a white cross on a red
the vaulted entrance hall, the dusky rose
the study, with
sheen of the marble floor and walls con-
walls shining with gold leaf.
work and gilded moldings that
in tiers to the
their
its
field):
and
doors, columns, and
left
frescoed ceiling.
To
rise
the right
stretch suites of halls which, with
doors arranged on a central axis,
create a magnificent effect of spaciousness.
For
this
He
left
sponsibility to Hildebrandt,
tect
surpassed himself.
reveals
its
(right).
Eugene merely
palace,
cated a general idea.
and the
archi-
single glance
grace.
distinctive
indi-
the chief re-
Supremely
confident of the lasting value of his masterly creation,
Hildebrandt did not hesi-
tate to repeat motifs
later
in
from the Belvedere
commissions.
Lantern-bearing
cherubs, for example, are also to be seen in

the
with the glow of the ivory-colored
plaster
and
col-
Chinese vases: the dining room,
the palace hints at the splendor within. In
trasts
Eugene
the Hall of Grotesques; the
Hall of Mirrors, with

lection of
decorated
Neither the gardens nor the exterior of
of the Austrian Baroque. The
(left);
of the
main
staircase of his Palais Kinsky,
scarcely a mile away.
The bold
with the
stroke of crowning the garden
Upper Palace did not
figure in the
The
idea
and the Upper
Pal-
original plan for the Belvedere.
only matured
in 1715,
ace was actually completed in 1724.
The
festive
two
three-story central section of the
Upper Palace
stories.
these wings
vilions,
is
flanked by wings of
The outer comers of each of

end
in
domed
octagonal pa-
which evoke the military image of
The Belvedere.
From
103
top to boiiom: two
longitudinal sections of
the
Upper Palace cut
through
the
vestibule
and through
the Great Hall,
entrance
and two
transverse sections cut
through the central axis

(left)
and through one
of the wings (right). The

main entrances from the
forecourt
and
den
linked
are
the gar-
bv
which
stairH'ay.
also
leads to the Great Hall
overlooking the garden.
the corner towers of a castle. In the center,
constantly changing angle of vision grad-
two
lofty
rows of windows, white medallions
above the entrance
ually transforms the fantasy of the shim-
and
gilt
moldings gleam against the red
per roof rises like a pagoda. Decorative
mering image into the
marble of the columns and cornices. The
details expanses of cunningly
giant piers, pilasters,
hall,
the patined cop-
wrought
stucco balustrades in stately progression, a
The
interior
solid reality
of the
and entablatures.
of
the
Upper
trompe
Palace
I'oeil
wall panels
perspectives of the painted
and the frescoed cupola, with
profusion of marble statuary, and military
matches the magnificence of the faqade.
its
"trophies"-suffuse the faqade with a mel-
The theme of the building the
the effect of further increasing the vastness
low autumnal richness.
of the grand and enormous-is echoed
At the entrance to the palace stands a

colossal wrought-iron gate, decorated with
lions
and
cherubs
displaying
princely
arms and coronets. The awesome mass of

the palace rises beyond.
the huge pool lends

real air.
The path
it
It.s
reflection in
a distant
to the
and ethe-
palace follows the
perimeter of the wide stretch of water, so

that as
one approaches the palace, the
the four colossi by
exaltation
in
Lorenzo Matticlli that
Olympian
of the
hall.
reflects the
vistas
of seated
gesture
overlooking the garden.
glimp.sed through the
The
ceaseless insistence
efl"ects is
upon dazzling
also reflected in the
central double stairca.se.
Plump cherubs
holding outsize lanterns light the

the splendid Hall of
floor.
way
to
Marble on the main
Here, in the light that floods through
have
Scorning intimacy, the hall
Baroque love
carry the vault of the once-open portico
and stunning
deities,
and public
for the
grand
The
vistas
.spectacle.
doorways
into re-
ceding suites of richly decorated rooms

invite the visitor to
embark on voyages
of discovery.
Today, the Upper Palace houses a

lection
cluding
of modern Austrian paintings,
many by Gustav
colin-
Klimt, whose
104
And
it
was
at the Belvedere, in 1770, that a
splendid farewell ball marked the departure from
Vienna of one of the empress's

Marie Antoinette.
sixteen children,
In the following century, the Belvedere
served as the imperial picture gallery until
.Archduke Ferdinand adopted
From
idence.
there,
1914 on an
in
nian, Serbian,
he and
official
never
and Croatian
Their
returned.
out
tour of the Slove-
Austro-Hungarian
the
as his res-
it
his wife set
territories
of
They
Empire.
assassination
at
Sarajevo triggered the carnage of World
War
I,
which put an end
Hapsburg
to the
monarchy. Since. the war, the Belvedere

has been a state
museum.
But the Belvedere's days of

gilded and rapturous compositions blend
well with the
Baroque
spirit
of the palace
as a whole.
Modern
visitors
are
amazed
sumptuous expansiveness
residence, a "second"
ubiquitous
power
at
allegories
at
such
for his
poor physique and homely appear-
ance: the Baroque penchant for mytholo-
end of the empire.
gizing cannot fully explain the deceptive
witnessed several events of enormous con-
flattery
of
sequence
his deifying portraits.
vember
in a bachelor's
summer home. The

of strength
and
the Belvedere the festoons of
pomp and
circumstance have endured beyond the
Eugene died
Prince
Belvedere but
Vienna.
He
left
his
at
no
in
1736 not
city
at the
residence
in
direct descendants. His
in
the
imposing halls have
Its
modern
age.
On No-
20, 1940, according to Hitler's ex-
press wish.
Germany. Hungary, and
Italy
signed their tripartite pact in the central

hall
of the Upper Palace.
1955, another treaty
And
in
May
was signed there
chains, the giants in the atrium, banners,
entire fortune, including the Belvedere,
arms, and military trophies have been
fell
Victoria of
storing the independence of the Republic
seen as the prince's attempt to compensate
Savoy. Within a few years, the princess
of Austria after seventeen years of foreign
had
to his niece. Princess
sold whatever she could.
in 1800. It
almost immediaielv became a popular
place for leisurely promenades (above).
Eugene's
thedral,
is
the spire of St. Stephen's Ca-
where Eugene's body
burial chapel.
lies in
a private
that
occasion,
crowd of Viennese celebrated
tered to the ends of the earth. In
1752,
gained freedom
treasures
in the
re-
huge
their
re-
gardens of the Bel-
however, the empress Maria Theresa put
vederegardens which owed
an end
existence to the liberation of their city
to the
depredations by purchasing
nearly three centuries earlier.
the palace.
of center
On
scat-
collected
Below. Vienna as seen from the Belvedere. Just

right
occupation.
were
patiently
The Belvedere's garden was opened lo the public
Anna
The Hapsburgs used

cial receptions
the palace for
and, on occasion, as a
offi-
resi-
dence for members of the imperial family.
their
very
Sagrada Familia
v^
^
YyV. Vi^
^>
,
\'
-/:i-
K^
>:
'>.
>A
Spain
u'li
hto
ay.
^Dbi
"^T
t-
Preceding page, the northeastern facade of the

Sagrada Familia, dedicated to the Nativity, with
its
slender mosaicked spires.
church transcends
The unfinished
stylistic classification
and has
been termed "a ruin of the future." At present,

the church consists
of this fafade, the
crypt,
and
the e.xterior wall of the apse all begun by Gaudi
or his predecessor as well as the fagade of the

Passion, which
was begun
Left, the delicate towers
after
World War
II.
of the Sagrada Familia
soaring above the Barcelona skyline.
Gaudi's
plan called for twelve such towers, arranged in

groups of four, symbolizing the Apostles.
Facing page, the Nativity portal, with details

(below). Sculptural scenes
of the
birth
of Jesus
are framed by sinuous arrangements of vines
plants
style.
which recall the Catalan
and
Modernista
i^H^^^H
b\:
^
A
Gaudi has often been labeled a Golhic

hut his Golhicism
tic.
is
as
much
archilecl.
spiritual as stylis-
Gaudi 's own religious fervor and his dedica-
tion to his
work on the Sagrada Familia
the tradition of medieval

their lives to the building
Above
Far
sept.
left
left,
and
left,
the "west"
recall
masons who devoted
of the great cathedrals.
views of the apse.
window
(The .Sagrada Familia
in the
is
"south" tran-
not oriented on an
easi-we.u axis in the traditional way.)
Right,
a view over Barcelona from behind the
.sculpture in the Nativity portal.
''v^w^n<g>^^y-i>'
t"i
r'v
Left, ihe interior
of the facade of ihe Nalivilv,
which has a completely different

exterior.
spirit
The Sagrada Familia appears
from
the
to incor-
porate elements from countless themes and influences. Yet, in the eves
of his admirers. Gaudi
has fashioned from this potpourri a unified

<
(iherent masterpiece.
The stones
in
and
the fore-
i^round which will be re-used in the Sagrada

I'amilia
come from demolished buildings of
Barcelona. Today, this recycling of materials
is
an economic necessity, particularly as the stone

nhich was originally used for the church
is
now
i;round up at the quarry for concrete.
Tar
right, center
rior elevations
Far
and below,
of the
details
inte-
of the Nativity fagade.
right, top, detail
of a recently constructed
lower on the opposite transept.
Right, above
the
and below,
spiral staircases within
Sagrada Familia. They
recall those
of the
made
all the
great cathedrals, although they are
more daring by
the omission
of the centerposts of
their medieval models.
Following page, the Sagrada Familia by night.

