The spectacular Vaux-le-Vicomte, south of Paris, is the first of the great baroque manions. It was built between 1656 and 1659 by Nicholas Fouquet, Louis XIV's Superintendant of Finance. Absolutely no expense was spared. The very best experts were called in: the architect Le Vau, the decorator Le Brun and the garden designer Le Notre, together with their teams of craftsmen. The result was a palace of staggering richness, which was also a display of Fooquet's recklessness, for everywhere was found his emblem of the squirrel and his motto: "Quo non ascendum?": "How high shall I not rise?"
Finally all was ready, and King Louis XIV was invited to the grand opening. A special play was commissioned from Moliere, there was a grand display of fireworks, and the King's meal was served on gold tableware. But Louis, in the words of Le Notre, "Had never seen anything so beautiful, and he did not like what he saw at all". Not only was the monarch hopelessly outclassed, but he no doubt wondered where Foquet could have got all that money.
Less than three weeks later Foquet was arrested. Convicted of embezzlement, he was sentenced to imprisonment for life in the remote fortress of Pignerol, where he died in 1680. Louis then recruited Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Notre to work on his own great project, the palace of Versailles, which he clearly intended to outshine Vaux-le-Vicomte.
So the unhappy Nicholas Fouquet never got to see his marvellous palace again, but fortunately we can.
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