From 7th May to 13th July 2025 Biennale d’architecture et de paysage

The Biennale d’architecture et de paysage is an ideal opportunity to discover one of the most magnificent stores of sculptures from the Palace of Versailles and the Louvre Museum in the Sculptures and Mouldings Gallery, a spectacular mineral space designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, First Architect to Louis XIV.

The Biennale

The 3^rd edition of the BAP! Biennale d'architecture et de paysage takes place in Versailles, from Tuesday May 7 to Sunday July 13, 2025. The theme is “The Living City”.

The program, built around five main exhibitions, takes place in the emblematic sites of the city of Versailles, the Potager du Roi, the Small Stables (home to two national architecture and landscape schools), the Ancienne Poste, the Musée Lambinet and the Espace Richaud. A large temporary pavilion will also be built on one of the esplanades of the Avenue de Paris, close to the Palace, with the support of the Metropole du Grand Paris.

Each of the teams involved in this third edition of the BAP has been invited to continue the reflection initiated during the 2019 and 2022 editions, this time focusing more specifically on new ways of living and how to live in cities in the context of global warming.

Discover the BAP! website

Exceptional opening

For this 3^rd edition of the BAP!, the Sculptures and Mouldings Gallery located in the Small Stables, is open Tuesday to Sunday from May 7 to July 13 and exceptionally on Monday June 9, from 12:30pm to 6:30pm (last admission 5:45 pm).

The gallery houses two exceptional collections: a huge series of mouldings ranging from the 17^th to the 20^th century from the mouldings library of the Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities of the Louvre Museum, as well as sixty marble sculptures from the Gardens of Versailles, 17^th century masterpieces housed here to protect them from the elements.

Sometimes rejected and sometimes imitated, ancient art has never failed to make a lasting impression on both artists and their patrons. In the wake of the Renaissance, imbued as it was with humanism, Antiquity saw something of a revival in the 17^th century, especially as a result of the impetus from Louis XIV (1638-1715).

As much for his personal pleasure as for political goals, the King encouraged the flourishing of the arts throughout the kingdom. The best sculptors were sent to Rome to perfect their art, and on their return reproduced the greatest Italian collections. These sculptures contributed to the glorification of the King, making Versailles the new Rome.

Discover the history and role of these mouldings and sculptures and their influence on architects, sculptors and even musicians.

digital resources

360° virtual tour

The Small Stable houses one of the finest repositories of sculptures in the Palace of Versailles and the Louvre Museum. Under the late 17th-century vaults, copies of ancient Greek and Roman statues stand alongside original sculptures from the gardens of the Palace.

See the tour in a new window

Audio tour

Find the audio tour dedicated to the Sculptures and Mouldings Gallery on the official application of the Palace of Versailles. 
Free to download.