Today, floodlights
from across the
beam upward onto
.street,
but
it
the church
was apparently
(iaudi's intention to illuminate the

lights set into the lowers themselves.
church by
,V'VI'
.t
.^^-^
".
dÊ-- '--'Ôi
---i
Sagrada Familia
And
Sagrada Familia
Spain
this
was by no means the
imaginative architects of the
was mistaken
young woman was
visiting the site
to discourage charity.
this,
Gaudi
But aside
needed
desperately
an
architect,
The
the
is
he lived for a while
a dandy, indulging a taste for expen-
and foppish mannerisms.
his habit
during
this
building sites in a carriage, from which he
in 1926.
would
Temple of
the story of
its
architect.
in 1852 in the provincial
town of Reus
in
issue
after taking
abandoned
commands
to the workers.
these pretensions.
social
invitations,
though he did enjoy
an indigent and offered him a few coins.
Catholic education, and these early years
as
Albert Schweitzer and
The man smiled and accepted her
of schoohng
which he then placed

for
in
a collection box
work on the church.
Unknowingly, the
woman had
crossed
paths with none other than Antoni Gaudi.
Ahove, Gaudi, aged seventy, atlendini^ a Corpus

Chrisli procession in Barcelona.
Right, a drawing for the
Sagrada Familia. which
was Gaudi 's passionate concern from IHHi

his death in 1926.
the piety
spired
until
and
faith that sustained
him throughout
Gaudi
and
in-
At the age of sixteen. Gaudi went
poet Maragall,
who
distinguished visitors
the
to
Barcelona to study architecture and, soon
Catalan
was, like Gaudi, a fer-
vent supporter of Catalan independence.
Gaudi never married. After
his life.
ascetic.
Taciturn and withdrawn, he refused most
company of such
instilled in
He became
more religious and eventually quite
the
may have
But
on the Sagrada Familia, he
Tarragona. Here he received a rigorous
alms,
It
period to ride to
for
suit
more
years of
Holy Family, or the Sagrada Familia,
much
the
After he quali-
death
until his
story of the Expiatory
very
field.
last forty-three
upon an old man. Noting
threadbare
like
was
Gaudi, the son of a coppersmith, was born
his
interested in the artistic than
sive clothes
from 1883
home. Aside
of his hfe there. Gaudi was apparently
the great votive church to which he dedi-
much of the
17
an undistinguished student, perhaps more
funds for his work on the Sagrada Familia,
was under construction when she came
and unkempt beard, she took him
rest
fied as
more than half a century ago, an
Barcelona where the Sagrada Familia
his
city as his
no desire
his hfe,
in
age,
When
adopted the
prosaic aspects of his
cated
elegant
modern
beggar.
for
after,
from a few short excursions, he spent the
such alms, he repHed quietly that he had
from
day.
occa-
him why he always accepted
friends asked
One
first
sion on which Gaudi. one of the most
died, he lived alone, tended by
his father
two Car-
melite nuns from a nearby convent. Dur-
18
mm
A hove left, an
early study
by Gaudi for the portal
a portrait of Gaudi by his

friend Opisso, made in 1900. Above. Gaudi 's
of the Passion.
Left,
only drawing of the projected cathedral in

entirety (1906).
on the
a
months of his
life,
he even
After work on June
7,
1926,
Gaudi was
walking to church, as he always did,
when
he was struck by a streetcar. Because of his
shabby appearance, passers-by were slow
come
to
his
aid.
He was
eventually
taken to a hospital, where he died three
days
later.
Appropriately, he was buried in
the crypt of his great unfinished church.
The
Holy
of stress within the structure. Right,

by Gaudi of the nave.
planners
who had
laid out the
than
rather
wanted
to
the
to
city
by building a church
would
rest
on the
wealthy bookseller
cabella.
named
Jose Maria Bo-
A deeply religious man, Bocabella
regularly
went on retreats occasionally
accompanied by the young Gaudi to a
Gothic tradition.
on the
crypt.
architect
of the diocese, to
tionalist,
he was dismayed
work was begun
But a few months
later, Villar
the city
have refused commis-
do not wish
to
work
than the Sagrada Familia,
for other
wish for
that.
In his
deep religious
architecture,
ment
to the
and
faith, his
his
Sagrada Familia, Gaudi him-
builders
Thus
to replace him.
in 1883,
Gaudi began
the project
to regard as his
work:
devotion to
enduring commit-
recommended
who devoted
of the medieval
their lives to the
great cathedrals.
Gaudi's method of designing was a process
of ceaseless research and discovery, a
continual exploration of formal and
strict tradi-
at
clients,
self recalled the tradition
life's
resigned and Gaudi, then thirty-one, was
purchased an entire
tent of erecting a church.
my
sions;
Bocabella chose Francisco del Villar,
which he eventually came
block with the in-
left
nothing but
shrine at Montserrat. In 1881, Bocabella

city
that
solid foundations of the
build the church. In 1882,
He
toward a material and overly rational urbanization
Family
with
traffic
residents.
stem what he saw as a trend
the official
originated
exten-
square blocks, catering to
large
idea for a church dedicated to the
had
new
sions of Barcelona as a checkerboard of
slept in the office at the building site.
to
its
sketches are based
noo
4
ing the last nine
lines
late study
Many of his
have no family, no obligations;
have
tic possibilities.
stylis-
His innumerable sketches
Sagrada Familia 119
made over many
for the church,
veal a constant evolution
years, re-
statues
and refinement
of his ideas, which were only gradually
committed
Gaudi repeatedly broke
He was
ules.
As
to concrete form.
his
Rejecting
Villar's
Gaudi
plans,
in-
creased the dimensions of the church, so
work sched-
that they stood to each other in a ratio of
both unwilling and unable to
three to
one a
basic piece of Christian
symbolism. The Latin-cross plan was
from
inherited
as well as by frescoes,
reliefs,
a result,
keep within estimates.
Gaudi
and
enamels, majolica, and wrought iron.
design
Villar's
nave and four
consist of a single
to
aisles.
only the crypt, which he transformed by
Twelve towers representing the twelve
raising the height of its vault to over thirty
Apostles were to surround a cupola, sym-
feet.
This preliminary gesture was an early
of the soaring Gothic
indication
which was
Gothic
is
aspiring
than the
words of William Blake,
the
The
The Sagrada Familia em-
art.
bodies the imaginative impulse of
The cupola was
reach a height of over 500 feet taller
to
shape the whole project.
to
art, in
bolizing the glory of Christ.
spirit
dome of St.
Peter's in
Rome.
four great columns which would
support the
dome were
to
symbolize the
ar-
four Evangehsts. There were to be three
as the ca-
entrance faqades, each with three doors
thedrals of the Gothic period reflected the
representing Faith. Hope, and Charity.
chitect in
much
same way
the
masons and
aspiring spirit of the
who
built
its
artisans
them.
The choice of
the Gothic (specifically
Catalan Gothic) style for the church thus

reflected
a bell lower.
Gaudi's personal religious fervor.
But the choice was also undeniably a political
Above, views and sections of
gesture.
symbolized the Catalan
It
The longitudinal section of
mav
the church (right)
sug-
gest the richness
own
of surface
ornamentation which Gaudi
during the latter half of the nineteenth
had once envisioned for the
century. This nationalism brought with
interior.
nationalism which had
renewed
interest
come
into
its
the Catalan
in
it
lan-
guage and history and a revival of Catalan
Note that the pro-
jected
forecourt
church
spans a
of
the
busy
city
street.
art
and
tal
of Barcelona, was a commercially and
with
literature. Catalonia,
its
capi-
industrially prosperous region.
The
citi-
zens of Catalonia
were
car-
felt
that they
rying the economic burdens of a bankrupt
medieval Spain, and they resented being
governed from
Madrid. Gaudi himself
was a passionate supporter of the nationalist
movement. He refused
thing but Catalan his
speak any-
to
name "Antoni"
is
Catalan variation of "Antonio."

