Versailles and The Breakers could they be alike?

This past summer my family and I visited Newport Rhode Island where we took a tour of the beautiful Newport Mansions. This connects to history class because we learned about the Grand Versailles palace that was home to King Louis XIII of France in 1682. This palace connects to the Newport mansions because they each have somewhat of the same idea in design and concept of being built.

 

             

Versailles Palace France                                           





 Breakers Mansion Newport



 

The Breakers mansion was just a summer house for the Vanderbilt Family in 1794-1877. The Vanderbilt family was of a rich social class, they weren’t royal at all. Nope instead they established the family fortune in steamships and later in the New York Central Railroad, which was a pivotal development in the industrial growth of the nation during the late 19th century. I guess you could say they were the kings and queens of the Railroad industry, no ok. The breakers house had 70 rooms Italian Renaissance- style palazzo, look it even goes back to our first ever unit; Italian Renaissance. Almost everything in the Breakers mansion was made entirely of gold; it is probably the most magnificent mansion I have ever seen. I wish I lived there…

One of the rooms in the Breakers Mansion

Versailles was a Palace for King Louis XIII of France in 1682, unlike the Breakers this house was always occupied by the King, his family, nobles and his servants. Versailles was also almost entirely made of Gold, with 700 rooms and 2,000 windows. Three kings lived there until the French Revolution, all of them contributed to making it as beautiful and magnificent as it is today, but don’t forget that Versailles was the idea of King Louis XIII.  

  King Louis XIII

Now you’re probably wondering how these two totally different houses have to do with each other, well here it is. Versailles and The Breakers were made in completely two different time periods revolving around two different ideas. But they are more similar then what you think, both of these amazing places were built off of the idea of the Italian Renaissance. We can see this is the amazing designs that were created within the houses; almost everything was made of either stone or gold. Also the ceilings would have paintings of saints and were done by famous painters in Europe. Within the houses they had servants, where did they stay? Great question, all of the servants; people of a low class and weren’t considered nobles. Would stay on the top floor of the house, the royals or in the Breakers case wealthy people, would occupy the big, glamorous rooms on the first and second floors. See I told you that there would be a lot of similarities!  

 

 

The Breakers Ceiling



 
Versailles Ceiling

 

 

 

Both of these beautiful buildings have gotten a lot of attention in the past years. Each having many visitors and in the time of their use many guests stay there. Many people may not have even heard of these places before of never even visited them. If you ever have a free day or want to organize a fun day I highly recommended a visit to the Newport Mansions, I’ve been there and it is really the most beautiful thing I’ve seen. I have never been to Versailles but I hope to one day visit the beautiful and interesting palace. Instead of just looking at pictures in history class and see it with my actual eyes.

Citations:

Websites:

"Versailles."  Web. 10 Feb. 2014. http://en.chateauversailles.fr/the-palace-.

"The Breakers."  Web. 10 Feb. 2014. http://www.newportmansions.org/explore/the-breakers.

Pictures:

Versailles Ceiling. Digital image. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. <http://mentalskillness.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/versailles-ceiling.jpg>.

The Breakers Ceiling. Digital image. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. http://hgtv.sndimg.com/HGTV/2004/04/20/hrrs1vbs_8A_paintedloggiaceiling_lg.jpg.


 Versailles Palace. Digital image. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/055/816/i02/versailles-palace.jpg?1376521764.

The Breakers Mansion. Digital image. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. http://www.newport-discovery-guide.com/images/newport-mansions-breakers-1.jpg.

Louis XIII. Digital image. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Louis_XIII_(van_Egmont).jpg.

One of the Rooms in The Breakers. Digital image. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. https://www.antiquesjournal.com/pages04/Monthly_pages/july06/july06_images/breakers2.jpg.