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The collections

Once a palace, now a museum

Containing over 60,000 works, the collections of the Palace of Versailles span a very broad period. The collections reflect the dual identity of the Palace, as both a palace occupied by the kings of France and the royal court, and later a museum “dedicated to the glories of France,” inaugurated by Louis-Philippe in 1837.

The collections of the museum founded by Louis-Philippe, and still active today, offer a chronological overview of the history of France from the Middle Ages up to the late 19th century. The museum was intended to provide both historical and iconographic insight into the great figures and events which shaped the history of France, and the collections primarily comprise sculptures and paintings dating from the 16th through to the 19th centuries. They include originals and copies, specially-commissioned pieces, and regular purchases.

When founding his museum, Louis-Philippe refrained from moving the statues dotted around the palace gardens, which remain as they were in Versailles’ royal heyday. On the other hand, he had no qualms about rearranging many of the palace’s historic apartments, particularly in the north and south wings. Since the late nineteenth century, a renewed interest in the iconic home of the kings of France has inspired efforts to restore the palace and refurnish the apartments of the central wing and the Petit Trianon to recreate their pre-revolutionary appearance. Meanwhile, in the Grand Trianon priority is afforded to the First Empire period.

Discover our selection

http://collections.chateauversailles.fr/?permid=permobj_3ce3d19b-5385-4d34-ad03-f9e57cea0ef4

1781 - 1783 — Jean-François Lorta

Sculpture de jeune fille assise regardant un couple de colombes
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1838 — Antoinette Asselineau

Intérieur du théâtre de la Reine au Petit Trianon
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Portrait de Louise-Marie de France, dite Madame Louise

1748 — Jean-Marc Nattier

Portrait de Louise-Marie de France, dite Madame Louise
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http://collections.chateauversailles.fr/?permid=permobj_65987fd6-6ece-4ee0-ab87-71741983f27a

1769 — Louis Péridiez

Encoignure de la chambre à coucher de Madame Victoire
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Louise-Elisabeth de France, duchesse de Parme et Henriette de France

vers 1737 — Pierre Gobert

Louise-Elisabeth de France, duchesse de Parme et Henriette de France
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Clavecin de l'appartement de Victoire

1746 — Fraçois-Etienne Blanchet

Clavecin de l'appartement de Victoire
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1661 — Charles Le Brun

Les reines de Perse aux pieds d'Alexandre
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ap. 1667 — Simon Renard de Saint-André

Louis XIV visite la Manufacture [...]
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1770 — Martin Carlin

Coffre à bijoux de Marie-Antoinette
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1791-1792 — Claude-Louis Châtelet

Illumination du Belvédère du Petit Trianon, 1781
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— Edmé Bouchardon

Statuette en bronze de Louis XV
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1787 — Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun

Marie-Antoinette, reine de France, et ses enfants
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1738 — Antoine-Robert Gaudreaus

Médailler de Louis XV
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1846 — Horace Vernet

Le roi Louis-Philippe entouré de ses cinq fils [...]
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1785 — Jean-Baptiste Boulard

Chaise en hêtre sculpté et doré
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1777 — Michel-Barthélémy Ollivier

Souper du prince
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vers 1780 — Manufacture de Sèvres

Pendule du Salon des Jeux
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1855 — Karl Girardet

Visite de la reine Victoria au hameau de la Reine [...]
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1791 — Manufacture de Sèvres

Service mythologique de Louis XVI
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1788 — Jean-Démosthène Dugourc

Console
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1760 - 1769 — Jean-François Oeben

Secrétaire à cylindre
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1783 — Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun

Marie-Antoinette, reine de France
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Pendule de l'appartement de Madame Royale

1778 — Jean-Antoine Lépine

Pendule de l'appartement de Madame Royale
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1781 — Manufacture de Sèvres

Service "à perles et barbeaux" de Marie-Antoinette
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1788 — Adélaïde Labille-Guiard

Portrait de Louise-Elisabeth de France, duchesse de Parme
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1785-1788 — Jean-Henri Riesener

Bureau du Hameau de Trianon
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