Tastemakers: Europe 1600 – 1815 Galleries

The V&A's Europe galleries contain more than 1,100 magnificent works of art and design dating from 1600 to 1815, including spectacular examples of textiles and fashion, painting, sculpture, ceramics, glass, furniture, metalwork, prints and books. Many of the objects were made in Europe for patrons from the very highest order of society, including some of the period's most discerning leaders of taste, King Louis XIV, Queen Marie Antoinette and Empress Catherine the Great. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, was one of the most powerful kings of France. An arbiter of style, the king wore a distinctive wig of curls and shoes with high red heels. Images of Louis XIV played an important role in celebrating, commemorating and promoting his power. To underline Louis' sacred and secular status and his dynastic origins, the imagery often combined French and Roman references. By adopting the sun as his symbol, Louis identified himself with the sun god Apollo from classical mythology. His greatest project was the Palace of Versailles. Originally a hunting lodge, the palace was built and rebuilt between 1662 and 1715 to create an opulent showplace for high-quality furniture, furnishings and lavish fashions in dress. In this setting, the king presided over a dazzling court. These pedestals are extremely rare surviving examples, probably originating from a set of nine, made for a mirrored room at Versailles. They would have been placed at intervals around the room with vases or bronzes displayed on top. A passionate dancer, the king would often perform in court ballets, employing performance as an instrument of propaganda. Here he is playing the Sun King. Louis also created important institutions to communicate his messages. In 1648, for example, he founded the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture to promote his new style, French Classicism. This blended the drama of the Baroque style that artists had developed in Italy with the balance and harmony of ancient Roman art. The Académie had close links with the Manufacture de Gobelin, which developed a new decorative style in textiles, woodwork and metalwork, and disseminated it across Europe. The support the king gave to the furniture, textile, clothing and jewellery trades not only provided work for his subjects, but also made France the leader in taste and established his country as the dominant European power. Queen Marie-Antoinette of France came to epitomise late 18th century extravagance, as she had a huge influence on fashion all over Europe. This portrait by François-Hubert Drouet depicts Marie-Antoinette at the age of 17, before she became Queen of France, wearing formal court dress. Once crowned Queen, Marie-Antoinette cultivated her interest in sartorial matters, appointing fashion merchant and dressmaker Rose Bertin to serve her. Rose became her Minister of Fashion. Together they created sumptuous dresses and launched new trends, shaping the style for fashionable society throughout Europe until the French Revolution. Her taste was extravagant in many ways. Marie-Antoinette popularised an elaborate hairstyle called the pouf, that extended to heights of up to three feet. The hair was padded with cow hair, styled with grease made from bear fat, elaborately curled, coated with powder, and then adorned with decorations such as feathers, flowers, miniature sculptures and figures to convey a theme or message. Inspired by nature, not only did Marie-Antoinette love to have flowers in her hair, she also had blooms embroidered onto fabric and furniture. This armchair was part of a suite made for the Queen, whose initials are on the cresting. It bears all the hallmarks of the neoclassical style popular in France after 1775. Its tapering legs and decorative elements include classical columns with ionic capitals and laurel and acanthus leaf motifs. Busts representing Diana, goddess of hunting, support the arms. The suite was almost certainly by Jean-Baptiste Claude Sennet, who made furniture for several French royal palaces. Catherine the Great, empress and autocrat of all the Russias, came to power following a coup d'etat that toppled her unpopular husband Peter III, who was subsequently assassinated. Catherine ruled from 1762 until 1796 and in that time transformed the city of Saint Petersburg and the artistic products of her country. Fascinated by classical Greece and Rome, Catherine became a major patron of the arts and a particular supporter of the neoclassical style. The Russian sculptor Fedor Shubin studied in Rome and for this portrait of Catherine drew on sculptural conventions of Roman imperial busts to show her animated and slightly smiling, crowned with a laurel wreath. Through her carefully chosen network of agents and advisors in Europe, Catherine commissioned and purchased collections of porcelain, tapestries, silver and jewellery from leading makers and manufacturers and in doing so gained international prestige. One of Sèvres' most important and demanding orders was an 800-piece dinner and dessert service decorated with cameos showing Catherine raised above her people. The Imperial Arms Factory at Tula, south of Moscow, was founded by Peter the Great for the manufacture of weapons. Supported by Catherine, it also became famous for furniture and other luxury decorative items. Tula products are distinctive for their unique method of faceting steel. Hundreds or even thousands of faceted steel beads could be applied to a plain metal base, creating a rich jewelled effect as seen on this fireplace. Very aware of the power of art as propaganda, Catherine influenced the taste of those around her and indeed all of educated Russia. She built academies, palaces and triumphal monuments to commemorate her victories, inviting comparisons between her achievements and those of classical heroes. The neoclassical style that Catherine championed can clearly be seen today all along the River Neva in St Petersburg, most notably in parts of the Hermitage complex and at Sarskoye Selo, her country estate outside the city. She became Russia's longest-serving female monarch and her promotion of her country, its art and industry helped propel the country into becoming a major world power. Her reign was seen by many as Russia's golden age.