If the
Sagrada Familia was
worthy symbol
of Catalan
Gaudi wanted
to
it
aspirations,
be not the
great medieval churches but the
new-a church
tects
be a
would have
built,
buttresses
High Gothic
the
lars set at
of the
they had to bear.
lived in
"The Gothic
sublime but incomplete," he stated.
is
"It is
(which
instead of the
he
scornfully
style,
he introduced
pil-
angles according to the stresses
of the
first
had they
And
called muletas, or "crutches") typical of
last
such as the Gothic archi-
the nineteenth century.
replaced the pointed arch
with a parabolic one.

flying
to
He
elements.
the project, Gaudi's
design coalesced into a kind of "mystery

or sacred
pageant of incredible
complexity and vastness.
He
envisioned
church as a union of architecture and
only a beginning stopped short by the de-
his
plorable Renaissance." While holding true
sacred .scripture, infused throughout with
to
many of the
principles of Gothic design,
Gaudi developed and
refined
some of
its
traditional Christian symbolism.
sign
was
to
The
de-
be completed by hundreds of
first
be
to
touched by the rays of the sun was to be

dedicated
to
the
birth
and infancy of
The southwestern faqade would
Jesus.
pict his Passion
the
de-
and death, and the south-
eastern and principal entrance

resent
As he worked on
play"
The northeastern faqade the
Last
Judgment.
would
And
rep-
in
mingling of Christian symbolism and Catalan and Iberian pride, the eight forward
columns of the central nave were
to repre-
sent the Spanish cities of Valencia,
Gra-
nada, Toledo, Saragossa, Burgos, Valladolid,
Santiago,
and
Seville-with
the
conspicuous absence of Madrid.

Like the great cathedrals of the Middle
120
7"u'o
studiesa model
and a drawing
(left)
(above) of the final version of the recently
completed portal of the Passion.
Ages, the Sagrada Familia was not com-
Accordingly,
the
faqade
Nativity
is
pleted during the lifetime of the architect.
richly
Gaudi was only able
above the portals depict scenes of the Na-
to build a small part
ornate.
stone sculptures
Intricate
and are framed by arrangements of
of his ambitious design. At the time of his
tivity
death, the Sagrada Familia consisted only
carved vines and leaves. These sinuous
of the crypt, the northeastern facade, and
lines
the apse. Today, however, the towers of
of the Modernista
the faqade as well as the southwestern
alan form of Art Nouveau.
facade of the Passion have been com-
portal
pleted, according to the original designs of
symbol of the birth of Christ.
and
is
Gaudi might have
attracted
more sup-
style, a peculiarly
The
crowned by a huge stone
Gaudi
the architect.
plantlike forms are reminiscent
lived to see the
Cat-
center
fir tree,
completion of
two of the striking Nativity towers, and
all
first
building the
four
faqade which faced the
city.
However, he
slender, parabolic towers, encrusted with
believed
that
would be more
the
more severe Passion
difficult
than the Nativity
for the citizens of Barcelona
stand.
Therefore,
he
began
to
under-
with
the
northeastern facade in 1891. In 1903 the

basic structure
ished.
Soon
and doorways were
after the fa(âde
fin-
was begun, a
were
completed
by
1930.
delicate, fairylike detail, soar
skyline of Barcelona.
These
above the
Capped with exu-
berant geometric forms of brilliant mosaics,
the towers were apparently designed to
hold spotlights which would
upon
the church
and the
beam down
The words "Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus"
donation of over seven hundred thousand
are carved
pesetas was received for the church. Fear-
planned that these words should be yel-
ing that the bishop of Barcelona might
low,
decide to allocate the
money
elsewhere, the
church administrators encouraged Gaudi

to
press
ahead with the northeastern
facade, using as
much money as he needed.
three
red,
tower.
Gaudi
and orange, symbolizing the
members of
the
Holy
Trinity. In-
deed, Gaudi intended color to play an

tegral
church.
symbolic
The
role
throughout
Nativity facade
the west
the
Passion
would be echoed
would
reflect
in
somber tones
that
of the sunset.
the colors
Within the church, the walls and sections

of the vaulting were to be colored according to the various ritual uses of each section
of the church.
The Sagrada Familia,
far
still
from
was
to
future." But Gaudi's inexhaustible relig-
in-
the
be
on
ious imagination lives
and notes
sketches
in his
for the church,
and
in recent
years, the facade of the Passion has
constructed.
Of
course,
had Gaudi
been
lived
long enough to supervise the construction,
he would doubtless have
made
further
modifications and refinements.
Gaudi has sometimes been

"baroque"
city at night.
midway up each
On
mood of
the solemn
side,
completion, has been called a "ruin of the
by
port for the church
decorated with bright colors.
architect.
called
But the Sagrada Fa-
milia ultimately transcends classification.

It is
both a universal statement of Chris-
tian doctrine
and a symbol of the Catalan
people. But the church
is,
above
all,
highly personal expression of faith.
Gaudi
said of his
Familia:
"What
nothing more; and
work
am
1
Sagrada
for the
doing
must do
is
As
my
it."
duty,
Chapel at Ronchamp
>
>
'y
-'''>:
:^^
iV-ir
V-ir.l
^^^ti^"
.t:^
ivr.-
t^^'^vr-
France
Preceding page, the Chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut at Ronchamp, built by

Le Corbusier during the early 1950s. The previous chapel was destroyed by
artillery
building.
during World
Le
War
II,
but some of its stones were used
Corbusier's detractors labeled the chapel
in the
new
"baroque"-a charge
which infuriated the architect, who prided himself on his mathematical precision.
Above, the southern facade of the chapel, with its upswept prowlike corner
(facing page). The windows with their embrasures are widely splayed either
inward (north
wall,
below right) or outward (south
a constantly varying light into the nave.
wall,
below
left)
and filter
x"^"
-'*^'
'^-
'**^
Left, the austere
block of the outside
Le
altar.
Corbusier designed the chapel so that mass
could be celebrated both in the small, restful

interior
silting
of the chapel and
outside, with pilgrims
on the grass as though the church
itself
were the apse of an immense temple roofed bv

the sky.
Below, far
left,
a rainwater spout and catchment
basin.
Below
left,
a view of an exterior pulpit, which
is
accessible from within the chapel.
Right, top
and
center,
two views from the north.
Despite the originality of the chapel, several influences are suggested: the Mediterranean quality
of the white volumes enhanced bv sunlight:
Le Corbusier's
earlier tendency
tional" architecture, with
its
toward 'func-
clear surfaces
pure volumes: and the primitive flavor
of the
Below
in
and
many
details.
right, the "light
catchers" of one of the
side chapels, designed to carefully apportion the
captured light that illuminates the altar within

the tower.
"Tlie
I
kfv
"
IS liglil,
urule Le Corbusier. Within
he chapel a magical play of light
the
windows with
sures.
To the south and
right), the
is
created by
their widely splaved
east {above
left
embra-
and far
roof is almost invisibly supported on
columns, leaving a narrow blade of light separating
it
from the wall so that the roof appears
hover weigh tlesslv.
to
A hove. Jar
left
and right,
the south wall, studded
with small windows thai filler the light as if
through the leaves of an enchanted forest. Le

