Versailles at Night

Recently, several photos were posted on the Versailles Facebook page. They were picturing the magnificent castle at night, with a very special lightning.

The clock, photo : EPV / Thomas Garnier

The Entrance, photo by : EPV / Thomas Garnier

The facade of the palace under the light. photo: EPV / Thomas Garnier

Hall of mirrors : EPV / Thomas Garnier

Closing Days

One of the best privileges I got when working at the Palace, was to be allowed in on mondays, the closing day.

If you follow the Palace on social medias (Twitter and Facebook), on monday, you can see pictures of the empty rooms and corridors. 

Empty Queen's Bedchamber (photo by me)

Empty Hall Of Mirrors (photo by me)

You may think that, since its closed, there is nothing inside, but you're wrong. There are less people than any other day, but still. There are people cleaning statues, floors, chandeliers. On monday, the Palace also offers visits for VIPs (for example, Leonardo Di Caprio came in June, or Kim & Kanye in May 2014). While wandering through the empty corridors, you can encounter curators watching paintings and art to see if there's any problems with it. Finally, monday is usually a shootingday for television documentaries or movies. For example, on my last monday at Versailles, I met three BBC journalists making a film about Louis XIV.

Salon de l'Oeil-De-Boeuf (photo by me)

One monday, we also realised a photoshoot of some furniture. The pictures we take are for the Réunion des Musées Nationaux (National Museums Reunion) and will be used for posters, postcards, and posted on the RMN's website .

photo by me

Salon de la Paix (photo by me)

Marie Antoinette's portraits

As many people around the world, I am fascinated with the life of Marie-Antoinette, the most famous queen of France (but not the last one as many people think, but I'll explain another time).


She was the daughter of the Empress of Austria. In 1770, at the age of 14, she was married to the French Dauphin (heir to the throne), Louis Auguste. Their marriage was made to bring peace between France and Austria, which had been enemies for a long time.

Marie Antoinette by Duplessis (unfinished). Photo RMN

Since the marriage was planned, at the end of the 1760's, Marie Antoinette had been portrayed many times, so that some of the paintings could be sent to the French court, where the King and Louis Auguste could see her face. The Dauphine was paying attention to her appearance. In all her portraits, she saw herself as unpretty. The Palace of Versailles even keep some sketches for portraits of Marie-Antoinette which are not completely finished, because she thought it was too ugly.







All changed when she met Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun. Women painters were rare at court, but Marie Antointette invited her, because she was very pleased with her work.The most famous portrait of the queen was by Mrs. Vigée-Le Brun, in 1783. It is called 'Marie Antoinette à la rose' (Marie Antoinette with a rose). It is a painting that everyone knows today, and one of the most asked in Versailles. People want to see this portrait, because it is the best ever made of the queen. It also has an interesting history.

Sclossmuseum, Darmstadt, Germany (photo RMN)

When Vigée first painted it, she presented it at the Salon. The Salon, was an exhibition of the best French painters of the year. The first painting she presented was a portrait of the queen, dressed in a very simple white dress. This was considered as an offence to monarchy, because a queen could not be shown dressed that simple ! Even though this painting received such a scandal, the 'chemise de la Reine' (Queen's shirt), became quickly the new fashionable dress among noble women.

To keep the painting displayed in the Salon, Vigée-Lebrun had to paint it over. The result is one of the most famous portrait of all art history, which is now exhibited in the first floor antichamber Trianon, in Versailles.

Photo RMN