LOUIS XIV: The Monumental Tapestries That Never Reached Versailles

Bonjour YouTube, welcome back to our channel. Today we're in Paris in Grand Palais and we are going to be taking you to the exhibition dedicated to the treasures that were lost and now found of Louis XIV. On y va! Today feels extra special as this is the first time I am back in this building since almost a decade. Le Grand Palais recently underwent a major renovation campaign in order to accommodate the Olympics in 2024 and it's such a pleasure to finally be able to see the results By the way, the main entrance is now called Gabrielle Chanel as part of the agreement with Chanel who paid about 25 million for restoration as an exclusive private sponsor of the project. In fact, Le Grand Palais is pretty much a second home for the fashion house who holds their fashion shows here every season. But today it's all about Louis XIV and the tapestries that are being displayed to the public for the first time ever only for one week. This is a once a lifetime reunion of artworks commissioned for the grandeur of the Sun King himself. Around 30 of these tapestries are displayed in the name of the Grand Palais making this exhibition a truly unique event. Never before has this national heritage treasure commissioned by King Louis XIV been displayed in a setting that could match his monumental ambition. This is truly a historic and unprecedented opportunity to admire these works in a space that reveals their full richness and symbolic power. This landmark exhibition is co-produced by Grand Palais Hermann and the Manufacture Nationale, Sèvres Immobilier National. Speaking of Sèvres, we just published our visit to the manufactory and its atelier. We highly recommend you watch that episode if you haven't yet. But let's rewind back to the beginnings of this monumental project. You see, at the beginning of Louis XIV's reign, as the Louvre was about to become the monarch's official residence before Versailles rose to prominence, a monumental commission was launched. Between 1668 and 1688, 93 incredible tapestries were woven to magnificently cover the floor of La Grande Galerie. Built under Henry IV between 1595 and 1610, this 460 meter long gallery originally connected Le Palais de Louvre and Le Palais de Tuileries. Today it is still the largest gallery in the Louvre Museum and it contains a large part of its collection of Italian Renaissance paintings. It's the gallery you normally walk through on your way to see La Jaconde or Mona Lisa. The idea was to showcase to the world that France could indeed rival the tapestries of Turkey and Iran, whose creations were widely appreciated by European courts. This was an unprecedented artistic and technical feat and so for this colossal project, the excellence of the prestigious Samoneri Manufactory was essential. Charles Lebrun, the first painter of the king, conceived the sumptuous designs for these nine meter wide carpets, totaling nearly 4,000 square meters of weaving. The designs were then entrusted to artists at the Gobelin factory, under Lebrun's own direction, who created them for the weavers at the Samoneri Manufactory. Each carpet is a work of art in its own right, reflecting the prestige and power of the kingdom. This exhibition represents a unique opportunity to explore the technical mastery, artistic vision and historical ambition of one of the most extravagant decorative programs of the French monarchy. Each tapestry was thus the result of the collaboration between designers, painters and master weavers, combining the precision of technical expertise with the creativity and imagination of the most skilled artists of the era. Each element intended to glorify the monarchy while reflecting the rich visual culture of the 17th century France. We love the fact that the mezzanine level is open today and visitors can go up to get a different, more global view of this exhibition. A huge plus is being able to appreciate the craftsmanship of the metal structure of the building. We are so lucky that it was not demolished, considering that initially it was built for the Universal Exposition of 1900 and none other than Le Corbusier tried to replace it with his own modern project. In fact, this building itself was not the first monument to stand here. Up until 1896, it was the Polydol industry with its monumental metal and glass roof structure that dominated this area. But anyway, let's get back to the 17th century and our main characters of today's exhibition. It is well known and documented that Colbert preferred for the king and the court to stay at the Louvre. Louis XIV, however, wanted to move everyone to Versailles, his own mega project. In fact, Jean-Baptiste Colbert tried on multiple occasions to convince the king that it was the Louvre where he should reside and this commission is a perfect example of the attempt to embellish Louvre to become worthy of the Sun King. Colbert sought to establish France as the preeminent center of tapestry production, reduce dependency on costly imports and project the monarchy's glory across Europe and beyond. As history would have it, Louis XIV stayed at Versailles and upon Colbert's death on 6 September 1683, his attention turned completely to his new palace, leaving the Louvre in the background with the tapestries never to be displayed there. History intervened, the revolution, sales, destruction and cutting led to the dispersal of this exceptional heritage, placing it at risk of being totally forgotten. Fortunately, under the First Empire and then the Restoration, more than 30 pieces were repurchased. As recently as 2024, L'Immobilier National located a significant fragment of the 50th carpet, underscoring the enduring historical and artistic value of these works. Today, 41 of the original 92 carpets are preserved in the collections of Le Manufacture National, 33 of which are complete. In addition, there are 4 of the 13 carpets created for the Galerie d'Apollon, the one that recently witnessed a robbery of royal and imperial jewels. Since 2023, L'Immobilier National Restoration Workshop has undertaken the delicate task of conserving these tapestries. Restoration involved careful dusting and cleaning using microfiber clothes and demineralized water, ensuring that the fragile fibers remained unarmed. Broken threads were meticulously repaired, damaged warps and wefts were replaced with the utmost precision, preserving the integrity of the original weave. Color stabilization respects the original technique, ensuring that the vibrancy of the 17th century dyes remains faithful to the artist's intention. Past restoration interventions were also retained for historical accuracy. The result is a collection of tapestries preserved for future generations, ready to be displayed and studied as testaments to the pinnacle of French decorative artistry. As we made our way back down, we would like to mention the other significant presence at this exhibition, the History of the King Tapestry Collection. Produced contemporaneously at the Gobelin, these additional tapestries provide further context to the grandeur of courtly decoration in the 17th century. To evoke the space of a palace gallery of that era, these tapestries are today hung up alongside the tapestries of La Grande Galerie and are one of the finest tapestry cycles of the reign of Louis XIV. They represent a celebration of royal power. This is the first time since 1976 the series of tapestries is shown to the public. We cannot help but think that Le Trésor Retrouvé du Roi Soleil exhibition brought together these masterpieces in a comprehensive display never before achieved. You got tapestries that were never displayed before and others accompanying them that have been last seen in their entirety almost 50 years ago. It's simply mind-blowing. We are basically asked to connect directly with the cultural and political world of the 17th century France of Louis XIV and that's one massive achievement for an exhibition. This is extremely rare and we feel very fortunate to have been able to experience it in person and bring it to those who couldn't attend. I'm just happy. Ceylan is also very happy today. It's just great to be here in this palace because they renovated it for the Olympic Games 2024 but I haven't managed to come here at all and it's the first time I'm here since 2018 or 2017. So it's great to see it again. It's beautifully done, beautifully restored. Yeah, and now we're getting hungry. We're getting hangry. Anyway, just thought that I would just blah blah for you guys. It's an amazing exhibition. And that's it for today. We hope you liked this episode as much as we did and until the next one, au revoir.