Corbusier eschewed traditional stained glass for
the chapel, preferring to paint the
his
own
designs
and
inscriptions.
windows with
This interior
faqade of the chapel, which seems so freshly

conceived,
was actually designed according
to
ofproportional measures
invented by ihe architect. Exact mathematical
the Modulor, a system
and geometric
ratios govern the relationship
each aperture to the others and of all of them

the wall as a whole.
of
to
Liiihl wtlhin ihe
Lefl.
an altar
in
in lii^lu /runt the
chapel takes
many
forms.
one of the side chapels, bathed

tower above.
Facing page, votive candles, arranged with geometric simplicitv, flickering before a venerated
statue of the I'irgin that
was rescued from the
ruins of the previous chapel.
windows are the words of the A
On some of
ve
the
Maria, painted
bv Le Corbusier himself.
Following page, the great "prow" of the chapel.
The chapel
itself
marvelouslv illustrates Le
Corbusier's belief in architecture as "the skillful,

correct,
and magnificent
put together
"
in light.
interplay of volumes,
nujuiii
:^..-.
Chapel
Chapel at Ronchamp
France
Comte area of France,

border. This
hill
close to the Swiss
had long been considered
sacred, having been associated
first
with
pagan and then Christian worship over

the centuries.
But
its
chapel had been
blasted by artillery during the liberation of
France
at the
end of World War
the projects submitted for

tion
had been
and too
costly.
might be able
In 1950, the
received
French architect Le Corbusier
commission
to
rebuild
Chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut on a
near Ronchamp. a village
in the
the
hill
Franche-
ground plan, transverse
of the Chapel
at
Ronchamp.
section,
and
Le Corbusier,
it
was hoped,
forms and dramatic use of color and sense

of space,
great
is
without doubt one of the few
religious
structures
of our time.
However, the completed Chapel
champ met
miration.
with as
much
at
Ron-
hostility as ad-
Le Corbusier was particularly
incensed by the charge of "baroquism."
To be
identified with
a style he vehe-
mently disliked after a lifetime of dedication to "all-embracing mathematics," to
meticulous precision, and to constant re-
rounding landscape.
preme
Le Corbusier, then already
sixty-three,
undertook the project with his customary

tenacity.
design,
The
with
insult!
Such
criticism,
however, was nothing
new. Throughout his career, he had been
resultant bold,
unorthodox
subjected to a continual barrage of accu-
full-blown
curvilinear
sations of architectural heresy, "vandal-
its
4'i.'i4
Ri^ht. the
reconstruc-
rejected as overambitious
133
search and adjustment-that was the su-
fa(âde
all
ary that would harmonize with the sur-
I)
vate studio within his office in A uieuil~a cubicle

that he called "the study for patient research. "
and
Ronchamp
to design a suitable sanctu-
KlOII.
Above. I^ Corbusier at his worklable in the pri-
its
II,
at
134
ism," megalomania, and contempt for historic
and
of Michelangelo, thrived on con-
like that
flict.
But his genius,
artistic tradition.
Indeed, Le Corbusier has sometimes
recognize the totally
modem
attentive
urban
Not only did he share Michelangelo's
ture
temperament, but Le Corbusier can be

said to have
changed the direction of the
twentieth century, as Michelangelo
is
rec-
new requirements of
World War
I.
At the be-
ginning of his career, he was particularly
been dubbed the Michelangelo of his age.

fiery
Ufe after
life
to
the growing complexity of
and the "functional"
He
architec-
unadorned cubic forms became known
Le Corbusier increasingly valued the
reer,
of architecture. The
plastic possibilities
Chapel
Ronchamp
at
mechanistic notion of the house as une
machine a habiter ("a machine
spent three hours on the
necessitated.
popularized the
emphasizing simplicity and
to live in")
efficiency.
He
He
probably the
is
max of this
One day
it
as
the International style. Yet, later in his ca-
cli-
sculptural development.
June 1950, the architect
in
hill at
Ronchamp.
ground
familiarized himself with the
in his
own
The
ruins
ognized as having influenced the entire
was one of the architects among them
and the horizons and became,
course of the Renaissance.
Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der
words, "permeated" with them.
Rohe who,
of the old chapel were on the grassy crown
Le
Corbusier
painter as
was
also
weU
was
an
accomplished
as a brilliant architect.
one of the
first
He
social critics to
in a
wave of postwar
experi-
mentation, stripped architecture of its historical deceits
and
superfluities,
and whose
of the
reached by a steep and winding
hill,
To
dirt track.
the west stretched the plain
of the Saone River; to the north lay a
small valley and a village; to the east, the

Elevations of the two longer faqades: the northern faqade (inimediatelv below)
faqade (below) are shown

itor to assess
and the southern
here. "I forbid the vis-
automatically the size of the vari-
Ballons d'Alsace; and to the south, the last

spurs of the Vosges Mountains sloping
down
into a valley.
As he surveyed
the
ous parts of the building, " Le Corbusier wrote.
landscape, Le Corbusier had a vision of
For him. the important consideration was the
the chapel created
interplay
of ratios dictated by the Modulor.
craftsmen,
lonely,
by a team of master
working together on the
windswept
eventually
his
all
The
hill.
become
would
idea
For
reality.
years
five
group of designers and artisans would
share the rewards and the frustrations of

constructing the
new
Le Corbusier's
hilltop chapel.
was
step
first
to
make
meticulous drawings of the surrounding

landscape.
As
a painter, he
beUeved
in the
importance of preliminary drawings as a
means of unlocking in
his
own words
"the visual echo in the realm of shape."
His design for the chapel was above
all
response to the landscape. For Le Corbusier,
was "a phenomenon of visual
it
acoustics" a counterpoint to the Une of
and
hills
of the blue of the
a celebration
sky and the play of the clouds.
The
ture
finished chapel
rizon
and
rounding
a
is
a massive sculp-
which stands out against the wide hois
visible for miles
hills
from the
sur-
and green woodlands. Like
twentieth-century
Stonehenge,
it
ap-
pears elemental and natural, with an expansive,
uncramped
dignity.
upward sweep of the roof
The
majestic
unifies the ele-
ments of its composition and creates an
air
of almost dramatic inevitability.

Yet, as if in defiance of
its
mass, the
chapel has an appearance of weightlessness.
The whitewashed
walls
seem made
of papier-mache, and the upswept roof,
"
Chapel
invisibly
supported a few inches above the
on columns, appears
walls
hover sub-
to
135
Below, an axonometric perspective of the chapel,

with the roof "removed.
Below
the
after
Le Corbusier
stantially but weightlessly.
modeled the roof
Ronchamp
at
of a
shell
horseshoe crab he had picked up while
left,
construction drawings of the two
towers above the side chapels, which were de-
signed to capture
light.
walking with his friend, the sculptor Tino
Long
Nivola, along a beach on
New
Island,
York. For months the shell occupied
honor on
the place of
his
drawing board.
Aside from the beauty of the structure,
Ronchamp,
truly
as a whole,
spaces.
With
formal
elements,
also
is
modem
remarkable
one of the
architectural
precise relationship of
its
which space flows
around
and
through
freely,
is
supreme
it
example of what Le Corbusier called
"in-
effable space."
Le Corbusier assembled a small book

describing the creation of the Chapel at
Ronchamp.
In
is
it
poem
called
"The
Key," which emphasizes the importance

of understanding
his use
of
light in
any
interpretation of the building:
The key
and
is
light
light illuminates
shapes
and shapes have an emotional power.
On
the following page,
Le Corbusier goes
still
further-"Observe the shadows, learn
the
game"-and
suggests that the reader
turn the pictures upside
down
or sideways
become
to
By
better
aware of the play of light.
his poetic logic, the
eye-varying light
music: "Precise shadows
arabesques
is
enchanting
counterpoint and fugue.
Great music."
It
is
easy to sec what
meant. Outside, the

brilliant
architect
form
to the
white of the walls and defines the
varied pattern of the

that
the
light gives
window openings
throw huge shadows
broken expanses. The
acro.ss the
light picks
un-
out the
colors of the glazed, painted steel of the
pivoting door.
the
It
also projects the colors of
windows-decorated with designs and
inscriptions painted by the architect him-
self-deep into the interior of the chapel.
Other windows, particularly on the north
^-de&ri3
wall, diffuse the light, giving the
luminous, almost mystical aura.
chapel a
136
Le Corbusier's sense of
tributes in other
of the
light
interior.
ways
light also con-
mood
to the special
The narrow glazed
strip
between the roof and the walls
the underside of the roof blotting out
supports, so that like the
Sophia
in
dome
of
lights
its
of Hagia
Istanbul the heavy span ap-
pears to be suspended in the
air.
The
three
towers of the side chapels like three stone
nuns searching the horizons catch the

light at dilTerent
it
down onto
tacular
is
times of the day and
the altars below.
filter
Most spec-
the northeast tower, with red
walls which bathe the altar beneath in a
magical red glow.
As
far as possible, the materials used in
the chapel were
left in their
stone and cement paving;
natural state:
wood benches;
beion brut for the ceilings (raw concrete

