THELADIES

OFTRIANON

Game

booklet

FO

RC

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ILDREN

FROM 3 JULY TO 14 OCTOBER 2012

www.chateauversailles.fr

Depicted here with her hand over her heart as a sign of herreligious faith, Madame de Maintenon had an extraordinarydestiny: the granddaughter of the poet Agrippa d’Aubigné,she was born in prison (where her father, a Protestant, was held because of his religion), and lived her childhoodin poverty. At fourteen she married the poet Paul Scarron,then old and paralysed. She very quickly gained recognitionfor her intelligence and her culture. When her husband diedshe was chosen by the beautiful Madame de Montespan,the mistress of Louis XIV, to be the governess of the king’schildren… But soon the king fell in love with her, made her a Marquise, and ended up by marrying her in secret.

The Grand Trianon, which houses this exhibition, was built in 1687 by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart, on the instructions of Louis XIV. This “small palace of pinkmarble and porphyry” – as its builder described it, was a special place for the king. He invited here only the people closest to him: his family, his mistresses and his friends.

Unlike the Palace of Versailles, where the court etiquette and ceremonial were rigidly applied, the GrandTrianon was a place of relaxation and entertainment, with a theatre auditorium and gardens filled withdeliciously scented flowers. It was to house successively, over three centuries, princesses, duchesses, queens and empresses... Take advantage of your visit to also explore the Petit Trianon!

The ladies of TrianonThe exhibition presents forty portraits of women. Here are four who, each in her own way, left a mark on history (or on us!). If you can, write the name of the room where they are.

It would be difficult not to include Marie-Antoinettein this exhibition, even though she preferred the Petit Trianon to the Grand Trianon. She isportrayed here aged fourteen in all the freshness of her adolescence, when she had just arrived inthe court of Versailles: she was not yet queen ofFrance, but the Dauphine. “Her eyes were gentleand her smile was nice,” wrote her chambermaid.But, unfortunately, she could not get used to theetiquette of Versailles, and she was uncomfortablewith the title of queen. She spent a lot of money,lived a life that was described as frivolous, andbecame the target of rumours and caricatures – at a time when France was going through a serious crisis. She was in the grotto near thePetit Trianon when the Revolution broke out inOctober 1789. She was decapitated four yearslater, on 16 October 1793. Of the four children she had with Louis XVI, only her elder daughterMadame Royale survived.

The story of Josephine and the Grand Trianon is a sadone… because she never lived here. The widow ofAlexandre de Beauharnais, Josephine marriedNapoleon Bonaparte in 1796. In 1804, when Napoleonhad himself crowned Emperor, she became Empress.The couple talked about moving into Trianon in 1805,but the move never happened. At the end of 1809,Josephine had some of her furniture transported toTrianon, believing that the refurbishment work beingdone here was for her. But it was not: in fact,Napoleon intended to accommodate here the womanwho was to be his new wife, Marie-Louise (he still hadno heir and hoped to have one with another woman).On 15 December 1809, Napoleon told the tearfulJosephine of his decision to divorce her.

Trianon

The Princesse Palatine is not today the most famousof the ladies of Trianon (where she really lived). Butshe appears here for her outspokenness: she was the wife of the brother of Louis XIV, whom she secretlyloved. So her marriage was not a happy one – whichmay explain why she left Memoirs full of venomouscomments on the other ladies of the court: in themshe calls Madame de Maintenon an “ugly old bag”and describes queen Marie-Thérèse as a virtuouswoman but “totally stupid”.

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Marie-Antoinette1755-1793

Josephine Bonaparte

1763-1814

Madame de Maintenon

1638-1719

Princesse Palatine1652-1722

Link each of the paintings to the description of the costumethat corresponds to it !

The Empire fashion

Hunting dress

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(here represented by Madame Mère,the mother of Napoleon). After theRevolution, women adopted a veryrecognisable fashion: long straightlow-necked dresses with a belt justbelow the breasts – thus imitating the cut of certain dresses in Antiquity.The hairstyle was also typical: rolled in a coil and with small curls on the forehead and the temples.

This spectacular widow’s costume was worn exclusively by duchesses, in the time of Louis XIV: it consisted of ablack velvet dress lined with ermine, with a long whiteholland linen veil. Here we see the dowager Duchesse de Bourbon (before marriage called Mademoiselle deNantes: she was the daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan).

Here, the young Duchesse de Bourgogne is shownwearing a hunting dress typical of the end of the reignof Louis XIV. It was extremely refined, with a lot ofembroidery and lace, and a train intended to hangdown gracefully when she was on horseback – in those days, women rode side-saddle.

The queen and the ladies in her intimate circle, likeMarie-Josephe de Saxe here, had to wear what wascalled full court dress. It consisted of a spectacularcostume in three parts: the “grand corps” (top), a sort of low-necked rigid corset with stays; the ‘”skirt” (worn over a large hooped crinoline thatgave it its wide flare, like here in this painting); and the “tail”, a long train that could be lifted up.The costume was richly embroidered and cost a small fortune: up to 3,000 livres (ten times the annual income of a family of weavers).

The « Gaulle »dress fashion

Marie-Antoinette remains famousfor her coquetry and the almostextravagant luxuriance of herhairstyles and outfits. But afterthe birth of her first daughter,Madame Royale, she adopted a style of extraordinary simplicityfor a queen: the “gaulle” (muslin)dress, a white muslin shift beltedat the waist, without a corset,which allowed the body freemovement, and she wore this inthe privacy of the Petit Trianon. A portrait of her in this dresscreated a scandal in France. But we can see here that thisfashion was adopted by herintimate circle – in this painting,the sister of Louis XVI, MadameElisabeth.

