Overview

The world's most iconic château has welcomed tourists the world over, yet this handsome slipcased volume offers up the charm of a thousand and one hidden places in the château, its gardens, and pavilions. All were designed to surprise and delight the eye and all the senses at every turn, their exquisite decoration forming an integral part of the elite lifestyle of the eighteenth-century. This comprehensive volume captures the exquisite setting and inimitable ambiance of Versailles and its gardens, from its intimate private spaces usually closed to the general public to the charming Petit Trianon and dairy farm created for the pure pleasure of Marie-Antoinette. Concise, informative, and evocative texts describe the practical, social, and aesthetic considerations that informed the creation of the home to three kings, while newlycommissioned photography features the château's architecture, gardens, paintings, drawings, and decorative arts that bring to life the beauty and the daily routines of this golden age of French culture. This jewel of a volume is a rich homage to Versailles and the perfect souvenir for visitors and armchair travelers alike who, while turning these pages, will embark on a private tour of the lavish château and grounds.

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9782080301437

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Reviews

. ..though this biography of the building takes a day-in-the-life look at life within it, Carlier also notes how drastically those days differed as the palace's purpose changed from 1682 to the present. In addition, the book examines how these many lives of Versailles have been immortalized...photographer Francis Hammond clearly knows we like to gasp at grandeur, but he also cannily catches the more subtle details. The result is a tour of the palace that takes the reader not merely through its spaces, but also its times. - Metrosource

.. .though this biography of the building takes a day-in-the-life look at life within it, Carlier also notes how drastically those days differed as the palace's purpose changed from 1682 to the present. In addition, the book examines how these many lives of Versailles have been immortalized...photographer Francis Hammond clearly knows we like to gasp at grandeur, but he also cannily catches the more subtle details. The result is a tour of the palace that takes the reader not merely through its spaces, but also its times. - Metrosource

Author Information

Yves Carlier is a writer and curator specializing in sixteenth- to nineteenth-century French decorative arts and design. Francis Hammond is a renowned lifestyle photographer.

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