still
bearing the marks of the
work
into
which
it
wooden form
was poured); wood-
block flooring; a cast-iron altar
rail; altars
of dressed stone from Burgundy; and a

simple bronze cross. This use of materials
implied a respect for their primitive, essential state, a recognition
sculptural
properties,
an
of their innate
emphasis
construction rather than on finish.
on
To Le
Corbusier, raw materials were beautiful in

their honesty, in
much
the
same way
the depiction of a nonidealized
form
may
that
human
be.
Le Corbusier's construction techniques
*,>,
IH
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Taivallahti
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Preceding page, ihe snow-covered dome of the

church, rising above
its
rocky base.
It is sepa-
rated from the surrounding park by a wall built
of stones quarried from the
night, the
site.
dome (above left) eerily resembles a

down in the city of Helsinki.
flying saucer set
Modern
materials are used here in conjunction
with natural elements such as the roughly
hewn
.stones that define the
character-both functional
and primitive of the
structure.
Above
right,
a detail of the
strip
of windows that
runs around the base of the dome.
Left
and
right, the
entrance of the church. The
doors are entirely of glass. Where the bare rock

is not left exposed, the walls are of concrete, or
"reconstituted rock, " as
it
has been
called.
H-ÂT
'^^
m'
Left. Taivallahii's
1)1
spacious interior, with a view
the altar. The body of the church
is
hewn out
of the great rock that filled the center of the

square. The architects were thus able to preserve
a piece of nature in the midst of a
creating a place for prayer that
is
city,
dome
mantically
is
in striking contrast to the ro-
"natural" rock walls below.
One
hundred eighty prestressed concrete beams support the roof.
while
protected, lu-
minous, and beautiful. The dimensions of the

church allow it to serve as a concert or convention hall.
metric
Seen from within, the immense geo-
Above, in the foreground, the stone
font, and, in
the distance, the church organ.
Below, the simple pews and the
altar.
r-'^-i
Above
left,
the
roughly carved
Above and below

lery in the rear
organ, set close against one
wall.
right, the
angular copper gal-
of the church seems
church toward the
altar.
Its
to focus the
gleaming surface
evokes a sense of modernity within a basically

primitive setting.
Left
and far
bases are
tion site.
left,
the font
and
the altar, who.se
formed from stones from
the excava-
As
in
many modem
works, materials of contrasting textures are dramai-
icallr juxtaposed at Taivallahli.
The photographs on
this
page show
the
achieved bv the combinations of copper, coated ahiminum. glass,

and stone. Stone both quarried and applied in the form of concrete-is
effects
the
common denominator of the
building.
Following page, the copper dome, which hangs suspended over the
church, reflecting light from the broad
space.
band of windows
into the interior
^r^^mt BiS^^^r^
Taivallahti
Taivallahti
Exceptions to
Church
Modern
exist.
Finland
this
rule do,
of course,
architecture has produced
some memorable churches

contemporar)'
years, Finland
149
had become even more of a
and secular
socialist
Church
society.
Although
combine
ninety-five percent of the Finnish people
methods of construction
are Christians, only four percent claim to
that
with contemporary ideas about rehgion.
attend church regularly.
One example is the starkly modern,

domed Church of Taivallahti in Helsinki's
therefore,
community
Temppeliaukio ("Temple Hill")
cert hall.
district.
would
also
have
A new
church,
to function as a
center, auditorium,
and con-
In August 1960, the church committee
The
original plan
was
imposing church on the

Architecture
is
Of course,
ing churches.
being
built,
no longer the
dressed for a
new
life, is
of build-
churches are
but the age
chronicler could wxite:
art
is
still
gone when a
"The world,
as
if
putting on a white
architectural
to build a large
site.
However, an
competition held in
1932,
followed by a second one in 1936, pro-
duced no
lection
clear
winning designs. The
se-
committee eventually decided on
plan that called for a church fronted by an
mantle of cathedrals." The cathedrals of
almost skyscraperlike tower. Preliminary
today are airports, refineries, and super-
excavation began in the
highways, huge sports stadiums and office

towers, dams,
and
satellite cities.
They are
built in a style called Functional,
was
bom
which
out of the technology of mass
the
fall
of 1939, but
work was interrupted almost immedi-
ately
by the outbreak of war.
More than twenty

the committee
its
duties,
and by
of the public park in which
to
be
In January 1961, from a field of sixty-
ted by a pair of young

the
brothers
and talented
archi-
Timo and Tuomo
Suomalainen. Their proposal, entitled Kivikirkko ("Stone Church"),
masterful
of
was
seven entries, they chose the plan submit-
seemed inappropriate. In the intervening
the church.
it
situated.
economics.
Below andfar right, photographs of
to
the greatest possible extent the character
ing for
the early stages of the excavation
was
at large
as well as the parish, while preserving to
that time, their original plan for a church
of Taivallahti.
Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen.
community
serve the needs of the
production and the constraints of modern
Riglil. the architects
yet another competition. This
time, they specified that the church
tects,
years passed before
resumed
announced
its
was outstand-
elegant simplicity and for the
way
it
resolved the numerous
150
architectural
problems posed by the com-
church in the center of the rock, and cover
dome.
the excavation with a large aerial
petition committee.
Those problems were,
in
formi-
fact,
They would then connect
the
church
dable. First, the site chosen for the church
proper with tunnels to the parish meeting
surrounded by blocks
rooms, the vicarage, and other secondary
was a
circular space,
of unprepossessing buildings. Second, in

the center of the space
was an enormous,
irregular rock that rose to a height of forty
above
feet
street level.
To dynamite
this
way
that
would preserve
its
general outline. As the architects them-
"The
selves said:
special nature of the lo-
excavation,
February
later,
14,
began
finally
on September
on
two years
1968. Less than
28, 1969, Taivallahti
Church was consecrated.
It is
not entirely accurate to speak of the
church as having been "built." Perhaps a
more appropriate term would be

tecture
"archi-
by removal," an idea usually asso-
for in
cation led to the idea of making the church
ciated with certain Indian temples or fu-
urban neighborhood the rock was a
out of the rock outcrop itself and to add
nerary
away was out of the question,
rock
the
buildings which would be set into the sides
of the rock in a
properly
precious contact with nature, a stretch of
extra forms
open ground
possible."
in the center of the city.
was equally unthinkable, though,

gate the church to a
comer of the
site.
The Suomalainens had a bold

They would leave
possible,
It
to rele-
plan.
the rock intact as far as
hollow out an opening for the
and structures
as naturally as
The
architects
some changes
in
were asked
their
original
to
diffi-
make
design.
These involved removing the projected

tower and reducing the secondary
bell
buildings by two-thirds of their planned
And
size.
in
the finance committee ar-
still,
gued incessantly about the cost of the

Seven years passed before
construction.
Egypt and
to existing faults in
The rock was then dynamited
the rock.
along these natural cracks, so that there
would be
as
little
evidence of drilling and
dynamiting as possible.
However, any
marks resulting from the process were

visible.
were
also
left
and unfinished,
natural
without any stone dressing or plaster. As

the
architects
noted:
"Marks from
much
digging were avoided as
work underway. Construction, or more
but not artificially masked, since
the
as possible,
it
was our
left:
the excavation in
its
the
stages;
later
left
The granite walls of the excavation
the Suomalainens were able to get the
Clockwise from
Persia.
space, blasting holes
were drilled adjacent
Almost immediately, there were

culties.
monuments
To hollow out the
casting of the foun-
dation wall: the supports for the prefab-
and
ricated beams;
wooden
the
upon
form
which
dome was
the
cast.
Be-
cause of the irregularity
of the rim, the
supporting beams for

the
dome
are all of
varying lengths.
III II
1
sv
'
B M H
81
"^
*.
Q B
II
!5
.>'.
n
iiii
ar
ii
fi
II
li
jllKf,
I lie Ml
:\
Taivallahti
idea that the system of construction should
the work.
remain easily
ning, engineering,
visible."
The church,
therefore, has
finished surfaces to be
tional
building there
worked
rock.
The
found
is
none of the
in a
conven-
The
The other half involved

and
creation of the
dome proved
impressive technical
plan-
installing the
roof
Church
dome, a model of the structure was
The model was subjected
to
an
tations of the stresses that the actual
an
in-
would be expected
to bear.
151
built.
represen-
to be
feat, as well as
dome
These experi-
just very roughly
genious solution to the aesthetic problem
ments gave the engineers the information
an
of converting a raw cavity into a harmoni-
they needed to design the roof of the
ous and habitable architectural space.
church.
architects allowed
eighteen-inch margin of error between the
intended alignment of the walls on the

