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95-550: Nicolas Fouquet was born in Paris to an influential family of the noblesse de robe (members of the nobility under the Ancien Régime who had high positions in government, especially in law and finance). He was the second child of François IV Fouquet (who held numerous high positions in government) and of Marie de Maupeou (who came from a family of the noblesse de robe and who was famous for her piety and charitable works). Contrary to

190-538: A savonette à vilain (the commoners ' "soap", that is, means of "washing away" the commonness to create a nobleman). Commoners mockingly referred to the Nobles of the Robe as "nobility of the pen and ink", and the old aristocracy regarded them as commoners. However, by the mid-17th century the two groups had blended and intermeshed sufficiently that it was common for a single family to have both kinds of nobles. In order to become

285-420: A 1.5-km long north–south axis with the entrance front facing north. Its elevations are perfectly symmetrical to either side of this axis. Somewhat surprisingly the interior plan is also nearly completely symmetrical with few differences between the eastern and western halves. The two rooms in the centre, the entrance vestibule to the north and the oval salon to the south, were originally an open-air loggia, dividing

380-419: A baron or viscount, a new untitled nobleman needed to acquire a fief (baronies, viscountcies, etc. were also sold as investment goods) and to add the name of the fief to his family name. For example, Antoine Crozat , having come from a wealthy family of commoners, acquired the barony of Thiers in 1714 for the price of 200,000 livres. In some parts of France, the new baron or viscount needed to be registered by

475-429: A borrower and strengthened the credit of the government, though the controls on this process were either ineffective or non-existent. The long wars, and the greed of the courtiers, made it necessary at times for Fouquet to meet the demand for funds by borrowing upon his own good credit. Fouquet was aware of the risks he was running – he feared ruining his family and his friends who had helped him lend money to

570-442: A chartered company for the colonization of French Islands, including missionary work and trade and investment. Fouquet's family was extremely devout. They had planned that Nicolas would join the clergy. Out of the family’s 11 children who survived into adulthood, all 5 girls took vows. Among the male children, 4 took the cloth and 2 became bishops. Only Nicolas and his brother Gilles were laymen. After some preliminary schooling with

665-417: A circular pool, previously seen as ovular due to foreshortening, is passed and a canal that bisects the site is revealed, as well as a lower level path. As the viewer continues on, the second pool shows itself to be square and the grottos and their niched statues become clearer. However, when one walks towards the grottos, the relationship between the pool and the grottos appears awry. The grottos are actually on

760-418: A considerable length of time thereafter. The main château is constructed entirely on a moated platform, reached via two bridges, both aligned with the central axis and placed on the north and south sides. The moat is a picturesque holdover from medieval fortified residences, and is again a feature that Le Vau may have borrowed from Maisons. The moat at Vaux may also have been inspired by the previous château on

855-561: A departure from history, most of these films show him dying in the 1660s. Fouquet was portrayed by Robert Lindsay in Nick Dear's play Power . Fouquet's life (and his rivalry with Colbert) is one of the background plots/stories in the historical novel Imprimatur by Rita Monaldi and Francesco Sorti . Fouquet and his arrest also figure prominently in Roberto Rossellini 's 1966 film The Taking of Power by Louis XIV , where Fouquet

950-700: A fashion shoot at the château for its 7th Cycle (Episode 02) , televised in August 2011. A confused retelling of the Vaux-le-Vicomte story was given by character Little Carmine Lupertazzi in season 4 of HBOs The Sopranos . More recently, it featured as the Palace of Versailles for BBC/Canal+ production of the TV drama series Versailles . The château is one of the settings of Alexandre Dumas ' novel The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later . The second most expensive wedding

1045-579: A few of the many artists and authors who received his invitations, and for some, his patronage. These extravagant expenditures and displays of the superintendent's wealth ultimately intensified the ill-will of the king. In 1638, Fouquet received as a gift some of his father's shares in the Company of the American Islands. In 1640, he became one of the first shareholders in the Société du Cap Nord and, in 1642, of

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1140-434: A focus for fine feasts, literature and arts. The fabulist and poet Jean de La Fontaine and the playwright Molière were among the artists close to Fouquet. At the inauguration of Vaux-le-Vicomte, a Molière play was performed, along with a dinner event organized by François Vatel and an impressive firework show. The château was lavish, refined and dazzling to behold, but those characteristics proved tragic for its owner:

