Marie Antoinette and the Last Garden of Versailles
Marie-Antoinette has been idolized as the height of eighteenth-century French style and vilified as the spark that ignited the French Revolution. This book departs from such traditional interpretations of the infamous queen’s reign and chooses to reflect on the humanistic aspects of her private realm. To escape the formalities and royal obligations of Louis XVI’s court, Marie-Antoinette created a private realm of pleasure for herself at the Petit Trianon and Hameau, where she planted the...
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Marie-Antoinette has been idolized as the height of eighteenth-century French style and vilified as the spark that ignited the French Revolution. This book departs from such traditional interpretations of the infamous queen’s reign and chooses to reflect on the humanistic aspects of her private realm. To escape the formalities and royal obligations of Louis XVI’s court, Marie-Antoinette created a private realm of pleasure for herself at the Petit Trianon and Hameau, where she planted the first Anglo-Chinese garden; created a trysting grotto; a working farm; and revolutionized architecture and gardening trends for the century to come. Marie-Antoinette’s entire private domain and its story are told in beautiful photographic detail by François Halard for the first time since its recent restoration and accompanied by well-researched texts by garden expert Christian Duvernois.
Prologue 6Ch. 1 A Young Dauphine at Versailles 10Ch. 2 The Morning After 14Ch. 3 A Young Queen at Trianon 18Ch. 4 The Quest for the Right Project 24Ch. 5 A Franco-Anglo-Chinese Garden 28Ch. 6 Intermission 46Ch. 7 A Rustic Garden 50Ch. 8 Law and Order 64Ch. 9 A Talented and Generous Hostess 68Ch. 10 The Working Force of Trianon 72Ch. 11 Gone with the Revolutionary Storm 78Ch. 12 A Garden Regained 82Trianon: The Arcadian Idyll 87Afterword 221The General Plan of the Queen's Estate 222
