Palace of Versailles (베르사유 궁전) Part 1

 

The Palace of Versailles is a must-see destination for travelers to Paris, France.
(Reservations are absolutely essential).

 

The Palace of Versailles (French: château de Versailles) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about 19 kilometers (12 mi) west of Paris, France.

The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, under the direction of the French Ministry of Culture, by the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles. About 15,000,000 people visit the palace, park, or gardens of Versailles every year, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.

Louis XIII built a simple hunting lodge on the site of the Palace of Versailles in 1623. With his death came Louis XIV who expanded the château into the beginnings of a palace that went through several changes and phases from 1661 to 1715. It was a favorite residence for both kings, and in 1682, Louis XIV moved the seat of his court and government to Versailles, making the palace the de facto capital of France. This state of affairs was continued by Kings Louis XV and Louis XVI, who primarily made interior alterations to the palace, but in 1789 the royal family and capital of France returned to Paris. For the rest of the French Revolution, the Palace of Versailles was largely abandoned and emptied of its contents, and the population of the surrounding city plummeted.

Napoleon, following his coronation as Emperor, used Versailles as a summer residence from 1810 to 1814, but did not restore it. Following the Bourbon Restoration, when the king was returned to the throne, he resided in Paris and it was not until the 1830s that meaningful repairs were made to the palace. A museum of French history was installed within it, replacing the apartments of the southern wing.

The palace and park were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979 for its importance as the center of power, art, and science in France during the 17th and 18th centuries. The French Ministry of Culture has placed the palace, its gardens, and some of its subsidiary structures on its list of culturally significant monuments.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles

Palace of Versailles - Wikipedia

I took the wrong train in Paris and ended up arriving at the Palace of Versailles long after my pre-booked time. As a result, I didn't get to see enough of the Palace of Versailles, and there were a lot of places I didn't get to see.

I would definitely recommend renting a voice-guided device when visiting this place.
This was my second visit to the palace and on my first visit I didn't rent an audio tour guide and didn't remember much of it. However, this time I downloaded the free app and went through the tour and I'm glad I did. However, using the app is limited, so I strongly recommend renting an audio guide device.

When you arrive at the Palace of Versailles, you will see a very long queue. There are two kinds of queues. One for visitors with reservations and one for visitors without reservations.

I will write the descriptions of the photos in the order I visited them.

I recommend that you visit the Palace of Versailles website before your visit.

 

https://en.chateauversailles.fr/

Palace of Versailles | Official website

 

 

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Louis XV's Daughters' Apartments

Louis XV's daughters' Apartments are symmetrical with the Dauphins and the Dauphine’s apartments. They were also turned into museum rooms by Louis-Philippe and were only recently restored to their original condition as princely apartments. Mesdames of France, as the six daughters of Louis XV were known, lived here from 1752. Only two of them, Adélaïde and Victoire, remained until the Revolution since neither princess married and both lived to an old age.

 

These apartments have a rather complex history due to the numerous changes in their use and layout over time. Louis XIV originally built a splendid apartment of Bath Chambers here, in the part which currently contains Madame Victoire’s ApartmentsVictoire of France (1733-1799) was one of the eight daughters of Louis XV and Marie Leszczyńska, known as “Mesdames”. They were composed of five rooms, including a large vestibule with columns (now divided into three smaller rooms: Madame AdélaïdeMarie-Adélaïde of France (1732-1800) was one of the eight daughters of Louis XV and Marie Leszczyńska, known as “Mesdames”’s private chamber, the library, and Madame Victoire’s Private Chamber), the Diana Room or Ionic Room (now Madame Victoire’s Chamber), the Octagon Room (now Madame Victoire’s Great Chamber), a bathroom (Second Antechamber), and a second bathroom (First Antechamber). The latter room originally contained a large bath made of Rouge de Rance marble, which is currently in the Orangery. 

 

Louis XV's daughters' Apartments have undergone lengthy renovation and refurbishment work, which began in the 1980s and was completed in 2013.

 

MADAME VICTOIRE'S FIRST ANTECHAMBER

 

Mesdames Victoire and Adélaïde each had their own apartment, and Victoire's begins here, with this first antechamber. It was the most accessible room since all those who wanted to see the princess could enter it. It was a sparsely decorated waiting room for visitors, but it was also used by servants. It contained rather simple furniture: straw chairs, a closet, and a campbed for a valet, hidden by a screen. Today, the walls present a collection of large portraits by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, a woman artist who was highly appreciated at court in the 18th century.

