The Grand Trianon Under Louis-Philippe 16 the Grand Trianon Museum 18
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18th June - 8th November 2015 3 Contents Press release 4 The Ehibition 7 The Porcelain Trianon 8 The Marble Trianon under Louis XIV 10 The Grand Trianon in the 18th century 12 The Grand Trianon under Napoleon 14 The Grand Trianon under Louis-Philippe 16 The Grand Trianon museum 18 History of the Grand Trianon 21 Timeline 22 Partners 28 The sponsors 29 The media partners 30 Appendices 33 The Trianon application 34 Practical information 35 Press release The Grand Trianon from Louis XIV to Charles de Gaulle 18th June - 8th November 2015 Grand Trianon In parallel with the restoration work on the Grand Trianon, started in January 2015, the Palace of Versailles is holding an exhibition that will trace the history of the Palace from its construction up to 1960. Plans, engravings and drawings evoke the history of the alterations and changes made to the building, while busts and portraits depict those who lived in it. The Grand Trianon: a private palace for the seat of power Situated in the north-west corner of the park of the Palace of Versailles, on land that once belonged to a village purch ased by Louis XIV, the current Grand Trianon sits on the site of an initial palace built in 1670 by Louis Le Vau: the Porcelain Trianon. Th is small palace was designed mainly as a venue for the romantic relations between Louis XIV and the Marquise de Montesp an, and got its name from the 'Chinese-st yle' blue and white porcelain that covered it. It was dest royed in 1687 and replaced by the Marble Trianon, later called the Grand Trianon, which remains today. Th e building was the work of Jules Hardouin-Mansart and was given the name 'Marble' because of the Rance marble columns on the portico and the red Languedoc marble pilast ers decorated with white Carrara marble capitals. Th e Grand Trianon was Louis XIV's private est ate and a palace for leisure, where he entertained the ladies of the court with shows and parties. It has retained its 17th-century decoration, wood panelling and paintings depict ing the Metamorphoses of Ovid, in perfect harmony with the light ambience of this country house. Press contacts Hélène Dalifard The Grand Trianon was relatively little used by Louis XV, who nevertheless sp ent a while Aurélie Gevrey living there with the Marquise de Pompadour. During the French Revolution its collect ions were Elsa Martin Violaine Solari disp ersed. In 1804 it became the Imperial Palace, when Napoleon rest ored its lust re and fully +33 (0)1 30 83 75 21 refurnished it for his marriage with the Empress Marie-Louise. Th e palace was inhabited for the presse@ch ateauversailles.fr last time by King Louis-Philippe, who housed his entire family there and somewhat modifi ed the building to make it more comfortable. It was turned into a museum at the end of the 19th century All the images of the th exhibiton available at and fi lled with various motley object s, and it was only in the 20 century that the Grand Trianon presse.ch ateauversailles.fr regained its sp lendour and hist orical furnishings. Most recently, the birth of the French 5th Republic const ituted a turning point for this est ate, transforming it into a presidential residence dest ined to host foreign Heads of State. 5 Curator The exhibition Jérémie Benoît, Head A collection of plans, engravings and drawings reveal the modifi cations and ch anges made Curator at the Palace of Trianon to the Grand Trianon over the course of hist ory. Painted mast erpieces from Trianon, commissioned in 1688 by Louis XIV or in 1811 by Napoleon, and portraits of those who lived in the Palace recreate Layout the atmosp here of smaller rooms centred around furniture designed for intimacy, like for example the Emperor's pedest al surrounded by the ch airs from the Hall of Mirrors, or the ch air belonging to Jérôme Dumoux Princess Clémentine d’Orléans, the daughter of Louis-Philippe. Fascinating object s such as the recently rest ored ivory kiosk by Barrau and the vase of the Imperial Hunt by Swebach embellish the exhibition. Th ree desk ch airs very similar in form are sp read throughout the exhibition: two were used by Napoleon and the third belonged to General De Gaulle. Th ey are symbolic of the permanent presence of power in the palace of Trianon and forerun the second part of the exhibition that will be held in 2016, and will be devoted to the hist ory of the Grand Trianon from 1960 to today. During the 1960s and thanks to André Malraux, Minist er for Culture at the time, General de Gaulle decided to launch an extensive programme to