1235-549: A minister. As a child, Louis had observed the armed conflict that threatened his monarchy during the Fronde and had solid reasons to be concerned about rebellion. As superintendent, Fouquet headed the enormously wealthy and influential corps of partisans ( tax farmers ), which, if challenged as a group, could have caused the king serious trouble. By crafty devices, Fouquet was induced to sell his office of procureur général , causing him to lose his immunity from royal prosecution; he paid

1330-602: A mirror in Fouquet's estate near Paris. The cassette contained a plan of defence written in 1657 at a time when Fouquet was on bad terms with Mazarin, that was modified in 1659. The plan instructed his supporters on what they should do if he were ever to be arrested, including taking up arms. It also envisaged a naval operation in the Bay of the Seine. The accusations that were the subject of the trial could be punishable by death. They were: During

1425-478: A much lower level than the rest of the garden and separated by a wide canal that is over half a mile (almost a kilometre) long. According to Allen Weiss, in Mirrors of Infinity , this optical effect is a result of the use of the tenth theorem of Euclid 's Optics , which asserts that "the most distant parts of planes situated below the eye appear to be the most elevated". In Fouquet's time, interested parties could cross

1520-538: A refuge in case of disgrace. Heightening the concerns of the king, Fouquet was found to have ordered several warships in the Netherlands, which could have served both his colonial ambitions and as an implicit threat to the king. In addition, Fouquet used a straw man to assume the position of Viceroy ( vice-roi ) of the Americas without the king’s knowledge. On 17 August 1661, Louis was entertained at Vaux-le-Vicomte with

1615-529: A special court where judges and prosecutors were handpicked by Colbert for being hostile to Fouquet and sympathetic to the king; and the trial was held in written form – Fouquet, a convincing orator, was not allowed to speak in his own defense. Nevertheless, some of the charges against Fouquet were supported by evidence that Fouquet found difficult to refute, notably the ‘cassette of Saint Mandé ’. The cassette contained incriminating documents that had been found after his arrest; they were hidden behind

1710-537: A suite of rooms for the king was normal practice in aristocratic houses of the time, since the king travelled frequently. Another surprising feature of the plan is the thickness of the main body of the building ( corps de logis ), which consists of two rows of rooms running east and west. Traditionally, the middle of the corps de logis of French châteaux consisted of a single row of rooms. Double-thick corps de logis had already been used in hôtels particuliers in Paris, including Le Vau's Hôtel Tambonneau , but Vaux

1805-522: A sumptuous fête, at which Molière 's Les Fâcheux was produced for the first time. The fête also included a lavish meal served on gold and silver plates for hundreds of members of the court; there were also fireworks, a ballet and light shows. The king was astounded by this display of luxury. Although this fête is sometimes cited as the reason for Fouquet's downfall, Louis XIV secretly was plotting with Colbert to get rid of him in May and June 1661. The splendour of

1900-457: A teenager, accomplished this task with brio . In 1636, at just 20, his father bought him the post of maître des requêtes for 150,000 livres (under the Ancien Régime, many government posts were purchased by the people holding them). In 1640, he married the rich and well-connected Louise Fourché and received around 160,000 livres from the dowry, plus other rents and land. Louise died in 1641 at

1995-506: A wedding present, with his wife Cristina, the Count and Countess de Vogüé. By that time, the estate contained only a few pieces that had originally been owned by Fouquet. For some time, the family occupied the first floor, and then the refurbished stables, of this largest private château in France with its 1,235 acres of gardens. In 1968, the property was opened for public tours. A major restoration

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2090-404: Is "somewhat disparate and disorderly". Moreover, as David Hanser points out, Le Vau's elevation violates several rules of pure classical architecture. One of the most egregious is the use of two, rather than three, bays in the lateral pavilions, resulting in the uncomfortable placement of the pediments directly over the central pilaster. Ayers does concede however that, "although rather ungainly,

2185-590: Is a Baroque French château located in Maincy , near Melun , 55 kilometres (34 mi) southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne department of Île-de-France . Built between 1658 and 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet , Marquis de Belle Île , Viscount of Melun and Vaux , the Superintendent of Finances of Louis XIV , the château was an influential work of architecture in mid-17th-century Europe. At Vaux-le-Vicomte,

2280-516: Is characteristically French, with the two lateral pavilions flanking a central avant-corps , again reminiscent of Mansart's work at Maisons. Le Vau supplements these with two additional receding volumes between the pavilions and the central mass. All of these elements are further emphasized with steep pyramidal caps. Such steep roofs were inherited from medieval times and, like brick, were rapidly going out of fashion. Le Vau would never use them again. The overall effect at Vaux, according to Andrew Ayers,

