Chapter 281: The Amazing Journey of Anna Maria Luisa de Medici
Ana Maria Luisa de Medici was the only daughter of Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and her mother was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Gaston, so she was full of impotent fury at the current King of France, Louis XIV, after all, she had always regarded herself as the princess of the Bourbons, and since she came to Florence, she had not ceased to be hysterical for a moment, as if anything would cause her to scream and rage, such a wife, of course, could not arouse the affection of her husband and mother-in-law, even if she bore two sons and a daughter to the Grand Duke— The youngest son was even born in 71, but the following year the Grand Duke of Tuscany asked Louis XIV to send his wife to the convent – a situation that is uncommon in political marriages that were part of the Covenant, but Louis XIV readily replied to the Grand Duke's request, allowing him to do as he pleased.
Cosimo III did not go too far, and Anna's mother was sent to a monastery in Montmartre, France, to spend the rest of her long life, where the Grand Duke allowed her to take with her jewels and retinue, and gifted her florins worth 80,000 livres (Italian gold coins), and her eldest daughter, Anna, who was betrothed to the Duke of Colonna, the king's illegitimate son, was accompanied by the restless woman.
Born in 67 and only a child, Anna was destined to be more thoughtful than her peers with such a mother and such a family, and she did her best to help her servants and attendants comfort her mother until the convent of Montmartre, where she watched the heavy iron doors slowly close, and then went with her nurse and escort to Paris, then to Versailles.
The reason for this is because Versailles has now become a large palace with a lot of people, not to mention the Palace of Versailles, even the towns of Limoges and Versailles are crowded with officials and nobles, and now there are many more wealthy people from other provinces, who have come to see if there is such a way to meet the king, and secondly, because the king has instructed the prince and princess to supervise the four schools- The School of Painting and Sculpture, the School of Dance, the School of Music, the School of Drama, and the King's grace promised that during the fifty days from Easter to Pentecost (April and May), these four academies will hold exhibitions and performances for all audiences on weekdays day and night – thousands of people flock to Paris every day after the news broke.
Although it was said that it was an overseer, Louis XIV had no intention of rebuilding the new palace - these four colleges were ancient buildings chosen by the king himself, and once belonged to the prime minister, bishop, The generals and dukes, who were once illustrious, but now their names are hardly mentioned, and their mansions are as vast as palaces, because they are as strong and splendid as the Richelieu houses before them, and they have not been damaged much even after two Slinger riots, but they are like tasteless chicken ribs to the Parisians today.
Remember the Duke of Orleans's first job for the king, who rebuilt almost half of Paris for him, and these buildings of uniform size and similar colors stood on both sides of the streets, like well-trained soldiers, to the amazement of those who came to Paris for the first time or after the reconstruction, and the benefits were not only there—these new buildings had water and water systems.
But those old houses that have not been rebuilt for various reasons have problems, most of their sewerage is just a simple nullah, and some even only rely on the cracks in the stone slabs to drain the water, people may not think that they are very precious when they are used to all kinds of sanitation facilities, but after such an experience, they are tired of the old life and even unbearable - So these vast old mansions were gradually bought by the king and his brother over the past twenty years, and almost all of the original residents now have properties around Versailles, enjoying a safe and tidy new life.
Because Louis XIV had such a plan from the beginning, these old mansions were converted into colleges, like the former Château de Vaux, which did not need too many independent sanitary facilities, as long as there were public sanitary facilities like the ancient Romans, and then new dormitories for students and teachers, and many of the original rooms could be used as classrooms.
In fact, it is impossible for all art academies to admit children or teenagers, and those who can be enrolled are the children of the family—in another sense, the children of the family—there are very few people like Lully and Molière, because the former is only the son of a miller, and the latter is obviously the son of a merchant who provides furnishings and tapestries for the royal family;
So the four academies were not so much academies as a glamorous and brutal gladiatorial arena, where all the talented and gifted men of France, or Europa, were clustered, and they all brought their students, nephews, and servants—none of whom were subordinate to each other on their respective battlefields, and it was up to the founders and overseers of the academies to be able to judge—but all artistic things were difficult to judge.
To Louis's surprise, it was his crown prince Louis the Younger who was the first to propose a solution. It must be said that the crown prince sometimes seems more wooden than Princess Elizabeth, who is a year younger than him, although many times people think that this is a sign of stability, but he is indeed a little bit of a mouthful, and in addition, his temperament also lacks courage and sharpness, although the ministers will not say anything in front of the king, but Louis knows that both Prince Condé and Colbert have been disappointed - they always feel that Louis's son can't be better than the blue, if not the blue, but at least the other children.
To be sure, Louis felt that little Louis was a blessing from heaven when he was healthy and normal, and he never demanded anything from Louis, but he did not expect that—the crown prince might have only been superficial, for he had heard that the faculty of the academy were at odds with each other, not only over treatment, accommodation and place of instruction, over course arrangements, but also over students—simply put, they wanted other people's students to come to their classes and accept their theories, not the other way around.
As mentioned earlier, it is difficult to distinguish between high and low in artistic things, especially since the artists invited are not mediocre people - while they are arguing, the Dauphin, who has been listening quietly, suggests that they can distinguish between high and low in a quick and straightforward way, like a gladiator in the gladiatorial arena of ancient Rome, asking the audience to raise their thumbs or flush their thumbs down - for fifty days, they can show their talents in open academies, from painting to sculpture, from music to dance, and then to theater.
So, what is the use of statistics? The crown prince said that there is the most reliable thing - money.
The jingling of Leyard, Eju and Gold Louis is free to see all the exhibitions and performances, but if they feel that there is an artist worthy of appreciation, they can throw money into the box next to them to show their appreciation.
It is well known that people may not be stingy with their words and time, but they must be very cautious about the coins in their hands, and the one who can receive the most rewards must undoubtedly be the artist who is most admired, and he can certainly receive the highest honors, and others can estimate each other according to the amount of money they have received.
This practice also aroused the disgust of some artists, but Louis the Younger was right, Louis XIV was not very interested in art, he just wanted to take away the position of the political center of Paris, and return to it the crown of economic and artistic center, after all, Paris is the capital of France, maybe these four academies will give birth to countless shining stars in the future, but now they are only the mouthpiece of the king.
A good horse is of no use if it is not willing to put on its brands, and a painter, singer, or actor who is not willing to bow his knee to the king is worthless, no, or rather, will cause trouble. The Comte d'Artagnan ruthlessly expelled all the artists who refused to obey his orders from Paris, and there was no place for them elsewhere in France – those who remained were of course obedient.
When the Medici princess came to Paris, she saw a beautiful scene of flowers.