 

Portrait Of Louise-elisabeth De France 1727-59 Duchess Of Parma And Her Son Ferdinand 1751-1802

 

Portrait of Mme Adélaïde in 1787 by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard. It hangs in her sister’s apartment at Versailles.

 

 

 

MADAME VICTOIRE'S SECOND ANTECHAMBER

 

This room was once a bathroom whose floor and walls were covered with marble. At one end there was originally a day bed in an alcove framed by marble columns. The shutters on the windows, attractively decorated with dolphins and icicles, date from this period.

The room later became a chamber for the Count of Toulouse, then the Countess of Toulouse, Madame Adélaïde, and lastly Madame Victoire when she shared these apartments with her sisters Sophie and Louise. In 1767 the alcove was removed and the room was turned into a second antechamber.

The woodwork was most likely made for Madame Victoire. The paintings over the doors depict La Fontaine’s Fables and were painted by OudryJean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) a French painter and engraver. He is famous for his animal paintings… for the Dauphin. The commode by Riesener was originally in the Countess of Artois’s Nobles’ Room in the South Wing. The remaining furnishings include a Savonnerie screen view this screen in the collections database… in the style of Belin de Fontenay and an “au Chinois” cartel clock in vernis Martin.

 

 

 

Madame Victoire’s Great Chamber

 

This chamber was originally the Octagon Room in Louis XIV’s Bath Chambers, which were one of the Sun King’s most exceptional creations and were even more lavishly decorated with marble, sculptures, and paintings than the State Apartments. In 1763 the Mesdames had the outdated decor replaced, and the cornice, woodwork in the corners, and the attractive fireplace all date from this modification. The Blanchet harpsichordthe Blanchet family was one of the most reputed families of harpsichord makers… is a reference to Madame Victoire, who played this instrument well, and to the fact that Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was an Austrian composer. He played for the royal family at Versailles… dedicated his first six sonatas for the harpsichord to her.

 

 

 

MADAME VICTOIRE'S BEDCHAMBER

The Interior Chamber was the smallest room in the official apartments. It was also the only one that was truly private.  Nobody could enter without being expressly invited by the princess. 

 

Victoire and Adélaïide remained single all their lives. Of Louis XV's eight daughters, only the eldest, Elisabeth was married. In fact, since the majority of royal households in Europe were Protestant, Catholic princes were hard to come by and it was impossible to find high-ranking enough suitors for the other daughters of the king!

 

Mesdames were extremely proud of their title "Filles de France" Daughters of France. Like her sister Adélaïde, Victoire faced regular conflict with her father's mistresses whose presence they found hard to put up with at Versailles.

Adélaïde and Victoire led a life full of resignation. When they moved into these apartments, they had already lost four of their siblings. Even among the wealthiest, most protected classes, life expectancy was rarely above 30 years old.

 

But there was nonetheless what you could call a "family" atmosphere here, especially when the apartments were animated by the presence of the king, who had a great deal of affection for his daughters and paid them almost daily visits.

 

Near the window is a small painting of a moment in the daily lives of Mesdames: Adélaïde is sitting at her desk close to a portrait of Victoire The sisters' mutual affection seems to have been a huge comfort to them during their time at court.

 

Rather than large official paintings, many small works by less prestigious artists decorated the more intimate rooms at Versailles. For those who commissioned them, they were kept as a kind of souvenir - much like our family photographs - of a face or a favorite event or scene.

 

 

 

Madame Victoire’s Private Chamber

 

This small elegant room and the two following ones originally composed one single room, constituting the Doric Vestibule in the Bath Chambers. The vestibule was divided into three sections by two lines of Rouge de Rance marble columns, which still stand today behind the wood paneling. In 1724 partitions were added to build two separate antechambers for the Count and Countess of Toulouse, and the princess’s antechamber was in turn divided into two in 1767 to create this small room and the library next to it.

Antoine Rousseau was responsible for the very fine woodwork, part of which has been restored to its original position, as well as the fireplace in Sarrancolin marble.

The commode was delivered in 1768 by Foullet for Madame Victoire’s Apartments, and on top of it sits an alabaster bowlView this alabaster bowl in collections database… which also belonged to the princess. The writing table View this writing table in the collections database… was made by Levasseur for the Mesdames for the palace of Bellevue.

 

 

Madame Victoire’s Library

 

This room was originally part of the following apartment before it was adjoined to the present one. It has a mezzanine which contains an additional library.