2375-577: Is fronted with a two-storey portico that is almost identical to one at the Hôtel Tambonneau. The use of a central oval salon is an innovation adopted by Le Vau from Italy. Although he himself had never been there, he undoubtedly knew from drawings and engravings of examples in buildings, such as the Palazzo Barberini in Rome, and had already used one to great effect at his Château du Raincy . At Le Raincy

2470-459: Is played by Pierre Barrat. In the second of Peter Greenaway 's Tulse Luper films , a Nazi general by the name of Foestling, played by Marcel Iureș , becomes obsessed with Fouquet and attempts to recreate his life and death. Fouquet is described but not mentioned by name in an episode of HBO's The Sopranos . Carmine Lupertazzi Jr. makes a comparison of John Sacrimoni to King Louis' finance minister who tried to outshine him and his estate: "In

2565-607: The East India Company (Société des Indes Orientales). After his father’s death in 1641, he inherited and managed the family's interests in several other chartered companies for French colonization (Sénégal, New France). Moreover, the family, through Fouquet's father and other family ties, was already active in maritime transport and had a network of influential contacts in Brittany. Over a period of many years, Fouquet undertook to develop these existing strengths. Specifically, Fouquet

2660-521: The Eiffel Tower . According to a report in India Today ,"over 35 craftsmen were flown in from Mumbai to erect a mandap on a pond in the sprawling gardens of the estate. Elephants made of fiberglass , minarets and a huge reception hall done up in pink were also put up. A lotus was designed in the pond and petals of all colour and shape scattered over it. Craftsmen were jetted in from India and florists from

2755-620: The Jesuits at the age of 13, Fouquet received his law degree from the University of Paris. Richelieu advised Fouquet on this career choice. In 1634, Fouquet was appointed councilor of the Parliament of Metz. Richelieu charged him with the sensitive task of verifying the accounts to determine whether or not Charles IV of Lorraine was skimming money that rightfully was due to the King of France. Fouquet, still

2850-723: The Man in the Iron Mask but whose real name never was spoken or written, is said to have served as one of Fouquet's valets (but the link between Fouquet's imprisonment and the Man in the Iron Mask is controversial). Fouquet's wife was not allowed to write to him until 1672 and she was allowed to visit him only once, in 1679. The former minister bore his imprisonment with fortitude; he composed several translations and devotionals there. According to official records, Fouquet died in Pignerol on 23 March 1680. His son,

2945-583: The Man in the Iron Mask , who is often identified as the true king or even as an identical twin brother of Louis XIV. As such, he is a pivotal character in Alexandre Dumas ' novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne , where he is depicted heroically. Aramis , an ally of Fouquet, tries to seize power by replacing Louis XIV with his identical twin brother. It is Fouquet who, out of sheer loyalty to the crown, foils Aramis's plot and saves Louis. This does not, however, prevent his downfall. James Whale 's film The Man in

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3040-478: The 16th century, as a means of royal collaboration with the ascendant gentry. Because these noblemen, especially the judges, had often studied at a university, they were called Nobles of the Robe after the robes or gowns that scholars wore, especially at commencement ceremonies. Originally given out as rewards for services to the king, the offices became venal , a commodity to be bought and sold (under certain conditions of aptitude). This practice became official with

3135-421: The Count of Vaux, was with him when he died. Although no death certificate was established, he is said to have died of apoplexy following a long illness. He was initially buried in the local church, Saint Claire de Pignerol. However, a year after his death, his remains were moved from there to the unmarked family crypt in the Église Sainte-Marie-des-Anges in Paris. Fouquet's story is often entwined with that of

3230-735: The Estates (who could refuse, as did the Estates of Béarn for Vincent Laborde de Montpezat in 1703). Nobles of the Robe played key roles in the French Enlightenment . The most famous, Montesquieu , was one of the earliest Enlightenment figures. During the French Revolution , the Nobles of the Robe lost their place when the parlements and lower courts were abolished in 1790. Vaux-le-Vicomte The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte ( French pronunciation: [ʃato də vo lə vikɔ̃t] )

