Louis XIII style

Period of the first half of the 17^th century.

This style actually began, long before, with Henri II. In that time, Paris became the center of French creativity and the whole country entered into a period of prosperity and artistic splendor. Louis XIII reversed the trend for promising artists in France to work and study in Italy by commissioning them to work in the Louvre palace. They ventured into many artistic and stylistic experiments, taking their inspiration from the Italian Baroque or Flemish furniture. They had a passion for large sculpted stone mantels and large painted décors. This was a brilliant and multifaceted period of mutation both politically and artistically right before the arrival of Louis XIV.