Genius and majesty - Louis XIV by Bernini

This exhibition accompanies the restoration work underway in the Salon de Diane since October 2021, aimed at restoring the splendour of the painted and sculpted decoration on the ceiling, voussoirs and overdoors. This salon offers a setting designed to fully reveal the link between the artist's genius and the majesty of his bust of Louis XIV.

Organised in the flat of the Dauphine, this exhibition features one of the most emblematic masterpieces in the château's collections: the Bust of Louis XIV, sculpted in marble by Bernini during his stay in Paris in 1665.

The first room presents the main protagonists of Bernini's trip to France, which gave rise to what some art historians have described as 'the most grandiose Baroque portrait'. The second room focuses on Bernini's work and the reactions it provoked among French artists. This dialogue between Italian Baroque and French Classicism heralded an artistic rivalry that would last until the reign of Louis XV.

The Bust of Louis XIV, which has been on display in the Salon de Diane since 1684, will now be accessible up close, offering a unique opportunity to admire this masterpiece of 17th-century sculpture in detail. It will be exhibited at human height, in a setting that allows visitors to rediscover it in conditions similar to those in which it was first presented to the King in 1665.

Curator: Lionel Arsac, heritage curator at the Château de Versailles Scenography: Antoine Fontaine