plans and the location of the actual rock
The outer
one hundred eighty beams of
First,
concrete were
prestressed
set,
like
the
lights Ues
ring of double-glazed sky-
above the prefabricated beams,
an ordinary building, the compa-
spokes of a wheel, around the perimeter of
while the thin concrete shell in the center
rable margin of error might be a quarter of
the hole, at a slight angle from the hori-
is
an inch.) The walls and
zontal.
face. (In
floors,
of course,
have no insulation, neither thermal nor

acoustic.
The primeval rock
protects,
warms, and enfolds so that the
itself isolates,
Then, a shallow concrete
hub of
the
this
dome
dish-shaped wheel was
cast in the center. This
seemingly simple
covered inside and out with copper.
From below,
appears
space.
to
The
the copper
and
glass
dome
hover dramatically above the

architects
knew
that a support
operation turned out to be a complex
with a bright light on either side appears a
church has the oddly comforting feeling of
problem
good deal more slender than
a subterranean
church.
lair.
across and rather

lar,
to
working on the
be both rather
an average of seventy-five
broad
Excavating Taivallahti was only half
for the engineers
The dome was
flat. It
for the rim of the
was
feet
also irregu-
wheel was the edge
of the excavation. Thus, each of the precast spokes
was
calculate
Several views of
and
casting
the
th<
of
the cement used for

the
center
dome
here.
are
of the
shown
The prestressed
beams sup-
concrete
port a thin concrete

shell,
which
ivas
covered outside with
a copper roof and

support an acoustic
copper ceiling inside

the church.
thin:
it
actually
is.
are already re-
on sunny days, they seem
to disappear.
The
ing
is,
The
the requirements of the
of the beams
creclion
markably
beams
ring of windows encircling the ceilin the architects'
words:
a slightly different length
from the next.
To
In fact, the concrete
decisive part of the design.
The
most "weightless" part of the church.
152
design, stones from
the heavy freeform of the
contrasts with the play of light overhead.
overall principle of
stone wall joins the mathematical form
Glass against metal, metal against stone,
the site were used for various details, such
of the dome, and the hall space opens
stone against glassjuxtapositions of tex-
Through
it
upward toward
the
open space
outside.
ture everywhere give the
church a
vital,
copper,
visible to passers-by.
is
ring of glass
is
The
great
In planning their church, the

lainen brothers paid
strict
Suoma-
attention to the
hidden by a waU of stone,
secular as well as the rehgious needs of the
so close to the wall that they
some
sort
community. Therefore, they designed the

building itself to function not only as a
metaphor
mizes the church's intrusion upon
church but also as an auditorium for con-
modem
ural surroundings,
goers
away
and
from
it
its
nat-
also keeps park-
the
dome
and
its
Such a fusion of modem and primitive

materials
ment.
It
certs or conferences.
choir
loft,
There
skylights.
a bold and elegant achieve-
is
is
this subtle
present that
makes
union of past and
Taivallahti's roughly
carved, unadorned center so immediately

inviting.
The
looms overhead
expansive
like
copper
a giant sun, reflecting
the light that enters through the

at its base.
Above and
dome
The harsh
windows
granite dramatically
right, (he interior
of the church dur-
ing construction, showing the scaffolding sup-
porting the work.
Once construction was underand a
way. Taivallahti Church took only a year
half to complete.
font.
to the
is
The church has
as well as space for an orchestra.
a control
room
for recording, for
society. Stripped
phisticated
modem
deep into rock,
it is
its
ship and reflect.
equipped
to
community.
font,
and
altar, there are
few
Apart from pews, an organ, a

a small cross
traditional
on the
ecclesiastical
accouterments
within Taivallahti. In keeping with the
church in
of its traditional
technology, yet carved

a space in the heart of
where people may gather
simultaneous translations. Enclosed in

is
be
faqades and furnishings, at ease with a so-
the city
meet the needs of a contemporary urban
to
been seen as a visual
for the place of the
radio and television transmissions, and for
primeval rock, Taivallahti
seem
of natural outcropping.
Taivallahti has
which follows the
site,
and the
and pews, low
the rising pipes of the organ, which nestle
contour of the excavation. The wall mini-
quarried from the
altar
coppery dish that hangs overhead as do
the exterior, only the upper part
of the dome, covered in a gradually aging
as the supports of the altar
The simple
ground, accentuate the height of the great
natural atmosphere.
From
its
to
wor-
Guggenheim Museum
U.S. A.
mttM
Wf
5Wi
i^-
'
,.
u-
:;;^-<-r.
Preceding page, the Guggenheim Museum, seen
from above with its huge skylight. It is one of

Frank Llovd Wright's last major works and is
also
among his
least
he wanted nothing
sign.
decoratedperhaps because
to distract
from
Wright considered the spiral
its
to
spiral de-
be the
ulti-
mate and most coherent form for the "organic

architecture" of which he was the undisputed
master.
Above
left,
Guggenheim
the
Fifth Avenue.
in
setting
its
The museum stands out
contrast lo the buildings
around
it.
on
in sharp
In Wright's
view this was proof of its greatness. In fad. his

concrete spiral makes the surrounding structures
look archaic as though they are intruders upon
a landscape
to
which only the museum
itself is
native.
Ij:ft,
and
above,
and
ma.ss of the
right,
huge
.sense
.spiral,
precariously balanced were

darity of the
of the "energy"
which might seem

it
not for the soli-
huge slab upan which
il
rests.
J-
L-LilLy,f
The
it,
interior space
of the museum
and functions along
thev are taken to the top of the

shaft breaks the curve
their
way down
is
entirely fluid, as Wright envisioned
the lines of his original idea.
ramp bv
of the ramps
(left
and
above}.
the spiraling ramp, they can view the
visitors enter,
As
visitors
make
modern paintings
walls. Most of the museum's daytime illuminacomes from the huge central skylight (below), which is reflected in
which are hung on the

tion
As
the elevator, whose columnlike
a pool on the ground floor
(facittg page).
f.
a
Wright's spiral design has proved lo be some-
what impractical for a picture

tor
has
to
paintings
flat
gallery.
Some
have housed
to
unsympathetic atmosphere, but

that Wright
he paid
serve.
such an
more
likely
little
attention to the function
it
was
to
However, he did justify his design on
Walking down the
ramp was supposed

dering through the
lery,
in
it
it is
was so enthralled with the form that
functional grounds.
crit-
have suggested that the architect must have
hated modern art
visi-
hung against curved walls
sometimes discomforting experience.

ics
The
stand on a sloping floor and look at
to
be
less tiring
linear
than wan-
maze of a conventional
although some
ingand dizzying as
visitors
well.
find
it
Just as
galtir-
The Guggenheim
is
among the best-known and most popular museums of modern art in the world, although the
building itself may well be the prime attraction
for most visitors.
i
jBSSsssaaBB
^^
2^
The museum
reflects Wright's characteristic attention to the integrity
and continuity of his
interiors
and
the fusion of each element into the
overall design.
Above and
left,
an arch overlooking a side
gallery.
Below, the leaf-shaped reflecting pool that rests inside the ground floor
curve of the ramp. The foliage at the edge of the pool seems to grow
naturally out of the concrete of the ramp.
Curvedforms dominate the spaces devoted
museum
's
torium (above
left),
to the
subsidiary activities the small audileft),
the
book
the restaurant (below
sales stand (center
left),
and an
ancillary
gallery (below).
Following page, the Guggenheim perhaps the

only
museum
leries
in the
world
in
which
can be seen at a single glance.
all the gal-
Guggenheim Museum
temporary
Guggenheim
architects.
band of devoted
Museum
With the help of
assistants,
Wright had
created dozens of them, year after year. By