3325-483: The Hercules column added in the 19th century. Shrubberies provided a picture frame to the garden that also served as a stage for royal fêtes. Le Nôtre employed an optical illusion called anamorphosis abscondita (which might be roughly translated as 'hidden distortion') in his garden design in order to establish decelerated perspective. The most apparent change in this manner is of the reflecting pools. They are narrower at

3420-406: The Iron Mask (1939) is very loosely adapted from Dumas' novel, and by contrast, depicts Fouquet as the story's main villain, who tries to keep the existence of the king's twin brother a secret. Fouquet is portrayed by Joseph Schildkraut . In the 1977 version , Fouquet is portrayed by Patrick McGoohan . In The Fifth Musketeer (1979), based on the same novel, he is portrayed by Ian McShane . In

3515-473: The Nobles of the Sword in pre-revolutionary French society. Originally, the offices within the Nobles of the Robe were relatively accessible due to their venal nature. In the 17th century, the office of councillor in the parlement sold for 100,000 livres. By the mid-18th century, its value was reduced to half, due to the proliferation of offices. However, after the 17th century, the descendants of those who had earned

3610-423: The age of 21, six months after giving birth to a daughter. Fouquet was 26 years old. Cardinal Richelieu died in 1642, but Fouquet was successful in impressing his successor as chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin , who became his protector (over the long term, the relationship was tense). From 1642 to 1650, Fouquet held various intendancies , at first in the provinces and then with the army of Mazarin. In 1648, Fouquet

3705-455: The architect Louis Le Vau , the landscape architect André Le Nôtre and the painter-decorator Charles Le Brun worked together on a large-scale project for the first time. Their collaboration marked the beginning of the Louis XIV style combining architecture, interior design and landscape design. The garden's pronounced visual axis is an example of this style. Once a small château between

3800-404: The best in the three. To secure the necessary grounds for the elaborate plans for Vaux-le-Vicomte's garden and castle, Fouquet purchased and demolished three villages. The displaced villagers were then employed in the upkeep and maintenance of the gardens. It was said to have employed 18 thousand workers and cost as much as 16 million livres . The château and its patron became for a short time

3895-408: The canal in a boat, but walking around the canal provides a view of the woods that mark what is no longer the garden and shows the distortion of the grottos previously seen as sculptural. Once the canal and grottos have been passed, the large sloping lawn is reached and the garden is viewed from the initial viewpoint's vanishing point, thus completing the circuit as intended by Le Nôtre. From this point,

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3990-463: The canalized bed of one forms the Grand Canal, which leads to a square basin. Le Nôtre created a magnificent scene to be viewed from the house, using the laws of perspective. Le Nôtre used the natural terrain to his advantage. He placed the canal at the lowest part of the complex, thus hiding it from the main perspectival point of view. Past the canal, the garden ascends a large open lawn and ends with

4085-445: The central actor in a debt situation that was fundamentally untenable. Fouquet had drawn up a plan to bring some order to public finances, but he never made progress in implementing it, though it was taken up later by Colbert. Instead, it was business as usual: fraudulent operations were entered into with impunity, and the financiers were maintained in the position of clients via official favours and generous aid whenever they needed it. In

4180-762: The chateau was the forerunner of the Palace of Versailles . To design it, he brought together a team that the king later used for Versailles: the architect Louis Le Vau , the painter Charles Le Brun , and the garden designer André le Nôtre . At Vaux and other major properties he owned (notably, his estate in Saint-Mandé , which bordered on the Château de Vincennes ), Fouquet gathered rare manuscripts, paintings, jewels and antiques in profusion, and above all surrounded himself with artists and authors. Jean de La Fontaine , Pierre Corneille , Molière, Madame de Sevigné and Paul Scarron were

4275-409: The château into two distinct sections. The interior decoration of these two rooms was therefore more typical of an outdoor setting. Three sets of three arches, those on the entrance front, three more between the vestibule and the salon, and the three leading from the salon to the garden are all aligned and permitted the arriving visitor to see through to the central axis of the garden even before entering

4370-440: The château. The exterior arches could be closed with iron gates and only later were filled in with glass doors and the interior arches with mirrored doors. Since the loggia divided the building into two-halves, there are two symmetrical staircases on either side of it, rather than a single staircase. The rooms in the eastern half of the house were intended for the use of the king, those in the western were for Fouquet. The provision of

4465-400: The closest point to the viewer (standing at the rear of the château) than at their farthest point; this makes them appear closer to the viewer. From a certain designed viewing point, the distortion designed into the landscape elements produces a particular forced perspective and the eye perceives the elements to be closer than they actually are. That point, for Vaux-le-Vicomte, is at the top of

