Hello Reader,

Earlier this week was the birthday of a prominent French architect and city planner, Jules Hardouin-Mansart (April 16, 1646 - May 11, 1708).
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He is best known for his work on the Château de Versailles, where he expanded a hunting lodge into a palace through several expansions and phases from 1661 to 1715. In the process, he became one of France's key figures of the Baroque period.

​Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style that initially appeared in Italy in the late 16th century and gradually spread across Europe, eventually finding its way to Mexico.
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It came about as a response to the Protestant Reformation, with the Catholic Church using this style to wow people, show its power, and draw in worshipers with emotionally charged, visually stunning buildings.
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Therefore, buildings became monumental and grand, despite their actual size. There was a dramatic use of natural light, and the desire to "look to the heavens" by creating lavishly shaped and decorated ceilings, frescoes, gilded detailing, and twisting columns.

Notable Features

Baroque architecture left a lasting impact on Western design, influencing later styles such as Rococo (a lighter, more playful evolution of Baroque), the precursor to Neoclassicism. Thus, Baroque architecture shaped the development of urban spaces and monumental buildings everywhere.
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To learn more about French Baroque Architecture: History, Motifs & Examples, visit our Creating Where People Live classroom at Study.com (CPBDs, earn 0.5 P4-CE credit for completing the course and quiz).
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The entire lesson should take less than 15 minutes, including the five-question quiz. But this is one lesson within a 131-lesson course. Therefore, we're sending you this on a Friday afternoon.😂
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The lesson reviews 18th-century French houses, the Palace of Versailles, French Baroque interior design, and motifs.
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You don't have to be a member to experience the lesson, but you must sign in or set up your Study.com account using a Google account or email (it's free to be a student in our classroom).
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Have a great weekend!
The A-Team
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P.S. - Logging into Study.com, you may encounter the following.

• If you've visited our Creating Where People Live classroom before, you may have already received a notification of the assignment.
• You might be asked for a "Classroom Code." Use: purple-fly-1389.
• If you have issues registering for free, try these instructions: https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/kerFhm4P29VcAb6qBoq1nYv1​