The Palace of Versailles is preparing a big event for the end of this year: a unique exhibition evoking the splendour of the Sun King's court when the Palace of Versailles was furnished in silver. The first furniture for the State Apartments was in solid silver and unimaginably luxurious. It was chased by the greatest silversmiths of the time.
Tables, seating, mirrors, chandeliers, torchères and candelabra, vases and perfume burners as tall as men, made a lasting impression on all who saw them, as much through the profusion and sparkle of the precious metal as through the excellence of the craftsmanship. Yet their existence was shortlived for the King found himself obliged to have it all melted down in 1689 to finance the war.
These silver treasures that furnished the Hall of Mirrors and the state rooms will be evoked partly through their rare remaining drawings but essentially through a disposal in the very King's State Apartments (from Hercules Salon through to the very recently restored Hall of Mirrors) of about 150 silver furniture items ordered by great European courts in the early 18th century.
These pieces will come mainly from the Danish Kings’Rosenborg Castle – co-organiser of the exhibition – but also from Windsor Castle, the Duke of Devonshire's Chatsworth House, the Esterhàzy Princes' Forchtenstein Castle, the Prince of Prussia's Hohenzollern Castle, the Prince of Hanover's Marienburg Castle, Dresden Castle's Green Vault treasures and the Tsars' fabulous Kremlin collection.
As they pass through the succession of brightly lit rooms, visitors will experience the wonderful baroque ambience of the King's "apartment evenings", the sparkling silver furnishings and bright candle flames reflecting in the shining mirrors, thanks to the display design conceived by interior designer Jacques Garcia.
