Théâtre des Tuileries
It was also known as the Salle des Machines, because of its elaborate stage machinery, designed by the Italian theatre architects Gaspare Vigarani and his two sons, Carlo and Lodovico.
[1] Constructed in 1659–1661, it was originally intended for spectacular productions mounted by the court of the young Louis XIV, but in 1763 the theatre was greatly reduced in size and used in turn by the Paris Opera (up to 1770), the Comédie-Française (from 1770 to 1782), and the Théâtre de Monsieur (from January to December 1789).
[3] The unusually deep stage was located in a gallery situated between the auditorium and a new, more northern pavilion, later designated as the Pavillon de Marsan.
In 1720, during the Regency of Louis XV, the hall was remodeled again, at a cost of nearly 150,000 livres, and it hosted the court ballet Les folies de Cardenio with music by Michel Richard Delalande.
Modern histories cite the poor acoustics, but Coeyman suggests that its disuse may have been the result of its large size: "the hall may have simply been too hard to fill.
[8] Louis XIV commissioned the Théâtre des Tuileries in 1659 with the intention of making a hall sizeable enough to put on the ballets he would be a part of to celebrate his marriage in 1660.
Le Vau was influenced by Italian architecture and this appears in his building designs (i.e., classical aspects of order, balance, symmetry, and power.)
[11] Vigarani's scenic designs were made for both theatrical productions staged at the Théâtre des Tuileries and ballets.
One of Vigarani's designs pioneered a machine made to satisfy Louis XIV's ego with an entrance nothing short of grand.
The ceiling was home to the sculpting and gilt designed by Charles Le Brun and paintings rendered by Noël-Nicolas Coypel.
More box tiers can be found in-between the columns (Ionic) on the sides of the auditorium, decorated with green and gold draperies.
[15] As for the future of the Théâtre des Tuileries, it underwent many changes up until it was purposefully set on fire in efforts to get rid of the past by Communards on 23 May 1871 during the Paris Commune.
With no need for the backstage space to fill with scenery and machinery anymore, the stage was later reduced by Jacques-Germain Soufflot and Jacques Gabriel in order to fit 1,500 more audience members into the auditorium.
[18] The theatre later underwent three substantial transformations: the first in 1763, when it was greatly reduced in size for the Paris Opera (to a capacity of 1,504 spectators) by the architects Jacques Soufflot and Jacques Gabriel;[19] the second begun in November 1792 and competed before 10 May 1793, when the National Convention moved from the Salle du Manège to the Salle des Machines;[20] and the third in 1808, when Napoleon had a new theatre built to the designs of the architects Percier and Fontaine.
