Dieu et son Univers dans l’architecture palatiale d’Occident

After redefining the Renaissance, the study proposes a new history of the construction and a new symbolic interpretation of Chambord, where an Italian church dome, expressing the divine origin of power, was incorporated into a medieval castle structure. A new palatial architecture was born, followed by the rival palaces of Charles V and Henry VIII. It gave rise to El Escorial, Chambord’s abbey version, then to modern castles starting with Vaux-le-Vicomte. The synthesis of the structure of these last two gave rise to the abbeys of Central Europe. This tradition was interrupted by the modernity invented at Versailles, whose symbolic gardens are reinterpreted in a totally new way. This palatial architecture died out in the 20th century.