Les lits de Louis XIII à Versailles. Entre sobriété et majesté : manifeste d’un dessein royal

Louis XIII’s beds at Versailles are not the best-known ones in the history of the palace. No pictures of them survive but other archival and printed sources allow us to analyse them and to study their usages and symbolic values. The Versailles conceived by Louis XIII was a personal haven where the b...

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Main Author: Vivien Richard
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication 2019-09-01
Series:In Situ
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/insitu/23725
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author Vivien Richard
author_facet Vivien Richard
author_sort Vivien Richard
collection DOAJ
description Louis XIII’s beds at Versailles are not the best-known ones in the history of the palace. No pictures of them survive but other archival and printed sources allow us to analyse them and to study their usages and symbolic values. The Versailles conceived by Louis XIII was a personal haven where the bed symbolised dynastic continuity, bringing together the royal status of its owner and his quest for a sober retirement. Louis XIII had a modest pavilion built at Versailles in 1623, a ‘countryside dwelling’ which was enlarged and reorganised at the beginning of the 1630s, offering the King two successive bedrooms. The first one, without any antechamber, accommodated a bed upholstered in green damask with fringes in green silk and gold, set off by the simplicity of the room’s decoration and the sparseness of its furniture. The second bedroom had an antechamber and was larger and more luminous. It housed a more precious bed of green Italian velvet with silver lame. Through their occupation during the King’s presence at Versailles, these two bedrooms accompany the transformation of the palace in the geography of power from the 1630s. The beds can be seen as a revealing synthesis of the status of Louis XIII’s residence at Versailles, private and royal at one and the same time.
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spelling doaj-art-4bdf04f82a2e42578b432532d3f131ea2024-12-09T14:08:48ZfraMinistère de la Culture et de la CommunicationIn Situ1630-73052019-09-014010.4000/insitu.23725Les lits de Louis XIII à Versailles. Entre sobriété et majesté : manifeste d’un dessein royalVivien RichardLouis XIII’s beds at Versailles are not the best-known ones in the history of the palace. No pictures of them survive but other archival and printed sources allow us to analyse them and to study their usages and symbolic values. The Versailles conceived by Louis XIII was a personal haven where the bed symbolised dynastic continuity, bringing together the royal status of its owner and his quest for a sober retirement. Louis XIII had a modest pavilion built at Versailles in 1623, a ‘countryside dwelling’ which was enlarged and reorganised at the beginning of the 1630s, offering the King two successive bedrooms. The first one, without any antechamber, accommodated a bed upholstered in green damask with fringes in green silk and gold, set off by the simplicity of the room’s decoration and the sparseness of its furniture. The second bedroom had an antechamber and was larger and more luminous. It housed a more precious bed of green Italian velvet with silver lame. Through their occupation during the King’s presence at Versailles, these two bedrooms accompany the transformation of the palace in the geography of power from the 1630s. The beds can be seen as a revealing synthesis of the status of Louis XIII’s residence at Versailles, private and royal at one and the same time.https://journals.openedition.org/insitu/23725furnitureVersaillesbedcanopybedroomapartment
spellingShingle Vivien Richard
Les lits de Louis XIII à Versailles. Entre sobriété et majesté : manifeste d’un dessein royal
In Situ
furniture
Versailles
bed
canopy
bedroom
apartment
title Les lits de Louis XIII à Versailles. Entre sobriété et majesté : manifeste d’un dessein royal
title_full Les lits de Louis XIII à Versailles. Entre sobriété et majesté : manifeste d’un dessein royal
title_fullStr Les lits de Louis XIII à Versailles. Entre sobriété et majesté : manifeste d’un dessein royal
title_full_unstemmed Les lits de Louis XIII à Versailles. Entre sobriété et majesté : manifeste d’un dessein royal
title_short Les lits de Louis XIII à Versailles. Entre sobriété et majesté : manifeste d’un dessein royal
title_sort les lits de louis xiii a versailles entre sobriete et majeste manifeste d un dessein royal
topic furniture
Versailles
bed
canopy
bedroom
apartment
url https://journals.openedition.org/insitu/23725
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