4560-442: The coast of Brittany. He strengthened the island’s existing fortifications and built a port and warehouses (he also fortified the île d'Yeu ). These were major construction projects which caused the king enough concern that he had a spy sent to Belle-Île-en-Mer. The spy reported that there was a garrison of 200 soldiers, 400 cannon and a stockpile of ammunition sufficient for a force of 6000 soldiers. Fouquet planned to use Belle-Île as

4655-478: The crown. In December 1658, he presented his resignation to Mazarin, but, unfortunately for him, it was not accepted. The disorder in the accounts became hopeless, but was also normal – the kingdom had a long history of poorly controlled royal finances. In any case, debt issuance could not resolve the deplorable economic situation of the realm without an underlying ability and willingness to rein in expenditures and to bring in tax revenues. Fouquet became

4750-412: The custom to put these facilities in the basement, so these structures were no longer needed. This U-shaped plan of the house with the terraces is a device that again recalls Maisons, where Mansart intended "to indicate that his château was conceived in a noble tradition of French design while at the same time emphasizing its modernity in comparison to predecessors." The entrance front of the main château

4845-673: The death of her husband and son, she decided to put Vaux-le-Vicomte up for sale. Marshal Claude Louis Hector de Villars became the new owner without first seeing the château. In 1764, the Marshal's son sold the estate to the Duke of Praslin , whose descendants maintained the property for over a century. It is sometimes mistakenly reported that the château was the scene of a murder in 1847, when Charles de Choiseul-Praslin killed his wife in her bedroom. He did so at their Paris residence, rather than at Vaux-le-Vicomte. In 1875, after thirty years of neglect,

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4940-415: The design process, Fouquet and Le Vau switched to stone, a decision that may have been influenced by the use of stone at François Mansart's Château de Maisons . The service buildings flanking the large avant-cour to the north of the house remained in brick and stone, and other structures preceding them were in rubble-stone and plaster, a social ranking of building materials that would be common in France for

5035-462: The direction of the architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur , assisted by the landscape architect Elie Lainé . When Sommier died in 1908, the château and the gardens had recovered their original appearance. His son, Edme Sommier , and his daughter-in-law completed the task. His descendants continue to preserve the château, which remains privately owned. Since 1967, the owner has been Patrice de Vogüé, Alfred Sommier's great-grandson, who received it as

5130-465: The distortions create the illusion that the gardens are much longer than they actually are. The many discoveries made as one travels through the dynamic garden contrast with the static view of the garden from the château. The château buildings and grounds have been used in at least 13 productions, a full 70, in fact, according to the owners. For example, the property was used as the California home of

5225-500: The edict of la Paulette , the Paulette being the tax paid by the holder to keep the office hereditary. As hereditary offices, they were often passed from father to son. Nobles of the Robe were often considered by Nobles of the Sword to be of inferior rank, because their status was not derived from military service and/or land ownership. The elite Nobles of the Robe, such as members of the parlements , fought to preserve their status alongside

5320-470: The elements exemplify the Baroque desire to mold nature to fit its wishes, thus using nature to imitate nature. The centrepiece is a large reflecting pool flanked by grottos holding statues in their many niches. The grand sloping lawn is not visible until one begins to explore the garden, when the viewer is made aware of the optical elements involved and discovers that the garden is much larger than it looks. Next,

5415-506: The end, Louis clapped him in irons". Noblesse de robe Under the Ancien Régime of France , the Nobles of the Robe or Nobles of the Gown ( French : noblesse de robe ) were Frenchs aristocrats whose rank came from holding certain judicial or administrative posts. As a rule, the positions did not of themselves give the holder a title of nobility , such as baron or viscount (although

5510-419: The entertainment only aggravated Fouquet's precarious position by calling attention to the immense gap between his ostentatious wealth and the visible poverty of the crown. The king was also concerned about Fouquet's carefully cultivated network of friends and clients, which made him one of the most influential individuals in the realm. Then only 22 years old, the king was afraid to act openly against so powerful

5605-399: The entrance facade at Vaux is nonetheless picturesque, in spite, or perhaps because, of its idiosyncrasies." The garden front of the main château is considered more successful. The enormous, double-height Grand Salon that substantially protrudes from the corps de logis clearly dominates the southern elevation. The salon is covered by a huge slate dome surmounted with an imposing lantern and