The cupboards contain books bearing the Mesdames’ coat of arms on their cover, a small chest with a collection of geography maps that belonged to Madame ÉlisabethÉlisabeth of France (1764-1794) was Louis XVI’s sister and a close friend of Marie-Antoinette…, the Mesdames’ niece, items from a coffee set made of Sèvres porcelain which was decorated in the Chinese style and delivered in 1775 for Madame Adélaïde, and a silver-gilt table bellView this bell in the collections database… bearing the cipher and coat of arms of Madame Victoire.

The small slope desk was delivered for either Madame Sophie or Madame Louise in 1760 when they returned to Versailles from the Abbey of Fontevraud, and the chairs were part of the furniture belonging to Madame Victoire in the Palace of Bellevue.

 

 

 

INTERIOR CHAMBER OF MADAME ADELAIDE

We enter Madame Adélaïde's apartment in the opposite direction that we entered Madame Victoire's apartment because we're starting with the most intimate room: the Interior Chamber.

Like in most of the rooms, the wooden paneling which decorated the walls has largely disappeared. Only the frames of the overdoors are original.

 

Note the niche to the left and the thick walls surrounding it. They hide huge marble columns that decorate the vestibule of the King's Bath Chamber. At the time, the structure of the place was entirely different.
The vestibule, which was much larger, was divided up to form the three small rooms you're about to discover.
As they have always done, the columns still support the Grand Apartment, situated above.

 

The doors at the back of the rooms lead to a service area and staircase, as well as Mesdames' baths and wardrobes. This more intimate part of the apartments was essential to Mesdames' daily life.

 

On the wall, hang two portraits by Louis-Michel van Loo: one of the Comte d'Artois, the future Charles X, and his brother the Comte de Provence, the future Louis XVIl. They are the two younger brothers of the future Louis XVI. The events that marked French history in the late 18th/ early 19th centuries meant that three brothers, the grandsons of Louis XV, would be crowned King of France.

 

 

 

MADAME ADELAIDE'S BEDCHAMBER

Madame Adélaïde's Bedchamber is a very large, richly decorated room typical of these ceremonial rooms where Adélaïde received a limited society. Part of her official life was spent here.
Although this is not the original bed, it is from the same period as the one slept in by Madame Adélaïde. Like the entire room, it is covered in a fabric that evokes the summer decoration, that was originally present.
Back in Mesdames' day, there was a summer decoration and a winter decoration in the official apartments. Twice a year,  the fabrics were taken down and replaced: velvet for winter and light fabrics for summer.
This management meant the precious fabrics could be upkept and thus be better preserved.

Presently, it's the summer fabrics that have been replaced in the various rooms of the palace. They correspond to those that were in place when the Royal Family left Versailles for good due to the French Revolution.

 

On the right of the room, is a commode by royal cabinetmaker Jean-Henri Riesener. The three front panels in fact hide the real structure of the piece: two large drawers that you barely notice. This allowed Riesener to accentuate the central medallion in a floral inlay: work in which he excelled.
Particularly appreciated by Queen Marie-Antoinette, he is still considered the greatest cabinetmaker of the period.

 

On the commode, is a bronze candelabrum bought by Mesdames to light a card table at the Château de Bellevue. It's an opulent piece some features of which evoke draped fabric. The craftsmanship, with some parts matt and others shiny, makes it a genuine masterpiece of gilded bronze.

 

Note also the portraits of the two princesses, Adélaïde in red and Victoire in blue, by Johann Heinsius, a painter of German origin. Here, too, the representations seem to fit the personality of each sister: Adélaïde is curter and livelier, while Victoire is softer and calmer.

 

 

 

MADAME ADELAIDE'S LARGE CHAMBER

You're now entering Madame Adélaïde's Large Chamber.
Today the Large Chamber contains a large collection of seats from the Grand Salon of the Château de Saint-Cloud, a private royal residence It comprises chairs, armchairs, sofas, and wing-chairs (those with full armrests.
But originally, this room was mainly furnished with "ployants" - folding stools for ceremonial use - which were found in most of the official rooms but which have since disappeared.

 

At the back of the room is a chamber organ, which is much smaller than its church counterparts. At the time, organs like this were found in several of the palace's apartments. The quality and richness of the carvings testify to its royal ownership. Note the two greyhounds supporting the central shield at the top of the instrument. This dog, often associated with women, shows that the organ could have belonged to Adélaïde or Victoire.

 

The playing of music often gave Mesdames the opportunity to receive visits from renowned musicians, like the young Mozart who dedicated a volume of sonatas to Victoire. Goldoni and Beaumarchais, beyond their talents as playwrights, were music masters to Mesdames.

