Marie-Antoinette at Versailles

Considered one of the most beautiful cities in France at the end of the 18th century, Bordeaux has an architecture worthy of receiving the sovereign; Versailles and Bordeaux have often been compared; the Hôtel de Lalande, contemporary with the reign of Marie-Antoinette, is part of the «...modern Bordeaux that exudes grandeur like at Versailles... and... would worthily surround the great castle that housed the Grand Siècle' (Victor Hugo).

If the queen’s world had not stopped at the gates of three or four castles, she would have liked the simplicity of Lalande’s hotel and its interior layout that favors intimacy, as established by Jacques-Ange Gabriel in his beloved Petit Trianon where she escaped. His daughter, the Duchess of Angoulême, to thank Bordeaux for having been the first city in France to join the Restoration, went there in 1815; the Lalande hotel keeps many memories of this visit thanks to the Legitimist collection bequeathed by Raymond Jeanvrot.
For the first time, the Palace of Versailles grants an exceptional loan of eighty paintings, sculptures, furniture and objets d'art evoking the queen’s living environment. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bordeaux participated in this installation by lending four works of royal provenance.

AROUND THE EXHIBITION

On 19 and 20 November 2005 in the foyers of the Grand-Théâtre de Bordeaux, a conference with about ten French, European and American specialists, followed by a concert at the Grand-Théatre on 20 November at 3 p.m., Gluck and Puccini.

The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design thanks :

DRAC Nouvelle Aquitaine
Les Amis du musée des Arts décoratifs et du Design
Air France
Le Chapon Fin
Les Etablissements Bareyre, moulures et parquets à l'ancienne
Barclays