1932, Wright's
U.S.A.
work had become highly
Guggenheim Museum.
own training had been limited
few years' work in the studios of some
York's
Museum
of Modern
modern
be a definitive exhibition of
chitecture.
It
ar-
presented the work of Frank
Chicago
architects,
the
Guggenheim Museum
City. In the early 1940's
genheim,
him
the
relationship
the
master
master") their
his
of their contract.
revolutionary design school, the Bauhaus.
commented.
made an
Wright
exuberantly
warn you,
"I
excellent start,
having
that
fully intend not
Frank Lloyd Wright's childhood had

been shaped by a transplanted
land
heritage
of liberal
New
Eng-
Protestantism
only to be the greatest architect that has
and an acceptance of the "natural philos-
ever been but also the greatest of all future
ophy"
of Walt
architects."
Wright's
candid
own work was

were
still
endorsement of
understandable,
what extravagant.
itors
in
When
his three
if
his
some-
coexhib-
grade school, he was
ready designing remarkably
al-
innovative
houses, any one of which could have established his pre-eminence
among
con-
Below, one of the masterly perspective drawings

that Wright's studio
project.
that
produced
to illustrate the
was expressed
in the writings
Whitman and Henry David
Thoreau. In the spirited and energetic
mosphere of the times,
it
is
at-
perhaps not
surprising that Wright also developed that

insistence
upon absolute freedom of mind
which marks the true pioneer as well as the
renowned
painting,
house a growing collection of pictures.
that
uously,
occasion,
to fostering
young
discovered
Quite
that
who was committed
found himself in need of more space to
buildings for clients of his own, in viola-
On
New York
in
Solomon R. Gug-
was abruptly dissolved when
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and
tion
his
his obstinacy
development of modern
protege had begun to secretively design
Walter Gropius, two leaders of Germany's
said to
to play their roles in his design for
respected Sullivan he was fond of calling

lieber meister ("dear
is
man move
Both Wright's genius and
during
Though Wright
called
was dripping on him from
chair.
designer for Louis Sullivan, the father of

skyscraper.
function. Once,
have suggested that the
came
modem
more impor-
far
utilitarian
owner of one of his houses
the
Lloyd Wright along with that of Le Corbusier and
work was
his
its
a crack in the ceiling, Wright
which time he had risen to become chief
the
New
tant than
to say that rain
well-known
In 1932,
of
integrity
when
to a
Art assembled what was clearly meant to
pleasing his clients.
individualistic often with hints of the ex-
Wright's
165
embody an idea than with

To Wright, the artistic
proper form to
pressionism that later was to suffuse his

design for the
artist,
which
is
why he
often
seemed more concerned with finding the
he decided
modern
art
leading
modern
ought
empathy
painting,
the
that
to
Ironically,
man known
for
ingen-
museum of
be the work of a
architect.
turned to Wright, a
little
perhaps
but
justifiably,
to
he
have
twentieth-century
and commissioned him
new museum. Wright's
to design
creation
is
one
of the most original buildings in the world,

a
museum
of
art.
with
its
own
ure. Ultimately, the
well
is
place in the history
Yet. as a picture gallery,
only thing
it
a fail-
displays
itself
One of
the
first
problems in Wright's
view was the location of

building.
comer
it is
the proposed
The foundation had
site
selected a
on Fifth Avenue, facing Cen-
166
%:
m^
]"i
îmrMiJCt^.:-^-r'^
Above, Frank Lloyd Wright's

studio in
with
Oak
Park.
some of his many
mon Guggenheim
until
student-collaborators.
1949,
in
New York
1956 by the
house and
first
Illinois. Left, the architect
then
again
City building
some disagreements
codes, as well as by
between the architect and the directors of

the
Guggenheim foundation. Work was
museum
not finally completed on the
until
after Wright's death.
The museum
which
Park. If there
tral
was one thing
Lloyd Wright detested,

city not
New York
it
that
Frank
was the
big
in particular, but the
very concept of city. "The city." he used to

say,
Ralph
quoting
Waldo
Emerson,
"makes man sociable and loquacious.

and
artificial."
Wright's feelings were well
known; nevertheless, the commission was

offered
and accepted by the
architect.
The administrators of the museum may

have been unaware of or refused
to ac-
knowledgeWright's growing rejection of

the conventional square
and rectangular
for the spiral, or
simply a
mension, a
line.
circle
had wanted
infinite
years earlier, Wright
would give concrete form
to his vision. In
upward
ually
is
toward the
top.
Within the
huge
skylight.
main
spiral
is
At the
ramp
that
would take
cars
into a spiral
up
to
an obser-
vatory at the peak. In the 1930s, however.
Wright returned
more conventional
to
forms, thus his heUcal spiral
dream was
not realized until he Convinced

that
relates the
tilinear
conical
would make a magnificent museum.
Progress on the building was slow, but
The
is
Outside, there
of conch
shells, "plastic
form
and continuous"
sented in
1943.
was secured
metic-
Guggenheim's approval
in 1944, but construction
was
not scheduled to begin until the war was

over.
It
was delayed by the death of Solo-
city
also
its
rec-
blocks and
is
apparent simplicity.
its
is little
ulous studies for his proposals was pre-
made
and
whole to
more than
name of the museum
tering of the
project the architect always
shows the original
and
of the Guggenheim
startling effect
accentuated by
polygon (recalling the forms of mineral
design, a fantastic per-
as a
environment of
plore the possibilities of the triangle, the
circle to the spiral, the
by a
floor level, the
conventional buildings.
Solomon
an inverted
museum
spective drawing that
from the
first
structure coimects both elements
people from it-Wright had begun to ex-
step
a vast
A broad horizontal rectilinear base
starkness
For some
is
oflfices.
Maryland
the smoothness of
circle.
opens out
arloaf Mountain in
the delays were not attributable to Wright.
to take the logical
it
spiral
joined with a smaller, round
The preliminary
and even the
spirals
central space, illuminated primarily
out onto the world rather than insulating
had been ready
and
in five concentric turns, contin-
growing wider so that
scribed as "organic architecture." opening
time, he
level
building, used for readings, lectures,
spiral
crystals),
ramp
essentially a long
ground
1927, he proposed turning the top of Sug-
continual search for natural forms approthat he de-
is
to build a great spiral that
Guggenheim
human needs forms
a helix,
of movement, an
many
In fact,
forms of city buildings and blocks. In his
priate to
more properly
circle carried into the third di-
starts at
its
unusual
many of his
the
to
let-
break
concrete walls. This
in Wright's
work.
for.
buildings are so highly deco-
rated that their carefully designed spatial

structures are barely discernible.
Wright was fond of quoting Lao-tse,
who
twenty-five
centuries
space which
it
encloses."
had
earlier
stated that "the reality of a vessel
is
the
The Guggen-
Guggenheim Museum
Museum may
heim
clearest
architect's
achieved a perfectly continuous, self-con-
shell,
which would gently "spiral"
demonstration of the somewhat
tained organic form where the flowing
down
to the
contradictory
way
in
be
the
which he interpreted
spiral
shapes both the outside structure
these words. Wright said he could not un-
and the space
within. If here
derstand the inability of his colleagues to
be faulted for
all
between urban and rural
differentiate
chitecture.
tience
for
ar-
He proclaimed his lack of paarchitects who unthinkingly
transposed the boxlike structures suitable

for cities into country landscapes.
horred
unnaturalness
the
buildings that took
no account of
rural surroundings, those

terior spaces
side
only
punched
his
ab-
their
whose closed
in-
communicated with the out-
through
the
life itself
small
windows
Remaining
In defense of his stunningly original design,
Wright declared that he was not
merely playing a
that the conventional
He
with forms:
was
He
manner of
ing paintings in one dreary
be-
really the best
for a picture gallery.
an angle as Wright believed the
himself had seen
was
room
on the
Some
that very large rectangular canvases could
not tolerate the sloping floors and curved

walls.
A reply of sorts
Forum
display-
painting has
The Architectural
in
that "the rectangular
more
to
than with the painting"
is
frames before
However,
this
surroundings,
using
on
terpieces
Wright,
this
itable
chitecture.
which they were
to stand. In
Guggenheim Museum, he
certainly
the
walls.
museum
mas-
According
fatigue
was an inev-
consequence of wrong-headed
At the Guggenheim,
would enter on the ground
to
floor
ar-
visitors
and be
tant.
still
objection
The curve of
enough
to
allow
true enough, but
stretched
is
on
rec-
being
painted.
really
unimpor-
the walls
all
frame of a
do with the frame
tangular
tion of their feet rather than with the
controversy
raised the objection
making them concerned with the condi-
would har-
artist
easel.
considerable
over the design.
claimed
after an-
it
as fluid, continuous,
ronment
the
game
lieved that the helix
shape
at
the outward-leaning walls. In
way, each work of art would be viewed
There
out of place.
materials that were natural to the enviin
makes them
look as though they are the ones that are
hung along
this
most canvases are
ing to design structures that

their
neighbors, at least he almost
they would be able to study the paintings
other distracts the attention of visitors by
and integrated, Wright wrote about want-
monize with
but ignoring his urban
visitors
As they descended,
true to
in their walls.
view of
He
"urban"
of
Wright can
first floor.
167
but
is
gradual
tremendously
oversized canvases to hang comfortably.
The
spiral defines a magnificent space
and has become a compulsory stop on
to the top,
where
even the most cursory tours of New York.
they would begin to slowly wind
down
The Guggenheim
carried by elevator
up
Any
weariness would be
more than
counteracted by the natural form of the
prestigious
"along the spiral.
often impresses visitors
the better-known
Museum
of
and more
Modern
Art,
Above, plan of the Jacobs House designed in