 

Note also the violin, reputed to have belonged to Madame Adélaïde, although we can't be 100% sure. It was made in the workshop of one of the finest Neapolitan stringed instrument makers: Gagliano.

 

 

 

HOQUETONS SALON

On entering this room, you'll notice that the paneling is very different from that which you have seen so far. These trompe-l'œeil paintings in gold grisaille form a warrior-like setting, complemented by statues in the niches, like the one of Minerva, the Roman goddess of warfare and strategy. The decoration reflects the function of the place as a guard room. It was called the "Hoquetons Salon" after the name of the tunic worn by archers from the Middle Ages.

 

Note also the gilded gate: it closes the passage to the majestic King's Bath Chamber.
This room is one of the few surviving examples of the décors created at the time of Louis XIV which remain on the ground floor of the palace.

 

This room was divided in two to form the antechambers of Madame Adélaïde.
Adélaïde and Victoire were forced to leave France in 1790, soon after the Revolution. They lived in Italy until they died, impoverished, ten years later. They were taken in by relatives and often had to move as various events shook Europe.

 

 

 

 

 

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APARTMENT OF THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARDS

Located on the first floor of the central north interior of the Château, between the marble courtyard and the apartments of the Ladies, the apartment of the Captain of the Guards holds a strategic place in the heart of the Château, surrounded by the guards" room, the king's staircase and below the private apartments of the king.

 

 

THE WARMING ROOM

The Captain of the Guard's Apartment is on the ground floor of the Palace and opens out onto the Marble Courtyard. It is also right beneath the King's Private Apartments, in order to guard access to them and ensure the King's safety. The Captain of the Guard's role was one of the greatest distinctions during the Ancien Régime.
This room evokes the youth of Archduchess Marie-Antoinette of Austria, the future Queen of France, and various members of her family. The princess was the 15th child of Francis l, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. She spent most of her childhood at Schönbrunn Palace in a playful setting, where her parents paid little heed to court etiquette.
After protracted negotiations which first started in May 1766, Louis XV officially asked for Marie-Antoinette's hand in marriage on behalf of his grandson, Dauphin de France, the future Louis XVI. The Empress of Austria was overjoyed since she was convinced that this alliance would ensure lasting peace with the Empire's arch-rival, France. Special attention was then given to the young Archduchess's education to prepare her for her future role as Queen. By order of the Empress, two French actors were hired to teach her singing and French pronunciation, as well as dancing and drawing.
On 2 April 1770, at the age of 14, Marie-Antoinette bade farewell to the Court of Vienna and her family. On this occasion, her mother handed her a long letter containing many instructions for her to read every month.

 

 

 

CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD'S GREAT CABINET

The pictures on display in this room present the family background to the Court of France at the time of the Dauphine Marie-Antoinette.
In the three years following the marriage of Marie-Antoinette to the Dauphin, the future King Louis XVI, his two brothers married two sisters from the House of Savoy. Their portraits here sit on either side of the first portrait of Marie-Antoinette as Queen, dressed in full court regalia.
Despite its many qualities as a ceremonial portrait, with a profusion of fleurs-de-lis, the crown on the cushion, and a bust of Louis XVI held by Minerva in the background, the painting was a disappointment when officially presented in the Hall of Mirrors, because of a lack of resemblance with the model. This portrait was however an important factor in the long construction of the image of Marie-Antoinette.
Upon her arrival in France, many painters endeavored to portray the features of the Archduchess from Austria, but few proved satisfactory.
The oval painting by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis on display here depicts Marie-Antoinette without softening any traits: bulging eyes, a prominent forehead, her thick under-lip characteristic of the House of Hapsburg, and her distinctive Habsburg jaw. Despite holding her head remarkably, her fresh complexion and powdery blonde hair, the Dauphine disliked the canvas and rejected it.
The other, smaller portraits and pictures depicting more intimate scenes were not considered to be official representations.
Commissioned to less prestigious artists, they were to be offered to close friends or family, to be hung in private apartments.

 

 

 

 

CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD'S CHAMBER

The former chamber of the Captain of the Guards is now used to depict the artistic entourage and friends of Marie-Antoinette, with a selection of portraits painted by the Queen's official portrait artist Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun.