renovate the palace in terms of its hist orical furnishings, aiming to transform it into a presidential residence for the needs of the French 5th Republic. Th e future exhibition will use various items and memories from the fi rst President of the 5th Republic to review the major role played by Trianon in international relations. From the 1960s to the 1990s the palace, which at the time host ed visitors to France in one wing, and housed the French President in Trianon-sous-Bois, was the location of grand and sumptuous receptions. Aft er many years, in 2014, the tradition was renewed when the President of the Republic François Hollande received the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, for a private dinner. With the support of: And the media partnership of: Part I The exhibition 8 Part I — Th e exhibition The Porcelain Trianon Trianon was named after a small medieval village which was bought by Louis XIV and knock ed down in 1688, in order to incorporate it into the est ate of Versailles to build gardens there. Quick ly enamoured of the location, where he liked to walk, the King asked the arch itect Louis Le Vau to build a small palace in honour of his mist ress the Marquise de Montesp an. The elegance of the building enraptured his contemporaries st raight away. Designed in the 'Chinese st yle', both the central pavilion and its four smaller, secondary pavilions were covered with blue and white faience and decorated with colourful sculptures, also in faience. Th is harmony of colour was also found in the interior decoration and carried on into the garden where the coping and bottoms of the fountains were covered with the same material. Th is fantast ical decoration quick ly earned the little palace the name 'Porcelain Trianon'. BUST OF LOUIS XIV 1638 - 1715 Designed by Antoine Coysevox The interior layout contained two chambers (1640-1720) called the Amours Room and the Diana Room Marble on either side of a lounge-vest ibule. Th e decoration was luxurious. Th e furniture was supplied by Bought by Louis-Philippe in 1844 Musée national des ch âteaux de the cabinet-maker Pierre Gole. It is very likely that a small ivory table with blue and white 'verny', Versailles et de Trianon conserved in the J.Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, is a vest ige of the palace. Th e silks in the bedrooms were supplied by Duc, Monsollier and Le Roux. Th e interior decoration and the roofs were the work of the sculptors Le Hongre, Mazeline, Legros, Houzeau and Caffi éri. However, the real charm of the estate lay in its gardens, thanks to whose lavishness the palace was quick ly nick named the 'Palace of Flora'. Placed under the management of Mich el III Le Bouteux, nephew of André Le Nôtre, the Porcelain Trianon's gardens formed without a doubt a whole kingdom of fl owers and scents. Th e Duke of Saint-Simon described how "nothing was so magnifi cent as those evenings at Trianon. Every day all the fl owerbeds ch anged their fl ower compartments, and I saw the King and all the court leaving because of the tuberose fl owers, whose scent fi lled the air and which were so numerous that nobody could remain in the gardens, in sp ite of their size and the terraces on the banks of the canal". Th e gardener went to great pains in order for the King to be able to enjoy a luxurious garden that was const antly in fl ower with rare, colourful and highly perfumed sp ecies. He did not hesitate to order fl owers from all over France (mainly from Provence) as well as abroad (such as tulips from Holland, jasmines from Spain). Arranged in colour coordination with the royal fl eur-de-lys, the fl owerbeds containing thousands of tuberoses, daff odils, anemones, cyclamens and hyacinths were a palette of blue, white and red: the colours of the King and the Virgin. Th e most impressive, however, were the orange trees planted in the ground near the canal which had to be covered with glass panes every winter. Th e garden was framed by two alleys of trellising, one of which led to the scents room, a small st ruct ure slightly separated from the rest , in which to enjoy the scents of the fl owers. Principally devoted to small celebrations, the Porcelain Trianon did not survive Madame de Montesp an, who was replaced by the Marquise de Maintenon. In 1687 Louis XIV, tired of his fantast ical arch itect ure, ordered it to be demolished and replaced by a more ambitious palace: the marble Trianon. 9 TrIANON Anonymous Coloured etching Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon This etching, dated circa 1670, shows the Porcelain Trianon built by Louis Le Vau, with the two courtyards in front of it.