Sunday, May 6, 2012

Petit Trianon: Views & Plans


As many of you know, I'm slowly re-creating this beautiful gem of a palace in SecondLife® and I thought it was about time that I dedicated a blog page to summarize my adventures during this journey.  You can navigate to it from the tabs at the top of this Home Page or go directly to Petit Trianon.  I will repeat the page's introduction here.  Following the introduction, you will find more information including Petit Trianon specific links and a SL Project Timeline.

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From its inception, Trianon was distinguished by its dedication to a lady, usually a young and beautiful one: by the magnificence of its flowerbeds and sophistication of its gardens: and by the official order that walking through the gate was by invitation only.*
Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's maîtresse-en-titre, was indeed the beautiful lady behind what is now considered among the most perfect buildings in France, the Petit Trianon.  Pompadour, encouraging the king's passion for botanical gardens, had already been instrumental in the development of this little piece of Trianon land including the addition of the French Pavilion in 1750.

This marvelous little chateau was designed at Pompadour's request by Ange-Jacques Gabriel and constructed from 1762 to 1768.  Marie Antoinette took possession in 1774, working her own magic on the palace, gardens and surrounding estate.

Hailed as a masterpiece, at first glance the Petit Trianon appears deceptively simple, a modest cube with no grand flourishes.  Further inspection reveals a wealth of wonderful details and an excellent use of proportions that have kept me charmed & fascinated for many years now. 

My adventures re-creating the Petit Trianon in the virtual world of SecondLife® are absolute pleasures.  I know that I will never be able to do justice to the original but this is truly a case where the journey and not the destination is the point of the exercise.  I invite you to follow along with me!

*Quoted from Marie-Antoinette and the Last Garden at Versailles.

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