 

Marie-Antoinette had a happy, carefree childhood with her parents. The imperial couple is shown here surrounded by their many children in a huge family portrait. Marie-Antoinette had only just been born and is shown in the cradle.
Soon after her marriage in May 1770, the young Marie-Antoinette sought to escape the very strict etiquette of the court of France. She gathered together a circle of sincere friends, like the Princess of Lamballe, represented here in an oval portrait painted by Vigée Le Brun. The artist has used a pictorial formula dear to her. Madame de Lamballe is wearing a simple, white muslin dress, known as a robe de Gaule, and a straw hat.
This portrait evokes the bucolic atmosphere of the Petit Trianon, and is similar to those of other ladies in the Queen's entourage, like that of the Duchess of Polignac exhibited in this room.
A natural environment was also chosen for the portrait of Marie-Antoinette's two children, displayed here, commissioned by the Queen herself. Their sumptuous costumes recall the court dress code and contrast with the bucolic backdrop. The royal couple's older daughter is wearing a straw hat and a striped taffeta dress, while her brother's sailor suit is cut from silk satin. The royal couple's first-born son, at the tender age of three, wears the blue ribbon of the Order of the Holy Spirit and the cross of the Order of Saint Louis. Madame Royale looks tenderly at her brother. This touch of sentiment echoes the nest full of nestling chicks on the models' laps, symbolic of the fragility of childhood.

 

 

 

 

THE QUEEN'S SERVICE ROOM

The theme for this room is domestic policy during the reign of Louis XVI.

 

This imposing portrait of the Queen is the work of Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun. The artist was first summoned to the Court of Versailles in 1778, to produce a realistic portrait of Marie-Antoinette for her mother, who wanted to see how her daughter was changing In accordance with the protocol for royal portraits, Vigée Le Brun placed the queen in an architectural décor like a stage set, with columns, a table and drapes. Wearing a white silk crinoline dress with a train, decorated with fleur-de-lis, she stands, holding a rose. The royal crown is set on a cushion also decorated with fleur-de-lis, alongside a bouquet of flowers.
She is depicted looking majestic, as befitting an official portrait.

 

Alongside the effigies of the Queen and Louis XVI, you can see those of several state ministers, painted by great portrait artists of the time.
There's the Count of Angiviller, the new king's mentor, who helped with his education from an early age, and who dictated matters of taste with the return of antique styles in France in the late 18th century.

 

There is also the portrait of the minister Bertin, a former friend of Louis XV, and Madame de Pompadour, Controller-General of Finances and Secretary of State, who contributed to progress in the economy and French scientific knowledge so dear to Louis XVI.
Another minister, the diplomat Charles Gravier, Count of Vergennes Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, helped to develop diplomatic relations with foreign nations, especially during the American War of Independence. The ensuing expenses increased the deficit of the royal Treasury, which the Minister for Finance, Necker, was unable to overcome despite some audacious reforms.

 

 

 

MARIE-ANTOINETTE'S PRIVATE APARTMENT

After the death of Madame Sophie, Louis XVI's aunt, vast areas were freed up on the ground floor of the Palace. Mindful of supervising the education of her children who were housed nearby, Marie-Antoinette ordered the fitting of a new apartment comprising all the rooms looking out onto the Marble Courtyard.

 

For the furnishings, the cabinetmaker Riesener was commissioned to build plain furniture with a mahogany veneer. The Queen's private Furniture Store-House commissioned chairs in a new style, known as Etruscan, from the carpenter Georges Jacob. He thus crafted the bergère and other armchairs, chairs, and painted wooden stools on show here.
The bed is similar to Marie-Antoinette's. It is adorned with Egyptian figures on the pedestals that the Queen was especially fond of. The wall décor disappeared in the 19th century during Louis-Philippe's when the Palace was transformed into a museum. The only feature to have survived is the red marble fireplace adorned with gilded bronze statues.

 

Marie-Antoinette's image is omnipresent in this chamber, with the large portrait painted by Vigée Le Brun, in which the Queen sits holding a Book of Hours. Her long blue velvet coat drapes over the white satin petticoat.
Her pouf hairstyle is dotted with ostrich feathers. The bouquet set on the table is a marker of the Queen's love of country life and her interest in flowers.

 

The Swedish painter Adolf Ulrik Wermüller depicts the Queen as a bust, elegant, in a realistic portrait, a far cry from the flattering art produced by Mme Vigée Le Brun.

 

One of the Queen's favorite pastimes was to go for long rides on horseback. The painter Louis-Auguste Brun painted her on horseback on several occasions, as in the picture of Marie-Antoinette out hunting, followed by a young page and other members of the royal family.

 

The portrait of the Duke of Normandy, future Louis XVII, depicted in a bucolic setting with his dog Moufflet, is a copy of the original work by Vigée Le Brun destroyed during the French Revolution.

 

 

 

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- Camera : Canon EOS-5D Mark IV
- Lens : Canon EF 16-35L / f2.8