APE

 

I.             Remember baroque?

A.    revitalized Catholic church

B.    emotional, appealing to senses, sweeping, uplifting, WOW! Look at that!

II.           Palace building

A.    Palace building was the activity of choice by eastern rulers, not only kings that built palaces but also princes throughout the country

B.    Purpose was to overawe; modeled after Louis XIV’s “Palace of Versailles”

C.    Ie. “Schonbrunn” in Austria; “Royal Palace” in Stockholm, Sweden; “Prince Eugene’s Summer Palace” in Vienna

D.   How baroque architecture looks – symmetrical, classical lines (angles like the Parthenon, Roman arches, columns), statues, angled roof (bronze?), ornately painted and sculpted inside

III.          Cities

A.    Capitals remodeled or moved; purpose – to exalt the king and show off

B.    Features

1.    wide boulevards

2.    huge government buildings, strategically placed (not random)

3.    noble townhouses along boulevards

4.    shops, department stores

5.    social gap, “mind the carriages!”

IV.          St. Petersburg

A.    Peter the Great seizes the area from Sweden

B.    Window to the West – decides to move the capital

C.    Modern – streets, uniformity, parks, canals, stone bridges, lighting, architectural regulations, social groups sectioned off

D.   Drafted men to build city – 25-40,000 per summer; even food tax

E.    Drafted privileged groups permanently if skilled

F.    Nobles paid

G.   Bottom line – a beautiful city but the peasants worked and the nobles paid