This exhibition is running in tandem with the restoration work which has been taking place in the Diana Room since October 2021 to restore the decorative painted and sculpted scheme on the ceiling, coving and overdoors to their former glory. This room offers a setting designed to reveal the full detail of the connection between the genius of the artist and the majesty of his bust of Louis XIV.
The exhibition, which is being presented in the Dauphine’s apartment, turns the spotlight in particular on one of the most iconic artefacts in the palace collections: the bust of Louis XIV, sculpted in marble by Bernini during his trip to Paris in 1665.
The first room presents the main protagonists of Bernini’s trip to France, which produced what some art historians consider to be “the most magnificent baroque portrait”. The second room focuses on Bernini’s work and French artists’ responses to it. This dialogue between the Italian baroque and French classicism marked the beginning of an artistic rivalry which would extend into the reign of Louis XV.
The bust of Louis XIV, which is usually displayed in an elevated position in the Diana Room some distance away from visitors, will now be accessible at close quarters, offering a unique opportunity to admire in detail this masterpiece of 17th-century sculpture. It will be displayed at eye-level and presented virtually as it would have been when it was first revealed to the king in 1665.
The artist and history
When Bernini made his trip to France, his reputation preceded him. Louis XIV’s invitation to Paris in 1665 came at a time when he was considered to be the most famous sculptor in Europe. Although the project for a new Louvre designed by Bernini had been a failure, the bust of Louis XIV, a truly idealized portrait of the king, was the high point of this extended trip, despite the issues associated with the choice of marble and the many criticisms it attracted. The famous bust celebrating the sovereign grandeur of Louis XIV, which was exhibited at the Tuileries and then at Versailles, is a work whose artistic inspiration transcends mere likeness and embodies timeless majesty.
Following this success, Louis XIV commissioned an equestrian statue from Bernini, but this received a less enthusiastic reception from the king.
The exhibition retraces this striking episode when art became a tool for representing power.
Exceptional loans and artistic context
The exhibition is enriched with outstanding loans from French and international institutions; these make it possible to trace the context in which the bust of Louis XIV was created and offer an insight into the genius of Bernini.
They include the portrait of Bernini painted by Giovanni Battista Gaulli (Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini, Rome) and the bust of Alexander VII sculpted by Bernini (Fondation Palazzo Chigi Zondadari, Sienna) which reflect his popularity at that time and his relationship with his clients, notably Pope Alexander VII. Several works from the collections at Versailles will also be on display, including Advances in the Art of Drawing in the Reign of Louis XIV by Nicolas-Pierre Loir, which elevates the king to the status of a divine figure at the very height of artistic creation, and The Glory of Louis XIV Triumphs over Time by Baldassare Franceschini, which celebrates the immortality of the sovereign.
Source: Château de Versailles