Welcome to the Palace of Versailles Curiosity Did you know that the Bastille was used to arrest people who were opposed to the absolutist government of King Louis XIV?
Louis XIV is depicted aged about 15 and dressed in a military parade uniform. The artist uses a theatrical effect, opening a curtain on the scene. He also uses allegory – Fame who crowns him with laurel and the putto handing him the olive branch. But he is also careful to show topographical realism below in the detailed description of the place Dauphine and the place du Pont-Neuf in Paris.
The chamber is the main room of the apartment, the one where the Queen spent most of her time. She slept here, often joined by the King. In the morning, she received here during and after her Toilette, which constituted a Court event as regulated by etiquette as the Lever du Roi [Rising of the King]. It was here, too, that births took place in public: nineteen "Children of France" were born here. The décor retains the memory of the three queens who occupied the room: the compartmentalisation of the ceiling dates back to Queen Marie-Thérèse, but the monochrome paintings by Boucher were produced for Marie Leszczinska, as were the wood panels. All these elements were preserved in the time of MarieAntoinette for whom only the furniture and the fireplace were supplied new. Giovanna , Letícia Duarte, Marianna, Raquel, Sabrina
Welcome to the Palace of Versailles Curiosity Did you know that any individual who was suspected of plotting against the king, even the nobility, was taken to the Bastille?
This portrait shows the king dominating the attributes of the arts (music, painting, drawing and the globe) and for all eternity, as is suggested by the immutable nature of his effigy in the medallion.
In French monarchy, the king was chosen by God and through his coronation became his “lieutenant� on earth. The paintings and sculptures in the chapel at Versailles evoke that idea in a series which starts at the nave and ends at the gallery where the king would sit.
Erik, Leonardo , Lucas EmĂlio, Lucas Gabriel, Michael
Welcome to the Palace of Versailles Curiosity Did you know Louis XIV was called the Sun King because everything spinned around him?
In the foreground, the king, dressed in his finery, savours the victory secured by the siege of Lille, which he ordered against the advice of his generals. The painter suggests the immediacy of the scene that he has caught live. This is a sketch intended for one of the tapestries of the series called the History of the King.
After the defeat of Sedan which provoked the fall of the Second Empire of Napoléon III, the National Assembly was elected in 1871 and met in Bordeaux. Composed mostly of monarchists, it wished to set up its parliament close to the capital but not in it, as the bloody memory of the recent Commune uprising was still too vivid. After hesitating between Orléans and Fontainebleau, the Assembly finally chose Versailles for its deliberations, in the Royal Opera built by Gabriel. But this room turned out to be too impractical to receive 722 elected representatives. Dictated by necessity, the National Assembly became the Chamber of Deputies (MPs) and sought a large hemicycle for its deliberations, while the Senate moved definitively into Gabriel ’s opera. Deivid, Guilherme, Kauê, Luiz, Victor
Welcome to the Palace of Versailles Curiosity Did you know that Bastille was the main repressor symbol of Luis XIV?
Commissioned in 1667 by the members of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, it shows the monarch in all his splendour holding Charlemagne’s sceptre, protecting the arts of sculpture, painting, architecture and astronomy.
In the 19th century, when the republican regime was still hesitant – France was not yet safe from an attempt to restore the monarchy – Versailles was chosen to host the new National Assembly elected in 1871. The young Republic took over this seat of power filled with décor glorifying the Sun King.
Carlos, Gabriela, Giovanna, Julio Cesar, Leonardo
Welcome to the Palace of Versailles Curiosity Did you know that Louis XIV wanted his rivals around, so he knew what they were doing, so they could build the Palace of Versailles?
Louis XIV is depicted aged about 15 and dressed in a military parade uniform. The artist uses a theatrical effect, opening a curtain on the scene. He also uses allegory – Fame who crowns him with laurel and the putto handing him the olive branch. But he is also careful to show topographical realism below in the detailed description of the place Dauphine and the place du Pont-Neuf in Paris.
The queen had several small rooms for her own private use and for her lady’s maids. In the 17th century, the number of the queen’s chambers increased. Marie Leszczinska took over the rooms of the main body of the building separating the Queen’s courtyard from the Dauphin’s courtyard; she would withdraw to those rooms to read, paint, meditate or entertain her closest visitors. Marie-Antoinette added mezzanines and levels, making herself a genuine little apartment.
João Castro, João Oliveira, Leonardo, Maria Luísa , Tainá
Welcome to the Palace of Versailles Curiosity In the paintings of Louis XIV, we can see that the red color predominates in the picture showing their economic power. The sword that usually appears reflects the military force, and finally the political power revolves around the crown and the scepter.
Louis XIV rides up the mountain of virtue on a rearing horse, recalling the figure of Hercules. Louis XIV disliked the sculpture and had transferred to the parterres of the Orangerie. It was then modified by François Girardon to represent the legendary Roman hero Marcus Curtius.
The first salon of the King’s Grand Apartment, the Hercules salon was actually the last to be created, at the end of Louis XIV’s reign. From 1682 onwards, the chapel of the palace occupied its location over two floors and served until 1710, when it was replaced by the present chapel. To decorate this new salon, in 1712 the monumental painting by Veronese, The Meal at the House of Simon, painted for the refectory of the Servite Convent in Venice in 1570, was placed here. Amanda, Larissa, Letícia, Mônica, Renata