Buzási Enikő szerk.: In Europe' Princely Courts, Ádám Mányoki, Actors and venues of a portraitist's career (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2003/1)
János Kalmár: POWER AND THE PRINCELY COURT IN EARLY 18th-CENTURY EUROPE
Pierre Patel: Panorama of the castle of Versailles in 1668, view from the town Versailles, Musée national du Château composed too. A portion of the painters and sculptors enjoyed certain privileges, as "court suppliers," meanwhile preserving their existential independence, along with its inherent risks. The "court" artists belonged to the royal household and earned a regular, fixed income. 110 This created a rather comfortable situation for them, for they were freed of those social obligations that went with being a member of the city guild. In fact, they often rose to noble ranks. 111 The large-scale building projects, the decoration of the buildings, the design of the gardens, the opera and theatre, the court orchestra, the planning and execution of spectacles such as fireworks displays, and performances altogether came to a huge amount of money. Nevertheless, we cannot call this simply wanton extravagance. Seventeenth-century (at least French) works advising the ruler, lavishly praise the monarch's luxury building projects, for these demonstrate the greatness and wealth of the king and the country. Festivals and other spectacles were also considered important, because they were symbols of the ruler's dignity, entertaining his underlings, drilling his nobility, and dazzling his allies. 112 In his Mémoires, Louis XIV also expressed his belief that the festivals provided an opportunity for the members of the court to enjoy themselves in the king's company, an experience that was gratifying for them. The masses took pleasure in the spectacles, and there was always occasion for it. The ruler's inferiors were altogether delighted when they saw the ruler take pleasure in the same things; such occasions did more to gain their favour then granting rewards. Foreigners were also favourably impressed, when they experienced the splendour, power, wealth, and greatness of the court. 113 Based on the statements of the Sun King, members of his court considered it a great honour when the king joined them in merriment, and he made a conscious effort to do so. By improving the quality of their lives, the ruler attempted to compensate the nobility for their losses in becoming subjects of the court. Entertainment was thus not merely for fun or to pass the time, just as the acquisition of luxury items was not simply extravagant spending; instead, it was a fundamental factor indicating rank. The court nobility - with their former economic and political strength diminished may have been shut up in a cage, but at least it was a golden one... The sumptuousness of the court was on such a scale, that the country nobility found it impossible to keep pace. Thus, the royal court not only distinguished those in its bosom from "the masses," but also from the outside nobility. This in large part contributed to the development of a sense of exclusiveness among the members of the court.