5700-411: The entrance front, effectively balancing the central domed salon. The château rises on an elevated platform in the middle of the woods and marks the border between unequal spaces, each treated in a different way. This effect is more distinctive today, as the woodlands are more mature, than it was in the seventeenth century when the site had been farmland, and the plantations were new. Le Nôtre's garden

5795-453: The estate was sold to Alfred Sommier  [ fr ] in a public auction . "He came for the [Charles] Le Brun paintings, especially those on the ceiling of the Chambre des Muses – he loved art," according to descendant Alexandre de Vogüé. The château was empty, some of the outbuildings had fallen into ruin and the gardens were completely overgrown. Restoration and refurbishment began under

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5890-464: The forced perspective of the formal garden). The perspective effects are not readily apparent in photographs, either, making viewing the gardens in person the only way of truly experiencing them. From the top of the grand staircase, this gives the impression that the entire garden is revealed in one single glance. Initially, the view consists of symmetrical rows of shrubbery, avenues, fountains, statues, flowers and other pieces developed to imitate nature:

5985-401: The holder might also have such a title), but they were almost always attached to a specific function. The offices were often hereditary, and by 1789, most of the holders had inherited their positions. The most influential of them were the 1,100 members of the 13 parlements , or courts of appeal. They were distinct from the " Nobles of the Sword " ( French : noblesse d'épée ), whose nobility

6080-404: The important position of procureur général to the parlement of Paris, thereby raising him to the most elite ranks of the noblesse de robe . Fouquet's already great wealth was augmented by his marriage in 1651 to 15-year old Marie-Madeleine de Castille. She belonged to a wealthy, well-connected family of the noblesse de robe . Fouquet had five children with her. During Mazarin's exile during

6175-471: The king announced that he was going to Nantes for the opening of the meeting of the provincial estates of Brittany. He required his ministers, including Fouquet, to go with him. On 5 September 1661, Fouquet was leaving the council chamber, flattered with the assurance of the king's esteem, when he was arrested by d’Artagnan , lieutenant of the king's musketeers. It is reported that the arrest took Fouquet completely by surprise because he apparently thought that he

6270-407: The king had Fouquet arrested shortly after a famous fête that took place on 17 August 1661, where Molière 's play 'Les Fâcheux' debuted. The celebration had been too impressive and the superintendent's home too luxurious. Fouquet's intentions were to flatter the king: part of Vaux-le-Vicomte was actually constructed specifically for the king, but Fouquet's plan backfired. Jean-Baptiste Colbert led

6365-459: The king to believe that his minister's magnificence was funded by the misappropriation of public funds. Colbert, who then replaced Fouquet as superintendent of finances, arrested him. Later, Voltaire was to sum up the famous fête: "On 17 August, at six in the evening Fouquet was the King of France: at two in the morning he was nobody." La Fontaine wrote describing the fête and shortly afterwards penned his Elégie aux nymphes de Vaux . After Fouquet

6460-453: The king's displeasure with adverse reports about the deficit and unflattering reports about Fouquet. However, Fouquet had some protections – his high position at the parlement (he remained procureur général ) gave him immunity from prosecution by any authority except the Parlement , which he largely controlled. Another reason Fouquet may have felt secure is that what he was doing

6555-552: The main villain Hugo Drax (played by Michael Lonsdale ) in the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker . It can also be seen in the background in the 1998 film The Man in the Iron Mask . In addition, the château appeared in several episodes of The Revolution , which is a documentary television series about the American Revolutionary War that was broadcast by History Channel in 2006. Australia's Next Top Model had

6650-460: The meantime, the peasants and commoners in the cities paid the price for this disorder. With Mazarin's death on 9 March 1661, Fouquet expected to be made chief minister, but Louis XIV was suspicious of his loyalty to the crown and his poorly disguised ambition. Upon assuming his kingly duties, it was with Fouquet in mind that Louis XIV made the well known statement that he would be his own chief minister. Colbert, perhaps seeking to succeed Fouquet, fed

6745-433: The military. Access to nobility through a judiciary office thus became practically barred in the 18th century. However, there existed other offices for sale: a secrétaire-conseiller du roi acquired first-degree nobility immediately, and hereditary nobility after 20 years. The office was not cheap (120,000 livres in 1773), but it was a sinecure , with no preconditions and no obligations. Real nobility looked down on it as

