Peter Paul Rubens's recreation of Titian's eponymous painting embodies the court of King Louis XIV, the Sun King.  Settled in an elaborate new palace at Versailles, the king kept a lively court and ruled for longer than almost any other European monarch - more than 72 years.  The art of the time reflected this opulence, with painstaking detail and embellishment added to every aspect.  The Catholic Church encouraged the style as a means of emotional participation, inspiring Counter-Reformation sentiment.  Garden of Love emphasizes color, movement, and sensuality, a microcosm for the Baroque period.  Jean-Baptiste Lully's music reflects the same social movement and changing musical techniques.

A Flemish painter born in Germany, Peter Paul Rubens's art represents the dichotomy of the time.  Born into a Protestant family but raised as a Catholic, he created many religious paintings to fuel the Counter-Reformation.  But this updated study of Titian reflects the pacification and peaceful indulgence of the aristocracy.  The garden of love, interspersed with cherubs, represents fertility and wedded bliss, and he painted it to celebrate his marriage.  Two doves fly in the upper left corner opposite a creeping dog in the lower right, symbols of love and fidelity.  Everything from the carefully-constructed and manicured trees to the courtiers' rippling clothing indicates the prosperity of their little world, rich in the arts and far from poverty and continental war.

Music in the Baroque period underwent an astounding transition.  The first permanent orchestra in Europe, the Vingt-quatre Violons, appeared at Louis XIV's court, showing the increasing popularity of bow-using string instruments.  Jean-Baptiste Lully was one of the company's players by age seventeen and was entrusted to compose music for Molière's comédie-ballets, part of the first wave of French opera.  He joins several stately movements, updating medieval rhythms to contain new strings, bells, and fast waltz sections.  The entire collection in the video above lasts for over an hour, but the first three pieces (separated onscreen by numbers) should be enough to hear the rich depth of the sounds of Versailles.

Editor's Note: Over the summer, the site will host student-curated exhibits. They will run for seven posts, and then move onto the next exhibit. This was the course's final project.