Grande Commande

{{Short description|Series of statues commissioned by Louis XIV}} The '''''grande commande''''' was a commission ordered by Louis XIV for statues intended to decorate the ''parterre d’eau'' of the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, as initially conceived in 1672. The commission, which included 24 statues and four groups,<ref>All but the "Abduction of Coronis by Neptune" were completed.</ref> was ordered in 1674. Designed by Charles Le Brun from Cesare Ripa’s ''Iconologia'', the statues were executed by the foremost sculptors of the day (Blunt, 1980; Friedman, 1988, 1993; Nolhac, 1913; Thompson, 2006; Verlet, 1985).

Owing to concerns of the effects of the vertical lines of the statues in relations to the garden façade of the château, the statues of the '''''grande commande''''' were transferred to other locations in the gardens in 1684 (Berger, 1985; Blunt, 1980; Friedman, 1988, 1993; Marie, 1968; Nolhac, 1901, 1913; Thompson, 2006; Verlet, 1985; Weber, 1993).

<gallery> File:Charles Le Brun-Grande Commande-Les Quatre parties du jour.jpg|Charles Le Brun, ''The Four Parts of the Day'' File:Charles Le Brun-Grande Commande-Les Quatre saisons.jpg|Le Brun, ''The Four Seasons'' File:Charles Le Brun-Grande Commande-Les Quatre elements.jpg|Le Brun, ''The Four Elements'' File:Charles Le Brun-Grande Commande-Les Quatre temperaments.jpg|Le Brun, '''The Four Humors of Man'' File:Charles Le Brun-Grande Commande-Les Quatre poemes.jpg|Le Brun, '''The Four Forms of Poetry'' </gallery>

The 24 statues were personifications of the classic quaternities:

{{Col-begin}} {{Col-break}} * '''The Four Humors of Man''' ::* Melancholic ::* Phlegmatic ::* Choleric ::* Sanguine {{Col-break}} * '''The Four Parts of the Day''' ::* Dawn ::* Noon ::* Evening ::* Night {{col-end}} {{Col-begin}} {{Col-break}} * '''The Four Parts of the World''' ::* Europe ::* Africa ::* Asia ::* America {{Col-break}} * '''The Four Forms of Poetry''' ::* Lyric ::* Pastoral ::* Satirical ::* Epic {{col-end}} {{Col-begin}} {{Col-break}} * '''The Four Seasons''' ::* Spring ::* Summer ::* Autumn ::* Winter {{Col-break}} * '''The Four Elements''' ::* Fire ::* Air ::* Earth ::* Water {{col-end}} The four groupings represented the four classic Abductions:

