For its 400 years, the Palace of Versailles is getting… a museum. Or more precisely a facelift of its History Gallery. The visitor discovers the history of the castle since its birth. But what exactly does the birth of a castle like Versailles mean? “We kept the year 1963 but there is no precise exact date,” confesses Laurent Salomé, director of the museum and curator of the gallery of the History of the Château. A castle is not like a baby being born. We took the date of the start of the work, found in a letter from Louis 13. But we could also have taken the date of the first night that the king spent at the castle, in the spring of 1624.”
But can we already talk about a castle? Everyone knows the story. It was in reality Louis 14 who wanted to create a gigantic royal residence, in Versailles, on the site of a “hunting lodge” of his grandfather Louis 13. “The term “hunting lodge” is a little weak. Under Louis 13, it was still already a castle, a fairly imposing building. A visitor from our time would call it a castle, that’s for sure. » Furthermore, the date of birth of the Palace of Versailles could have been that of the launch of the expansion work of Louis 14th if he had not taken care to preserve almost the entirety of the previous castle.
A castle, castles
“The current courtyard, and the central part, were already there, identical in their form, under Louis 13,” explains Laurent Salomé. The current marble courtyard is reminiscent of the courtyard of the first castle… Louis 14 made Versailles his royal residence, and changed its dimensions, but the heart of the castle was already there when he launched the work. »
All its information is given in the History Gallery of the Palace of Versailles, renovated and reopened on the occasion of Heritage Days and the 400 years of the castle. In addition to the architecture, another historical dimension of the castle is highlighted: the arts. The Palace of Versailles has of course changed its function throughout its history, but one of its (almost) 400-year-old missions has been the promotion of the arts.
A la carte catering
“Louis 14 summoned all kinds of artists to beautify and bring Versailles to life. Nowadays, it is mainly about live entertainment because we would not dare to do like the royal owners who destroyed entire parts to rebuild them up to date. » One of the only lasting artistic and contemporary interventions remains the grove created by Jean-Michel Othoniel. A very nice exception which confirms the rule: restoration, yes, transformation, no.
“Restoration, in the case of a castle that is 400 years old, does not come naturally,” explains Laurent Salomé. Which state, from which era, should we favor? » One of the doctrines was to restore it to the state of 1789, the last known state of the Ancien Régime. But more recently, parts of the castle have been restored according to the decorations of Louis 14, or of the Restoration precisely. “We also rediscovered painted beams dating from the Louis 13th state,” explains Laurent Salomé. The history of the castle is very complex and the castle that we visit today has never existed in its state, at any time. » This period patchwork, with subtleties invisible to the vast majority of visitors, is the legacy of 400 years of eventful history.
A vision of the cosmos
“For example, there is a bed from the time of Louis Philippe, who had carried out radical transformations and rearrangements which have completely disappeared today. He had made this bed in the Louis 14 style. At least what we thought was the Louis 14 style at the time. Later, we removed this bed which we replaced with a more historically credible copy of a bed from the Louis 14 period. And Louis Philippe’s bed is now in the Mercure living room. »
Having trouble keeping up? It’s normal. But with all its historical and stylistic upheavals, is the Palace of Versailles still the Palace of Versailles? If he was born in 1623, hasn’t he been dead a long time? “Not at all,” says Laurent Salomé. Beyond the role of national prestige that it has played since Louis 14 until today, I believe that this castle, in its design, in particular its gardens, its layout, its plan, the wanderings it allows, the symbolic gestures which are scattered everywhere, offer a vision of the world. The Palace of Versailles offers a cosmogony which has always fascinated and still fascinates. » We’ll talk about it again in 400 years.