The
Petit Trianon is a small
châteauA château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
located on the grounds of the
Palace of VersaillesThe Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, the Île-de-France region of France. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles....
in
VersaillesVersailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial center...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
.
It was designed by
Ange-Jacques GabrielAnge-Jacques Gabriel was the most prominent French architect of his generation.Born to a Parisian family of architects and initially trained by the royal architect Robert de Cotte and his father , whom he assisted in the creation of the Place Royale at Bordeaux , the younger Gabriel...
by the order of
Louis XVLouis XV ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death on 10 May 1774...
for his long-term mistress,
Madame de PompadourJeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour , was a member of the French court, and was the official maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV from 1745 to 1750....
, and was constructed between 1762-1768. Madame de Pompadour died four years before its completion, and it was subsequently occupied by her successor,
Madame du BarryJeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...
. Upon his accession to the throne in 1774, the 20-year-old
Louis XVILouis XVI of France ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. Suspended and arrested during the Insurrection of 10 August 1792, he was tried by the National Convention, found guilty of treason, and executed by guillotine on 21...
gave the château and its surrounding park to his 19-year-old Queen
Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I....
for her exclusive use and enjoyment.
The château of the Petit Trianon is a celebrated example of the transition from the
RococoRococo is a style of 18th century French art and interior design. Rococo rooms were designed as total works of art with elegant and ornate furniture, small sculptures, ornamental mirrors, and tapestry complementing architecture, reliefs, and wall paintings...
style of the earlier part of the 18th century, to the more sober and refined,
NeoclassicalNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, both as a reaction against the Rococo style of anti-tectonic naturalistic ornament, and an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque...
style of the 1760s and onward.
The
Petit Trianon is a small
châteauA château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
located on the grounds of the
Palace of VersaillesThe Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, the Île-de-France region of France. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles....
in
VersaillesVersailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial center...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
.
Design and construction
It was designed by
Ange-Jacques GabrielAnge-Jacques Gabriel was the most prominent French architect of his generation.Born to a Parisian family of architects and initially trained by the royal architect Robert de Cotte and his father , whom he assisted in the creation of the Place Royale at Bordeaux , the younger Gabriel...
by the order of
Louis XVLouis XV ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death on 10 May 1774...
for his long-term mistress,
Madame de PompadourJeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour , was a member of the French court, and was the official maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV from 1745 to 1750....
, and was constructed between 1762-1768. Madame de Pompadour died four years before its completion, and it was subsequently occupied by her successor,
Madame du BarryJeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...
. Upon his accession to the throne in 1774, the 20-year-old
Louis XVILouis XVI of France ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792. Suspended and arrested during the Insurrection of 10 August 1792, he was tried by the National Convention, found guilty of treason, and executed by guillotine on 21...
gave the château and its surrounding park to his 19-year-old Queen
Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I....
for her exclusive use and enjoyment.
The château of the Petit Trianon is a celebrated example of the transition from the
RococoRococo is a style of 18th century French art and interior design. Rococo rooms were designed as total works of art with elegant and ornate furniture, small sculptures, ornamental mirrors, and tapestry complementing architecture, reliefs, and wall paintings...
style of the earlier part of the 18th century, to the more sober and refined,
NeoclassicalNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, both as a reaction against the Rococo style of anti-tectonic naturalistic ornament, and an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque...
style of the 1760s and onward. The exterior of the château is simple and elegant, architecturally correct, and highly original. Essentially an exercise on a cube, the Petit Trianon attracts interest by virtue of its four
facadeA facade or façade is generally one side of the exterior of a building, especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
s, each thoughtfully designed according to that part of the estate it would face. The
CorinthianCorinthian refers originally to the port of Corinth in Greece*Corinthian order, a classical order of ancient Greek and Roman architecture*The League of Corinth, a federation of ancient Greek states...
order predominates, with two detached and two semi-detached pillars on the side of the formal French garden, and pilasters facing both the courtyard and the area once occupied by Louis XV's greenhouses. Overlooking the former botanical garden of the king, the remaining facade was left bare. The subtle use of steps compensates for the differences in level of the château's inclined location.
Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I....
would come to the Petit Trianon not only to escape the formality of court life, but also to shake off the burden of her royal responsibilities. Since all was "de par la Reine" (by order of the Queen), none were permitted to enter the property without the Queen's express permission (not even, it was said, Louis XVI). Such exclusivity alienated the court nobility since only the queen's "inner circle" (including the
Princess de LamballeMaria Teresa Louisa di Savoia, Principessa di Savoia was a member of the House of Savoy. After her marriage to a French nobleman, she became the confidante of Queen Marie Antoinette of France...
