Among the cargoes brought into the port of Marseilles in Provence during the mid seventeenth century by the Compagnie des Indes Orientales were desirable cotton prints from India. They consisted of dazzling patterns and striking colours, which captured the imagination.

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There are a few things I really respond to, inspiration wise. They are images of the ancient Greek God Apollo and his twin sister Artemis, early and new age classical music (Lully and Secret Garden) as well as poetry by one of the great English romantic lyric poets, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

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The French court by the beginning of the seventeenth century shifted from an ideal based on chivalry to one based on refined manners. This meant that instead of an economy based on feudal war it was now based on leisure and peace. The Chateau at Versailles in France is an amazing place to visit. In [...]

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Classic – is the SECOND part of our four (4) segment course the Evolution of Art, Design & Style. It is available in video, ebook or podcast format and can be watched, read or listened to on your computer, iPad, Kindle or iPod.

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Join us for CLASSIC, the SECOND part of our four (4) segment course of study The Evolution of Art, Design & Style CLASSIC: ARTIST & ARTISANS Renaissance to Restoration This part of the course (Days 11 – 20) covers the periods from the rebirth of humanism in Italy during the fourteenth century to the restoration [...]

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Architect Louis Le Vau and designer Charles Le Brun created the settings, against which France’s Apollo Louis XIV the Sun King reflected his supremacy, power and celebrity status. The Apollo room is a climax at the end of the enfilade of drawing rooms in the state apartment of the King, where the throne stood. It [...]

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Charles II abandoned puritanical austerity following his Restoration to the English throne in 1660. It is not surprising that he wanted to buy sumptuous and fashionable clothes. When he had been a fugitive from the Battle of Worcester in 1651 he been forced to wear ‘nothing but a green coat and a pair of country breeches on and a pair of country shoes, that made him sore all over his feet that he could scarce stir’. On his return he gave himself up completely to luxury and pleasure, adorning his very Frenchified person with sumptuous textiles and jewels.

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