The Making of the Museum of the Château de Versailles
January 25: The Making of the Museum of the Château de Versailles
With Russel Kelley
Russel Kelley will explain how the Museum of the Château de Versailles is in fact two museums in one – the first dedicated to the history of France and the second to the royal residence of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI during the roughly 100 years leading up to the Revolution. The Museum of French History, with its impressive Gallery of Great Battles, was inaugurated by Louis-Philippe in 1837 and developed over the course of the 19th century. The “house museum” of the residence of the last three kings of the Ancien Régime, with its spectacular Hall of Mirrors and sumptuous apartments, is the product of the vision of a series of dedicated curators, supported by the French state and by generous private donors – many of them American – starting in 1892 and still continuing today.
With Russel Kelley
Russel Kelley will explain how the Museum of the Château de Versailles is in fact two museums in one – the first dedicated to the history of France and the second to the royal residence of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI during the roughly 100 years leading up to the Revolution. The Museum of French History, with its impressive Gallery of Great Battles, was inaugurated by Louis-Philippe in 1837 and developed over the course of the 19th century. The “house museum” of the residence of the last three kings of the Ancien Régime, with its spectacular Hall of Mirrors and sumptuous apartments, is the product of the vision of a series of dedicated curators, supported by the French state and by generous private donors – many of them American – starting in 1892 and still continuing today.