, and
Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de PolignacYolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchesse de Polignac was a French duchess and the favourite of Marie Antoinette, whom she first met when she was presented at the Palace of Versailles in 1775, the year after Marie Antoinette became the Queen of France.-Biography:Yolande de Polastron was...
) were invited.
A house of intimacy and of pleasure, the building was designed to require as little interaction between guests and servants as possible. To that end, the table in the
salles à manger was conceived to be mobile, mechanically lowered and raised through the floorboards so that the servants below could set places sight unseen. The tables were never built, but the delineation for the mechanical apparatus can still be seen from the foundation. In addition, she had a "Garden of Eden" designed, with extravagant gardens and servants to take care of various livestock.
Within the queen's apartment, one discerns Marie Antoinette's incessant need for privacy: the decor of her boudoir displays an inventiveness unique to the age, featuring mirrored panels that, by the simple turning of a crank, can be raised or lowered to obscure the windows. Her bedroom, although simple, is also elegant, provided with furniture from
Georges JacobGeorges Jacob was one of the two most prominent Parisian master menuisiers, producing carved, painted and gilded beds and seat furniture and upholstery work for the French royal châteaux, in the early Neoclassical style that is usually associated with Louis Seize.Jacob arrived in Paris in 1754 and...
and
Jean Henri RiesenerJean-Henri Riesener , born in Gladbeck near Essen in Germany, moved to Paris where he apprenticed soon after 1754 with Jean-François Oeben, whose widow he married, and was received master ébéniste in January 1768...
. The wallpaper was painted by
Jean-Baptiste PillementJean-Baptiste Pillement was a painter and designer, known for his exquisite and delicate landscapes, but whose importance lies primarily in the engravings done after his drawings and their influence in spreading the Rococo style, and particularly the taste for chinoiserie, throughout...
.
Moberly-Jourdain incident
The
Moberly-Jourdain incidentThe Moberly-Jourdain incident, or the Ghosts of Petit Trianon or Versailles was an event that occurred on 10 August, 1901 in the gardens of the Petit Trianon, involving two female academics, Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain...
is alleged to have occurred on August 10, 1901 in the gardens of the Petit Trianon. In 1911, two English academics,
Charlotte Anne MoberlyCharlotte Anne Moberly was an academic. She was the daughter of George Moberly, and was made the first principal of St. Hugh's College, Oxford. She rose to fame following an incident where she allegedly slipped back in time whilst visiting the Petit Trianon in Versailles with fellow academic...
and
Eleanor JourdainEleanor Jourdain was an English academic and author, who rose to fame following a claim that she and a fellow teacher had slipped back in time to the period of the French Revolution while on a trip to Versailles, known as the Moberly-Jourdain incident. She wrote a book together with Charlotte Anne...
, pseudonymously published a book entitled
An Adventure, in which they claimed to have experienced a
time slipA time slip is an alleged paranormal phenomenon in which a person, or group of people, travel through time through supernatural means...
during a visit to the Petit Trianon, and seen
Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I....
as well as many other people of the same period. The book caused a sensation with the public despite dismissal by critics.
See also
- Subsidiary structures of the Palace of Versailles
Five subsidiary structures located near the Palace of Versailles have a historical relation with the history and evolution of the palace. Of these five structure – the Ménagerie, the Pavillon de la Lanterne the Trianon de Porcelaine, the Grand Trianon , and the Petit Trianon – two have been...
- Grand Trianon
The Grand Trianon was built in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles at the request of Louis XIV, as a retreat for the King and his maîtresse en titre of the time, the marquise de Montespan, and as a place where the King and invited guests could take light meals away from the strict...
- Petit Hameau
The Hameau de la Reine is the rustic retreat that was built for Marie Antoinette. It is situated in a secluded section of the Trianon gardens, within the park of Versailles, and adjoining the Petit Trianon, a small château designed and built by Ange-Jacques Gabriel for Louis XV's mistress, Madame...
- Moberly-Jourdain incident
The Moberly-Jourdain incident, or the Ghosts of Petit Trianon or Versailles was an event that occurred on 10 August, 1901 in the gardens of the Petit Trianon, involving two female academics, Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain...
- The design of the Kentucky Governor's Mansion
The Kentucky Governor's Mansion is a historic U.S. residence in Frankfort, Kentucky. It is located at the East lawn of the Capitol, at the end of Capital Avenue. On February 1, 1972, it was added to the U.S...
was inspired by Petit Trianon
External links