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The Met presents ‘Visitors to Versailles (1682–1789)’

Charles-Gabriel Sauvage - Louis XVI and Benjamin Franklin

Charles-Gabriel Sauvage, called Lemire père (1741–1827). Figure of Louis XVI and Benjamin Franklin, 1780–85. Porcelain, 12 3/4 x 9 1/2 x 6 in. (32.4 x 24.1 x 15.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883 (83.2.260)

The Met presents ‘Visitors to Versailles (1682–1789)’ The exhibition ‘Visitors to Versailles (1682–1789)’ tracks the many travelers that visited the palace of Versailles, including ambassadors, artists, philosophers, and scientists. Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 16–July 29, 2018.]]>

Source: : Metropolitan Museum of Art

The palace of Versailles has attracted travelers since it was transformed under the direction of the Sun King, Louis XIV (1638–1715), from a simple hunting lodge into one of the most magnificent public courts of Europe. French and foreign travelers, royalty, dignitaries and ambassadors, artists, musicians, writers and philosophers, scientists, grand tourists and day-trippers alike, all flocked to the majestic royal palace surrounded by its extensive formal gardens. The exhibition tracks these many travelers from 1682, when Louis XIV moved his court to Versailles, up to 1789, when Louis XVI (1774–1792) and the royal family were forced to leave the palace and return to Paris.

Versailles was always a truly international setting. Countless visitors described their experiences and observations in correspondence and journals. Court diaries, gazettes, and literary journals offer detailed reports on specific events and entertainments as well as on ambassadorial receptions that were also documented in paintings and engravings.

Through paintings and portraits, furniture, tapestries, carpets, costumes and uniforms, porcelain, gold boxes, sculpture, arms and armor, engravings, and guidebooks, the exhibition illustrates what the visitors encountered at court, what kind of welcome and access to the palace they received, and, most importantly, what they saw and what impressions, gifts, and souvenirs they took home with them.

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The Met presents ‘Visitors to Versailles (1682–1789)’