Louis XV, passions of a king

In October 2022, the Palace of Versailles is for the first time devoting a major exhibition to king Louis XV to mark the three hundredth anniversary of the return of the Court to Versailles. Nearly 400 works contributed by collections from all around the world, many of which have never been seen in public or put in display in France before, cast a new light on the person and give the public a glimpse of the complex individual behind the monarch: his childhood, his entourage, his family and his many passions. The exhibition also reveals his great interest in the arts and involvement in the emergence of the Rococo style in the 18th century.

The exhibition

Born in 1710 in Versailles, Louis XV was the son of the Duke of Burgundy and Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, and Louis XIV’s great-grandson. He became heir to the throne or “Dauphin” on the death of his father in 1712 and king at the age of five in 1715 on the death of the Louis XIV. In 1722, shortly after the government and Court returned to Versailles, the young king was crowned in Reims. This ceremony marked the beginning of a long reign that would stretch over fifty years, a chapter in which France’s cultural and artistic model gained traction across Europe and the philosophy of the Enlightenment emerged.

This landmark exhibition seeks to reveal more about Louis XV whose reign and personality remain somewhat of a mystery: who was Louis XV and what was he like? What were his passions? What were the arts like in his day, what were his personal tastes and what did his day-to-day life look like?

Part one, the man in private, looks at the King’s childhood, his upbringing, entourage and family. It provides a greater understanding of how the character of the monarch known as the “Bien-Aimé” or beloved was first forged. Timid and melancholic by nature, Louis XV preferred the intimate atmosphere of his private apartments to public life and surrounded himself with a close circle of trusted men and women. A devout believer, he paradoxically maintained relationships throughout his life with a series of mistresses, some of whom – madame de Pompadour especially –, had a significant influence on the King.

Part two, dedicated to the passions of the king, focuses on his personal passions, first and foremost among which were the sciences, books, botany, hunting and also his taste for architecture. He funded epic maritime expeditions, turned the Trianon into a garden for botanical experiments, commissioned cutting-edge scientific devices and ordered geographers and astronomers to draw up maps of France.

The final part, entitled Louis XV and the arts of his time, highlights the style so closely linked to his reign by showing what the world he lived in actually looked like. Visitors are invited to discover genuine masterpieces of Rococo art and to gain an understanding of the foundations of this multi-faceted style which, released from all restrictions of symmetry and formal rules, revolutionised the artistic creation of the 18th century. The exhibition also reveals the key works which surrounded the King and those closest to him in their daily lives.

To mark the opening of this exhibition, the apartments of madame Du Barry, precious testimony to the intimate Versailles of Louis XV, have been re-opened to public after restoration work lasting eighteen months. Visitors can also discover the traces of Louis XV throughout a wide range of areas within the Palace.

Exhibition curators

Yves Carlier, general heritage curator, the Palaces of Versailles and Trianon national museum
Hélène Delalex, heritage curator, the Palaces of Versailles and Trianon national museum

Exhibition set design
Martin Michel

With the patronage of :

Photos

Exhibition poster

Louis XV, passions of a king

View of the exhibition

Louis XV astronomical clock, Claude-Siméon Passemant, Louis Dauthiau, Jacques and Philippe Caffieri, Paris, 1749-1753, Versailles, Château de Versailles

Pineapple in jar, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, 1733, Versailles, Château de Versailles

Commode from the bedchamber of Louis XV in Versailles Antoine-Robert Gaudreaus (circa 1682-1746) and Jacques Caffieri (1678-1755), 1739, with the kind permission of the Trustees of the Wallace Collection, London

Madame de Ventadour with king Louis XIV and his heirs Attributed to Nicolas de Largillière (1656-1746) and his studio, circa 1715, oil on canvas, London, with kind permission from the Trustees of the Wallace Collection

Chandelier with nine arms, bearing the crest of Madame de Pompadour Jacques Caffieri (1678-1755) and/or Philippe Caffieri (1714-1774), Paris, circa 1750-1755, Paris, bibliothèque Mazarine

Louis XV as a child aged five Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720), 1716, New York, The Frick Collection

Crown of Louis XV Augustin Duflos (circa 1700-1771) and Claude-Laurent Rondé (?-1723), 1722, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Objets d’Art Department

Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour frame, François-Hubert Drouais, The National Gallery, London

Portrait of Madame Du Barry François-Hubert Drouais (1727-1775), 1774, Versailles, Yvelines Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Decoration of vases representing the Four Elements Meissen manufacture, Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775) and Johann Friedrich Eberlein (1695-1749), 1742, Dresden

Decorative commode with porcelain panels Sèvres Royal Porcelain Manufacture, Martin Carlin (circa 1730-1785) and Charles-Nicolas Dodin (1734-1803), 1765 - 1772, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Objets d’Art department

Louis XV, Armand Vincent de Montpetit, (1713-1800), 1774, Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon Département des Peintures

Tripod microscope Claude-Siméon Passemant, engineer; attributed to Jacques and Philippe Caffieri, sculptors and bronze workers; created under the supervision of Michel-Ferdinand d’Albert d’Ailly, Duke of Chaulnes, Paris, circa 1750

Madame de Pompadour as Friendship, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714-1785), 1753, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Sculpture department

Amour trying one of his arrows Jacques Saly (1717-1776), 1753, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Sculpture department

The Elephant Hunt, Parrocel Charles (1688-1752), 1736, Amiens, musée de Picardie

The Ostrich Hunt, Vanloo Catie (dit), Vanloo Charles André (1705-1765), 1738, Amiens, musée de Picardie

The Lion Hunt, Troy Jean-François de (1679- 1752), 1735, Amiens, musée de Picardie

Celestial moving globe from the King’s Physics and Optics rooms in the Château de la Muette, Claude-Siméon Passemant, Joseph-Léonard Roque, Philippe Caffieri, Guillaume de La Haye, 1759, Paris, library of the Paris Observatory

Terrestrial moving globe from the King’s Physics and Optics rooms in the Château de la Muette, Claude-Siméon Passemant, Joseph-Léonard Roque, Philippe Caffieri, Guillaume de La Haye, 1759, Paris, library of the Paris Observatory

Copy after the Villa Mattei anatomical study: horse standing, head seen from the front Edme Bouchardon (1698-1762), Paris, 1748-1752, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Graphical Arts department

Right hand of the equestrian statue of Louis XV, Edme Bouchardon (1698-1762), 1758, Paris, musée Carnavalet – History of Paris, collection of the musée du Louvre

Marie-Adélaïde de France, known as Madame Adélaïde, daughter of Louis XV and Marie Leszczyńska Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766), circa 1750, Versailles, Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon

Claude Aubriet, Aloe Africana, caulescens, glauco folio caulem amplectente dorso spinoso, Commel. Prael. Bot. Aloe perfoliata Linné Cap., 1707-1742, portefeuille 8, folio 45