1943. which reflects Wright's interest in circular
buildings.
Right, the flrsi version
of the Gug-
genheim, higher than the final design.
<'
->J
.-
>-
168
partly because
It is
it is
human
on a more
a continuous structure, far
time,
and while
it
scale.
ahead of its
was under construc-
tionand remaining upright
in
apparent
very high esteem.
One of Wright's
resent-
telligible
has even suggested that the
sionsto
defiance of gravity Wright would smirk
ful ex-disciples
happily and say of his colleagues, "They'll
architect created the
spend years trying
museum,
make
it
their
is
to
work
it
out." But as a
a challenge. Visitors
way down
ramp
at
must
an angle,
museum
annihilate the pictures.

sion,
By
his
order to
in
own admis-
Wright did not appreciate modern
knew
painting; he certainly
studying paintings hung on a wall that
and may well have cared
about
little
less
it
about the
form
hopes, and
to ideas,
illu-
human life. In this sense the

Guggenheim Museum is a success. It suggests how exciting the world could be and
how many beautiful things it offers- if
only
every
freely,
individual
would be
fully,
and enthusiastically himself and
both curves and slopes. Wright's original
collection than about his spiral. Certainly,
would choose personal
idea of hanging the pictures as they were
one of Wright's strongest convictions was
trappings of success. Most important, the
painted was never carried out the paint-
that the true artist
ings are customarily
suspended perpen-
dicular to the ground to alleviate addi-
It is
easy to conclude that Wright did
Guggenheim
collection
come
building
knows
in
rything.
above
all
that
house
own
that his
cre-
functions
is
as
well,
us, is
not eve-
not a machine;
way of giving
museum
tion
first.
Wright ceaselessly reminded
tional discomfort to the viewer.
not hold the
ations must
it
integrity over the
underlines that crucial distinc-
between the merely interesting gra-
tuitous forms created
simply to arouse
astonishment and the truly beautiful.
is
tangible and inAbove,
left
and right, two
sketches showing
museum was
how
the
to function.
Wright's professed intention
was
museum
Left,
to revolutionize
design.
a perspective draw-
made in 1949, showing the museum at night.

ing
Here
it
looks a bit like the
flying saucer that

critics
labeled
it.
some
The
proposed attached apart-
ment
hou.ie in the back-
ground was never
built.
Centers of Belief
The Oracle
at
Delphi, Greece /The Piazza dei
Miracoli in Pisa. Italy/The Baptistery in Florence.
Italy/Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl
Mexico /The Temple of
the
at
Teotihuacan.
Tooth
at
Kandy.
Sri
Lanka/Temple of Borobudur, Indonesia/

Mont-Saint-Michel. France/The Mosque
of Mostar. Yugoslavia
Breaking the Confines
The Empire State Building. New York. New

York/Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco.
California/Sugar Loaf Mountain of Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil/Jaipur Observatory. India/The Great Wall.
People's Republic of
China/The
New Opera House
of Sydney. Australia/The Pyramids of Giza,
Egypt/Abu-Simbel. Egypt
The Focus on Democracy

The White House. Washington. D.C./Town
Hall of
Stockholm. Sweden/Parliament Building of

Brasilia.
Brazil/Old Stock Exchange
Denmark ^Phe Houses of
Town
Copenhagen,
Hall of Antwerp. Belgium/The Acropolis,
Greece/Town Hall of
New
at
Parliament. England/
Basel. Switzerland
Techniques
Offshore Drilling Platform, Texas/The Eiffel
Tower. France/Boulder Dam. Colorado/Charles de

Gaulle Airport. France/Lever Building,
New York/Olympic
Stadium
at
New
York.
Munich. Germany/
Panama Canal. Panama/Pont de Garde
at
Avignon. France/Stonehenge, England/Urnes

Stavkirke.
Norway
The Closed Faith

Basilica at Assisi. Italy /Cathedral of Monreale.
Italy/City of Paestum. Italy/Cathedral of Santiago

di
Compostela. Spain/Rila Monastery. Bulgaria/
Cathedral of Aachen. West Germany/Monastery
at
Athos. Greece/City of Petra. Jordan
The World
of Pleasure
Spanish Steps of Rome. Italy/Maharaja's Palace of
Udaipmr. India/City of'Petrodvorets,

U.S.S.R. /Palace of Sans Souci,
Azay-le-Rideau
Hampton Court
Austria/Casino
in the
Germany /Castle
Palace, England/Mirabell Castle,

at
Deauville, France
Tribute to Religion
Angkor Wat, Cambodia/San Marco at Venice,

Italy /Cuzco Cathedral, Peru /The Old-New
Synagogue, Czechoslovakia/Cologne Cathedral,
West Cjermany/Notre
Dame
of Paris, France/
Melk Monastery. Austria/Santa Sophia, Turkey
HBJ
of
Loire Valley, France/
Press
757 Third Avenue
New York, NY
10017
'.m^^;,.
/.
v^
/
The Grand Tour

Homes of Kings
Shrines of Power
Splendor of the Gods

Architecture as Environment
Centers of Belief
Breaking the Confines
The Focus on Democracy
New
Techniques
Closed Faith
The World of Pleasure

Tribute to Religion
m^B.-^!r^:^^k^t:^k-

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eaiions

The Grand Tour

In twelve elegant volumes, the splendor

and magnificence of each

plored through spectacular, full-color pho-

tographs and authoritative yet lively

spans thousands of years, from ancient civ-

ilizations to the twentieth century.

the creations in stone,

volumes of The Grand

Tour library present a panorama of photographic

adventure, and history. You'll enjoy

France /The Forbidden City. People's

London. England /Palace of Knossos.

The Roman Forum. Italy/The Alhambra

Granada, Spain/The Imperial Palace of Kyoto.

Edinburgh Castle. Scotland /The Binnenhof of The

Spain/Sagrada Familia Church of

Barcelona. Spain/The Taj Mahal. India/Taivallahii

Church of Helsinki. Finland/Le Corbusier's

Guggenheim Museum. New York, New York

The Splendor of the Gods

Mexico/Blue Mosque of Isfahan.

Mahadevaof Khajuraho, India/Cathedral of

The Marrakesh Casbah, Morocco /The French

Salamanca, Spain/Machu Picchu, Peru/The Bazaar

Mosque of Cordoba, Spain

The Grand Tour

Vice President, Richard

Special Projects Editor, Carolyn Hall

Text Editors: Karen E. English,

Editorial Staff: Betsie Brownell, Chris Heath,

23 top, pp. 24-25, p. 26 center & bottom, p. 27 bottom, pp.

106-116/ Magnum/ Marc RihoucI: pp. 121-132/ Oronoz:

1977 by Rizzoli Editore-lnternational Division

Project Coordinator, Linda S. Behrens

All rights reserved.

Architectural Consultant, Dennis

Text Consultants: Janet Adams, Elizabeth R.

General Supervisor, Luigi U. Re

Graphic Designer, Gerry Valsecchi

U.S. Edition Coordinator, Natahe Danesi

any form or by any means,

or any inforination storage and retrieval system, without

Dr. Flavio Conti, Paolo Savole, Dr.

part of this publication

from the publisher.

Librarv of Congress Catalog Card

Design Implementation, Designworks

electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,

DeWitt, Perween Hasan

27 lop/ Ccimhciier: pp. 9-15. p. 16

right, pp. 17-19. p.

Text Director, Marcia Heath

Chateau of Fontainebleau, France

The Escorial Spain

The Belvedere, Austria

Taivallahti Church, Finland

Guggenheim Museum, U.S.A.

any architect could possibly

equal before the law, or so the

theory goes. In the history of architecture,

some names shine more

Chicago where, through