6840-404: The money received from the sale (about 1 million livres) into the royal treasury as a gesture to earn the favor of the king.:140, At the same time, he was weighed down by his own recent faux pas  – notably, when he tried unsuccessfully to recruit a mistress of the king as a spy (the mistress refused Fouquet's offer of money and duly reported it to the king). After his visit to Vaux,

6935-477: The preservation. "We have a ten-year plan, detailing what to do and when; a plan that includes a project of infrastructure restoration, restoration of the garden, and smaller projects; all with anticipated costs next to it. We make this list public for our donors, and people can sponsor a special project, such as restoring a statue in the garden," Alexandre told a reporter in 2017. Approximately 300,000 visitors arrive each year, 75% of them from France. Recognized by

7030-558: The pretensions of the family, the Fouquets did not come from a lineage of noble blood. They were originally, in fact, merchants in the cloth trade, based in Angers. Fouquet's father later amassed great wealth as a shipowner in Brittany. He was noticed by Cardinal Richelieu , who gave him important positions in government. In 1628, he became an executive associate in the Company of the American Islands ,

7125-402: The rank as a reward for services to the monarchy fought to limit access to the class. The Nobles of the Robe protested heavily when the monarchy, in desperate need of money, would create massive numbers of such positions within the bureaucracy to raise revenue. A common family strategy was to designate a second or third son to enter the church while the elder son(s) pursued a career in the robe or

7220-428: The rooms they access. Up to the middle of the 17th century, corridors were essentially unknown. Another feature of the plan, the four pavilions, one at each corner of the building, is more conventional. Vaux-le-Vicomte was originally planned to be constructed in brick and stone, but after the mid-century, as the middle classes began to imitate this style, aristocratic circles began using stone exclusively. Rather late in

7315-532: The royal residences of Vincennes and Fontainebleau , the estate of Vaux-le-Vicomte was purchased in 1641 by Nicolas Fouquet , an ambitious 26-year-old member of the Parlement of Paris . Fouquet was an avid patron of the arts, attracting many artists with his generosity. When Fouquet became King Louis XIV's Superintendent of Finances in 1656, he commissioned Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Nôtre to renovate his estate and garden to match his grand ambition. Fouquet's artistic and cultivated personality subsequently brought out

7410-409: The royal treasury, the rest being skimmed off by various parties along the way. In this unsettled situation, Fouquet was responsible for decisions as to which funds should be used to meet the demands of the state's creditors, but also for the negotiations with the great financiers who lent money to the king. Fouquet's willingness to honor some of the royal promises enhanced the credibility of the crown as

7505-400: The salon spans the corps de logis and projects on both sides, but at Vaux, because of the double row of rooms, it is preceded by the vestibule on the entrance side, "thus delaying and dramatizing the visitor's discovery of this, the centrepiece of the house." The lateral pavilions of the garden facade project only slightly but are three bays wide with traditional tall slate roofs like those on

7600-616: The second Fronde, Fouquet remained loyal to him, protecting his possessions and informing him of what was happening in the court. Upon Mazarin's return, Fouquet demanded and received as a reward the office of superintendent of finance (on 7 February 1653), making him the youngest person to hold this position in the Ancien Regime. The royal finances were in a disastrous state at this time, due to many years of war under Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin and antiquated revenue practices. Only about half of total tax revenues collected actually ended up in

7695-485: The sentence to life imprisonment at the fort of Pignerol and confiscation of Fouquet's property. He also launched a vendetta against Fouquet's friends, supporters and family. In December 1664, Fouquet was taken to the prison fortress of Pignerol in the Alps (in what is now Italy). He remained there, incarcerated in harsh conditions, until his death in 1680. There, Eustache Dauger , the man identified by historical research as

7790-490: The site, which Le Vau's work replaced. The bridge over the moat on the north side leads from the avant-cour to an ample forecourt, flanked by raised terraces on either side, a layout evoking the cour d'honneur of older aristocratic houses in which the entrance court was enclosed by anterior wings, typically housing kitchens and domestic quarters. Le Vau's terraces even terminate in larger squares suggesting former pavilions. In more modern residences, like Vaux, it had become

7885-415: The stairs at the rear of the château. Standing atop the grand staircase, one begins to experience the garden with a magnificent perspectival view. The anamorphosis abscondita creates visual effects, which are not encountered in nature, making the spectacle of gardens designed in this way extremely unusual to the viewer (who experiences a tension between the natural perspective cues in his peripheral vision and