Widow’s dress

Fashion and costumes

Court dress in the reign of Louis XIV

In this exhibition we are presented with all kinds of faces and clothes, butonly two types of portraits: the intimate portrait and the official portrait.You can see two examples of each on this page... Amuse yourself spotting the other examples in the Grand Trianon !

The intimate portrait was intended forfriends and family: it is an affectionatelikeness. The models – like here, the very pretty Madame de Pompadour,mistress of Louis XV – are portrayed in bust format, meaning that we cansee their face and bust, as if framed in a close-up shot. Their hands are notalways seen (often the painter chargedextra to feature them in the painting!).

In contrast, the official portrait (here, that of MadameRoyale, daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, whobecame Duchesse d’Angoulême by her marriage in 1799)was intended to be seen by all. It had to reflect the powerof the model it depicted. This one shows all the codes ofthe official portrait: the duchess is shown in full length(from head to feet), standing proudly next to a throne,under a canopy, with a diadem on her head, while a crown is placed beside her on a velvet cushion. Note also the cloak lined with ermine, the white furreserved to kings, as well as the fleur-de-lys and thethrone, symbols of royalty. This portrait was painted in 1816, in the reign of Louis XVIII, her uncle. A newrevolution, in 1830, forced Madame Royale to go into exile again in Austria, where she died.

In the sedate ambiance of the small palace, two princesses, sisters, created a scandal: Mademoiselle de Blois and Mademoiselle de Nantes, both daughters of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. The Princesse Palatine described themas “twisted” and, above all, very badly reared: the two princesses did everythingthat young ladies of their rank should not do. They smoked pipes, lit firecrackersunder the window of their uncle and quarrelled all the time because they werejealous of each other. Mademoiselle de Blois married Philippe d’Orléans, Duc de Chartres, son of the Princesse Palatine. And the princess was so unhappy with her son’s choice that she slapped his face in public (the marriage turned out to be unhappy).

Draw a ring around one of the faces belowthat shows Mademoiselle de Blois.

Scandal in Trianon !

The intimate portrait

The official portrait

Intimate portraits Official portraits

This painting – which can be seen hanging in the Lords room (salle des Seigneurs) – shows Louis, the Dauphin of France, son of Louis XIV and Marie-Thérèse, with his wife Marie-Anne deBavière and their three children, one of whom (on the right) was the future father of Louis XV. Spot the seven details that are different in the two versions.

Design 01 49 29 01 21. www.parismomes.fr. Editor: Orianne Charpentier. Graphic design: Elodie Coulon. Iconography: Aïcha Djarir. Illustrations: Emmanuelle Mafille.Photo credits: P.1 : Marie Caroline de Bourbon-Sicile, duchesse de Berry by Lawrence Thomas, Sir © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / Philipp Bernard ; graphic design : by Des Signes. P.2-3 : Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon by MignardPierre © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / Daniel Arnaudet / Gérard Blot; Elisabeth Charlotte de Bavière, Princesse Palatine, Duchesse d'Orléans by Rigaud Hyacinthe © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / Gérard Blot / Christian Jean; Marie-Antoinette,Archduchess of Austria, future Dauphine of France by Charpentier Jean-Baptiste, le Vieux © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / Daniel Arnaudet; Josephine de Beauharnais, Empress of the French by Gérard François Pascal Simon © RMN-GP / GérardBlot. P.4-5 : Marie-Adélaïde de Savoie, Duchesse de Bourgogne by Gobert Pierre © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / Daniel Arnaudet / Gérard Blot; Marie Josephe de Saxe, Dauphine de France by Nattier Jean-Marc © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles)/ Daniel Arnaudet; Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Nantes, Princesse de Condé by Gobert Pierre © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / Gérard Blot; Elisabeth Philippine Marie Hélène de France, "Madame Elisabeth", sister of Louis XVI ©RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / Daniel Arnaudet; Caroline Bonaparte, queen of Naples, and her elder daughter Laetitia Josephine by Vigée-Le Brun Elisabeth Louise © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / All rights reserved. P.6-7 : Jeanne-AntoinettePoisson, Marquise de Pompadour by Nattier Jean-Marc © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / Daniel Arnaudet; official full-length portrait of Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte de France, Duchesse d'Angoulême by Gros Antoine-Jean, Baron (1771-1835) © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / All rights reserved; Charlotte de Lorraine, Mademoiselle d'Armagnac by Demahis Etienne-Achille; Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Duchesse d'Orléans, previously known as Mademoiselle de Blois by Caminade Alexandre-François; Elisabeth de Lorraine, Mademoiselle de Commercy, Princesse d'Epinoy by Demahis Etienne-Achille © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / Gérard Blot. P.8 : The Grand Dauphin and his family, Louis de France, known as the Grand Dauphin, hiswife, Marie-Anne-Christine de Bavière and their children: Louis de France, Duc de Bourgogne, the future Philip V, king of Spain and Charles de France, Duc de Berry by Mignard Pierre © Château de Versailles, Dist. RMN / Jean-Marc Manaï.

Spot the

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dames_trianon_parcoursBAT_anglais_Mise en page 1 10/07/12 18:04 Page8