To coincide with the equestrian events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, to be hosted on the Versailles estate, the Château is holding a major exhibition dedicated to horses and equestrian civilisation in Europe – the first exhibition on this theme to be presented on such a scale.
From 2 July to 3 November 2024 Majestic Horses at the Heart of a Civilisation
© Palace of Versailles, Dist. RMN / © Christophe Fouin
The exhibition
From 2 July to 3 November 2024, the Palace of Versailles will be holding an exhibition entitled “Majestic Horses at the Heart of a Civilisation”. Nearly 300 works will highlight the roles and uses of horses in civil and military society, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, up to the eve of the First World War, which marked the end of horse-drawn civilisation and the relegation of horses to the realm of leisure.
This first exhibition dedicated to horses on such a scale will be divided into thirteen sections on a tour leading visitors through several emblematic areas of the Palace: the Africa Rooms, the King's State Apartment, the Hall of Mirrors, the War and Peace Rooms, Madame Maintenon's Apartment and the Dauphine's Apartment.
Of horses and kings
The first part of the exhibition highlights the links between horses and European sovereigns and emperors. In a gallery of princes' favourite horses, the exhibition presents Charles XI of Sweden's collection of horse portraits and more intimate portraits such as those of Queen Victoria's Arabian horses.
Karl Girardet, Queen Victoria's Visit to the Queen's Hamlet at Petit Trianon, 21 August 1855 © Palace of Versailles, Dist. RMN / © Christophe Fouin
Royal stables: palaces for horses
The beauty and sheer scale of the aristocratic and royal stables built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries bear witness to the importance attached to horses in representations of power under the Ancien Régime. The Royal Stables at Versailles are also a place for teaching and passing on knowledge and skills. It was at the Royal Arena in Versailles that the art of traditional French horsemanship reached its pinnacle of perfection.
The horse, king of war
One of the most important aspects of the companionship between man and horse is their shared adventure in war, and often in death. The exhibition explores the motif of the cavalry clash, based on Leonardo da Vinci's archetype, with horses and riders merging to form a furious and spectacular mass.
The exhibition provides an insight into another great slaughter of modern warfare, that of horses. The many corpses littering the foreground of the paintings enable the artists to highlight the violence of the confrontation and its cost.
Festive horses: the equestrian spectacular
Equestrian festivals played a key role in the life of European courts. The exhibition presents some rare examples of these ephemeral festive arts: ceremonial lances, fancy shields and quivers, studies of caparisons, large gouaches of Swedish carousels, drawings and illuminated manuscripts.
Horses and luxury: treasures from the stables
Following on from the festive arts, the exhibition reveals a set of prodigiously luxurious horse ornaments, crafted in the form of objets d'art. A complete set of equestrian parade armour takes pride of place in the Hercules Room.
Horses and science
The exhibition also focuses on the relationship between art and science in anatomical studies of horses. The iconic early drawings by Andrea del Verrochio and Leonardo da Vinci are exhibited together here for the first time, in a collaboration between New York's Metropolitan Museum and the English Royal Collections.
Horses as models
Horses have always been a favourite subject and source of inspiration for artists. The exhibition features a number of masterpieces of this genre, and examines the unbridled imaginings elicited by the horse's body in late-nineteenth-century art.
Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), Head of a White Horse, circa 1800-1825, oil on canvas. © Paris, Musée du Louvre
From one civilisation to another
The exhibition closes with an evocation of the end of equestrian civilisation, with the advent of the railway and automobile industries transforming a thousand-year-old way of life in matter of decades.
Curators :
Laurent Salomé, Director of the Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon
Hélène Delalex, Heritage Curator at the Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon
patron
Thanks to the patronage of the CMA CGM Group.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
The exhibition will be held during the high season. Please check the access times for the Palace.
- Times: 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday. The last access is at 6 p.m.
- Book a “Palace” ticket or a “Passport” ticket to enter the exhibition (even if you have a free ticket).
Passport
This ticket gives access to the whole estate of Versailles.
32 €
Read more
This ticket gives access to the whole estate of Versailles (Palace, Estate of Trianon and the gardens). Book online and enter to the Palace in the half hour following the chosen time.
It includes :
- the Palace with timed entry;
- the estate of Trianon;
- the temporary exhibitions;
- the Gallery of Coaches (every weekend);
- the Gardens (from March 29, single admission during Musical Gardens and Musical Fountains Shows);
- the Park.
To make the most of the Estate of Versailles, the Gardens are open from 8am, the Estate of Trianon from 12pm, the Gallery of Coaches from 12.30pm.
Tickets can be purchased on site subject to availability.
High season rate
32 €
Buy
- Hearing impaired
- Motor deficiencies
- Visual impairment
- Mental disabilities
Palace ticket
This ticket gives you access to the Palace.
21 €
Read more
This ticket guarantees access to the palace of Versailles. Book online and enter to the Palace in the half hour following the chosen time.
- the Palace with timed entry;
- the temporary exhibitions in the Palace
- the Gallery of Coaches (every weekend);
- the Park. To access the Gardens, you need a Passport ticket or Garden ticket
In order for you to make the most of the Estate of Versailles, the Gardens are open from 8am, the Estate of Trianon from 12pm., the Gallery of Coaches from 12.30pm.
The Passport guarantees access to the Estate of Versailles (Palace, Estate of Trianon and their Gardens).
Tickets can also be purchased on site subject to availability.
Rates
21 €
Buy
- Hearing impaired
- Motor deficiencies
- Visual impairment
- Mental disabilities
mobile App
An audio tour of the exhibition is available in French and English on the mobile application.
We advise you to download the free application before you arrive, then launch it to load the exhibition tour in advance.
