It was against this awe-inspiring backdrop that Louis tamed the nobility and impressed foreign dignitaries, using entertainment, ceremony and a highly codified system of etiquette to assert his supremacy
The most important message Louis XIV sent through the architecture of Versailles was his ultimate power. He is an absolute monarch, untouchable and distant.
Building such a lavish complex was an important part of Louis XIV's style of rule and beliefs about monarchy, which we would call absolutism
As king of France he was the embodiment of France — and his palace was meant to display the wealth and power of his nation