* '''The Four Abductions''': ::* Persephone by Pluto ::* Cybele by Saturn ::* Orethyia by Boreas ::* Coronis by Neptune {{-}} ---- [[File:Regnaudin-The-Automne-Versailles.jpg|thumb|upright|Thomas Regnaudin, ''L'Automne sous les traits de Bacchus'' (the autumn represented as Bacchus), copy, cast, Versailles' gardens.]] thumb|left|upright|The original statues ''Water'', ''Night'', ''America'', preserved in the ''galerie basse'' of the Palace of Versailles. {|style="background:white; color:black" border="0" height="230" align="center" valign="bottom" cellpadding=10px cellspacing=0px |+style="background:white; color:black"|'''Statues of the ''grande commande'' - The Four Humors of Man''' |-align="center" | | | | |-align="center" valign="top" |width=“200”|“Meoncholy” by Michel de la Perdrix, (? - 1693) |width=“200”|“Phlegmatic” by Matthieu Lespagnandelle, (1617–1689) |width=“200”|“Choloric” by Jacques Houzeau, (1624–1691) |width=“200”|“Sanguine” by Noël V Jouvenet, (?-1716) |} {|style="background:white; color:black" border="0" height="230" align="center" valign="bottom" cellpadding=10px cellspacing=0px |+style="background:white; color:black"|'''Statues of the ''grande commande'' - The Four Parts of the Day''' |-align="center" | | | | |-align="center" valign="top" |width=“200”|“Dawn” by Pierre I Legros, (1629–1714) |width=“200”|“Noon” by Gaspard Marsy, (1624–1681) |width=“200”|“Evening” by Martin Desjardins, (1637–1694) |width=“200”|“Night” by Jean Raon, (1631–1707) |} {|style="background:white; color:black" border="0" height="230" align="center" valign="bottom" cellpadding=10px cellspacing=0px |+style="background:white; color:black"|'''Statues of the ''grande commande'' – The Four Parts of the World''' |-align="center" | | | | |-align="center" valign="top" |width=“200”|“Europe” by Pierre Mazeline, (1632–1708) |width=“200”|“Africa” by Jean Cornu, (1650–1710) |width=“200”|“Asia” by Léonard Roger, (1644-après 1694) |width=“200”|“America” by Gilles Guérin, (1611/1612-1678) |} {|style="background:white; color:black" border="0" height="230" align="center" valign="bottom" cellpadding=10px cellspacing=0px |+style="background:white; color:black"|'''Statues of the ''grande commande'' - The Four Forms of Poetry''' |-align="center" | | | | |-align="center" valign="top" |width=“200”|“Lyric Poetry” by Jean-Baptiste Tuby, (1635–1700) |width=“200”|“Pastoral Poetry” by Pierre Granier, (1655–1715) |width=“200”|“Satyrical Poetry” by Philippe de Buyster, (1595–1688) |width=“200”|“Epic Poetry” by Jean Drouilly, (1641–1698) |} {|style="background:white; color:black" border="0" height="230" align="center" valign="bottom" cellpadding=10px cellspacing=0px |+style="background:white; color:black"|'''Statues of the ''grande commande'' - The Four Seasons''' |-align="center" | | | | |-align="center" valign="top" |width=“200”|“Spring” by Laurent Magnier, (1618–1700) |width=“200”|“Summer” by Pierre Hutinot, (1616–1679) |width=“200”|“Autumn” by Thomas Regnaudin, (1622–1706) |width=“200”|“Winter” by François Girardon, (1628–1715) |} {|style="background:white; color:black" border="0" height="230" align="center" valign="bottom" cellpadding=10px cellspacing=0px |+style="background:white; color:black"|'''Statues of the ''grande commande'' - The Four Elements''' |-align="center" | | | | |-align="center" valign="top" |width=“200”|“Fire” by Nicolas Dossier, (1629–1700) |width=“200”|“Air” by Etienne Le Hongre, (1628–1690) |width=“200”|“Earth” by Benoît Massou, (1627–1684) |width=“200”|“Water” by Pierre I Legros, (1629–1714) |} {|style="background:white; color:black" border="0" height="230" align="center" valign="bottom" cellpadding=10px cellspacing=0px |+style="background:white; color:black"|'''Statues of the ''grande commande'' – The Abductions''' |-align="center" | | | |-align="center" valign="top" |width=“200”|“Boreas abducting Orethyia” by Anselme I Flamen, (1647–1717) |width=“200”|“Saturn abducting Cybele” by Thomas Regnaudin, (1622–1706) |width=“200”|“Pluto abducting Persephone” by François Girardon, (1628–1715) |}

== Sources == {{Col-begin}} {{Col-break}} '''Books'''

