Tag Archives: King Louis XIV

more unjust desserts: chef with a sword

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Dave

Food need not be a mere necessity of life… …The chef’s lot has often been a hard one. These days, should rice burn or the souffle collapse, there is always something in the freezer. Not so in times past. Jean … Continue reading →

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food: big fish stories

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Dave

Food need not be a mere necessity of life… Maybe the biggest fish story ever told. For sheer pomp, circumstance, and calories, no era in the history of cookery surpasses the reign of Louis XIV. Whether dining alone or with … Continue reading →

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Bernini:smoothing the bump on the bourbon shnoz

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Dave

With Bernini perhaps the roots of heaven were made of stone. But Bernini and his short sejour in France at the behest of Louis XIV, was something short of heavenly and the divine…. …Nor could Bernini adjust to the customs … Continue reading →

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bernini and the brief french kiss

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Dave

Bernini spent nearly six months at the French court, but except for a marble bust of the king, which had been commissioned as an afterthought, the trip was a failure. It was a foregone conclusion that an artist who believed … Continue reading →

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fatal showplace

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Dave

To give a great party is a dangerous thing. A few famous balls have been enshrined in history and golden legend-none more so than the Duchess of Richmond’s in Brussels on the eve of Waterloo, remembered in the celebrated lines … Continue reading →

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water worlds: the aqueous arts

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Dave

Water as the wine of architecture. Sparkling or still, its ability to enhance a building has been appreciated for centuries. Water is spirit to architecture’s substance; it is the wit and grace of a building; narcissistic sheets of silver for … Continue reading →

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