7980-465: The state as a monument historique , the property is open most of the year, but closed for approximately two months in winter, 6 January to 22 March in 2019, for example. During the Christmas season, major decorations are installed: 150 trees, 10,000 items and 4,000 metres of garlands and lights, as well as a giant illuminated squirrel and angel, in 2018. The château is situated near the northern end of

8075-408: The trial, French public sympathy tended to support Fouquet. La Fontaine , Madame de Sévigné , Jean Loret , and many others wrote on his behalf. The guilty verdict and the sentence of banishment were handed down on 20 December 1664 – out of 22 judges, 13 were for banishment and 9 were for the death penalty. The king, disappointed with what he regarded as a lenient decision, "commuted"

8170-458: Was active in attempting to forward the French colonial effort and in developing the coast of Brittany as a major location for hosting maritime trade. He cultivated high ranking friends in Brittany. He bought numerous armed ships and proceeded with a quasi-military development, apparently without informing the king. As part of this undertaking, Fouquet had bought Belle-Île-en-Mer in 1658, an island off

8265-505: Was arrested and imprisoned for life and his wife exiled, Vaux-le-Vicomte was placed under sequestration . The king seized, confiscated or purchased 120 tapestries, the statues and all the orange trees from Vaux-le-Vicomte. He then sent the team of artists (Le Vau, Le Nôtre and Le Brun) to design what would be a much larger project than Vaux-le-Vicomte, the palace and gardens of Versailles . Madame Fouquet recovered her property 10 years later and retired there with her eldest son. In 1705, after

8360-459: Was based on their families' traditional function as the knightly class and whose titles were usually attached to a particular feudal fiefdom, a landed estate held in return for military service. Together with the older nobility, the Nobles of the Robe made up the Second Estate in pre-revolutionary France. The term Nobles of the Robe first appeared in writing in 1603. This class originated in

8455-534: Was completed starting in 1976 and it was continuing in 2017; the roof repair alone took six years. The Baroque ceiling in the Chambre des Muses, "decorated by Charles Le Brun 's workshop", was restored in 2016–2017 and was first shown to the public in March 2017. The business is now administered by their three sons: Alexandre, Jean-Charles and Ascanio de Vogüé. "We don’t care about the aristocratic part of this life," said Alexandre de Vogüé, but they are determined to continue

8550-401: Was held at the palace in 2004. Vanisha Mittal, daughter of British-Indian steel industrialist billionaire Lakshmi Mittal , held her wedding to Amit Bhatia , a British-Indian economist and businessman, at the château following their engagement ceremony at the Palace of Versailles . Kylie Minogue was paid $ 330,000 to sing at the wedding and the ceremony was followed by fireworks launched from

8645-482: Was named general intendant of Paris, right as the second Fronde broke out. He ably came to the aid of Mazarin and the Queen Mother, Anne of Austria (who was regent for the young Louis XIV ) in defense of the monarchy. As a result, Fouquet earned the lasting loyalty and support of both Mazarin and Anne. These high-level positions raised his profile with the court. He was permitted in 1650 to buy, for 450,000 livres,

8740-424: Was not necessarily illegal – even Colbert later admitted that "Fouquet managed to conduct his robbery while keeping his hands clean." In 1641, the 26-year old Fouquet purchased the manor of Vaux-le-Vicomte and its small castle located 50 km south east of Paris. He spent enormous sums over a period of 20 years building a château on his estate. In terms of its size, magnificence and interior decor,

8835-401: Was the dominant structure of the great complex, stretching nearly a mile and a half (3 km), with a balanced composition of water basins and canals contained in stone curbs, fountains, gravel walks, and patterned parterres that remains more coherent than the vast display Le Nôtre was to create at Versailles. The site was naturally well-watered, with two small rivers that met in the park;

8930-408: Was the first château to incorporate this change. Even more unusual, the main rooms are all on the ground floor rather than the first floor (the traditional piano nobile ). This accounts for the lack of a grand staircase or a gallery, standard elements of most contemporary châteaux. Also noteworthy are corridors in the basement and on the first floor, which run the length of house, providing privacy to

9025-459: Was very much in the king's good graces. He initially was imprisoned at the Chateau d’Angers . The trial lasted almost three years. Many procedural aspects of the investigation and trial were highly questionable, even by the standards of the 17th century. For example, the officials charged with the investigation answered directly to Fouquet's arch-enemy, Jean-Baptiste Colbert ; the trial was held before

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