* {{cite book | last = Berger, Robert W. | title =In the Garden of the Sun King: Studies on the Park of Versailles Under Louis XIV | volume = | publisher =Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library | year =1985 | isbn =0-88402-141-6}} * {{cite book | last = Berger, Robert W. | title =Versailles: The Chateau of Louis XIV | volume = | publisher =University Park: The College Arts Association | year =1986 | isbn =0-271-00412-6}} *{{cite book | last =Blunt, Anthony | title =Art and Architecture in France 1500 to 1700 | volume = | publisher =Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books | year =1980 | isbn =0-300-07735-1}} *{{cite book | last =Marie, Alfred | title =Naissance de Versailles | volume = | publisher =Paris: Edition Vincent, Freal & Cie | year =1968}} *{{cite book | last = Marie, Alfred and Jeanne | title =Versailles au temps de Louis XIV | volume = | publisher =Paris: Imprimerie Nationale | year =1976}} *{{cite book | last = Nolhac, Pierre de | title =La création de Versailles | volume = | publisher =Versailles: L. Bernard | year =1901}} *{{cite book | last = Nolhac, Pierre de | title =Histoire de Versailles | volume =3 v | publisher =Paris: André Marty | date =1911–1918}} *{{cite book | last =* Nolhac, Pierre de | title =Les jardins de Versailles | volume = | publisher =Paris: Manzi, Joyant et Cie | year =1913}} *{{cite book | last =* Nolhac, Pierre de | title =Versailles, résidence de Louis XIV | volume = | publisher =Paris: Louis Conard | year =1925}} *{{cite book | last =* Nolhac, Pierre de | title =Versailles | volume = | publisher =Paris: A. Morancé | year =1929}} *{{cite book | last =* Nolhac, Pierre de | title =Versailles et la cour de France: L'Art à Versailles | volume = | publisher =Paris: Louis Conard | year =1930}} *{{cite book | last =* Nolhac, Pierre de | title =La Résurrection de Versailles, souvenirs d'un conservateur, 1887-1920 | volume = | publisher =Paris: Plon | year =1937}} *{{cite book | last =* Ripa, Cesare | title =Iconologia ovvero discrittione dell'imagini universli cavate dall'antichita e da altri luoghi | volume = | publisher =Roma | date =1593–1603}} *{{cite book | last =* Thompson, Ian | title =The Sun King's Garden: Louis XIV, André Le Nôtre, and the Creation of the Gardens of Versailles | volume = | publisher =London: Bloomsbury Publishing | year =2006}} *{{cite book | last =* Verlet, Pierre | title =Le château de Versailles | volume = | publisher =Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard | year =1985}} '''Journals''' *{{Cite journal | last =* Bottineau, Yves | title =Essais sur le Versailles de Louis XIV II: le style et l'iconographie | journal =Gazette des Beaux-Arts | volume =6 per., vol. 112 | date =October 1988 | pages =119–132 | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Friedman, Ann | title =The evolution of the Parterre d'eau | journal =Journal of Garden History | volume = 8| issue = 1 | date =January–March 1988 | pages =1–30 | postscript =}} {{Col-break}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Friedman, Ann | title =Charles Le Brun as Landscape Architect: His Designs for the First Parterre d'eau at Versailles | journal =Eighteenth Century Life | volume = 17, n.s., 2 | date =May 1993 | pages =24–35 | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Girardet, Raoul|authorlink=Raoul Girardet | title =Autour de Le Brun: Les artistes de Versailles | journal =Médecine de France | volume =28 | year =1951 | pages =17–28 | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Himelfarb, Hélène | title =Versailles, fonctions et legendes | journal =Les Lieux de Mémoire: La Nation II | volume = | date = | pages =235–292 | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Hoog, Simone | title =Sur la restauration de quelques sculptures du parc du Versailles | journal =Monuments historiques de la France | volume =138 | date =April–May 1985 | pages =50–56 | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Josephson, Ragnar | title =Relation de la visite de Nicodème Tessin à Marly, Versailles, Rueil, et St-Cloud en 1687 | journal =Revue de l'Histoire de Versailles | volume = | year =1926 | pages =150–67; 274–300 | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Le Guillou, Jean-Claude | title =Le château-neuf ou enveloppe de Versailles: concept et evolution du premier projet | journal =Gazette des Beaux-Arts | volume =6 pér., vol. 102 | date =December 1983 | pages =193–207 | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Le Guillou, Jean-Claude | title =Remarques sur le corps central du château de Versailles | journal =Gazette des Beaux-Arts | volume =6 pér., vol. 87 | date =February 1976 | pages =49–60 | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Nolhac, Pierre de | title =La construction de Versailles de LeVau | journal =Revue de l'Histoire de Versailles | volume = | year =1899 | pages =161–171 | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Souchal, François | title =Les statues aux façades du château de Versailles | journal =Gazette des Beaux-Arts | volume =6 pér., vol. 79 | date =February 1972 | pages =65–110 | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Tadgell, Christopher | title =Versailles: le grand projet | journal =Colloque de Versailles | volume = | year =1985 | pages = | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Weber, Gerold | title =Charles LeBrun: Recueil des divers dessins de fontaines | journal =Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst | volume = | year =1981 | pages =151–181 | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Weber, Gerold | title =Réflexions sur la genèse du jardin français classique et de son décor | journal =Eighteenth Century Life | volume = 17, n.s., 2 | date =May 1993 | pages =1–23 | postscript =}} *{{Cite journal | last =* Wiebenson, Dora | title =Commentaires anglais du XVIIe siècle sur le parc de Versailles | journal =Colloque de Versailles | volume = | year =1985 | pages = | postscript =}} {{col-end}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Palace of Versailles