Gamebooklet

FORCH

ILDREN

Chinaat Versailles

Art and Diplomacy in the 18th Century27 May to 26 October 2014

– 2 –

The “China at Versailles” exhibition tells the story of relationsbetween China and France in 150 objects, pieces of furniture and paintings.Louis XIV was particularly interested in the Far Eastand sent Jesuits as ambassadors to the court in Beijing. Theseexchanges, firstly intellectual and scientific, gave rise to a veritableChinese fad at court, which grew under the reign of Louis XV. To satisfy this new taste, large-scale trade developed and continuedunder Louis XVI, right up to the French Revolution.

The Astronomers tapestry. Piece from thefirst Chinese tapestries of Beauvais.

From the Sciences to the Arts

e Room A f

– 3 –

The tapestry on the left-hand page tells thestory of the Jesuit priests’ (a Catholicreligious order) visit to astronomers inBeijing. In the foreground, one of them,dressed as a Mandarin, leans toward a childholding a book and a compass. He is thefuture Kangxi Emperor who reigned at thesame time as Louis XIV.

In the painting on the right, Louis XIV ispresented as the protector of the arts andsciences. A globe and measurement toolsshow his interest in the great discoveries of hisday. It is through the sciences that the Kingcame into contact with the Kangxi Emperor.What elements are found in both pictures?

At the time, this huge porcelain pagoda left such animpression on people that is was represented in manyworks of art evoking China. Look for it in the paintings,

engravings and tapestries in the exhibition.

Portrait of Louis XIV, with theattributes of the arts andsciences.

Louis xiv: the Diplomatic King

P

All these words evoke China.Place them in the crosswordpuzzle.1

ASIABAMBOODRAGONEMPERORMANDARINUMBRELLBIRDPAGODA

I

B

– 4 –

e Rooms B to E f

Louis xv: the King and the ArtsThe model that you will see during yourvisit is a faithful reproduction of the boatsused by the French East India Companyto import large amounts of goods,especially novelties such as silk,porcelain, lacquer, fans and wallpaperthat they did not yet know how to make in France. On this subject, did you knowthat the port of Lorient was built in 1666for trade with China and the Far East?That’s where its name came from…

2Vases from China and from the Manufacture Royale de Sèvreswere highly appreciated at court, and you will see many of them in this exhibition. Only one here does not have a double... Find it!

Wallpaper, porcelain vase and ivoryfan from China.

– 5 –

Portraits of Louis XV (left)andthe Chinese Emperor,Qianlong(right).

The taste for China developed under Louis XV. His wife, MarieLeszczynska, even took part in the production of large Chinese paintingsfor her apartments. Henri-Léonard Bertin (whose portrait you will see inthis exhibition), well-known for his great knowledge of China and one ofLouis XV’s ministers, served as an intermediary between the King ofFrance and the Emperor of China. The portrait of the Qianlong Emperorthat you can see here was made on a porcelain plate that later belongedto Louis XVI.

EmPEROR

PEARL

BELONGED TO

THE QiNG

DYNASTY

3Take a close look at these two portraits and label each one.

HATKiNG

ARmOUR

cOLLARET

BELONGED TO

THE BOURBON

FAmiLY

FLEUR DE LYS

mOUSTAcHE

FUR

POWDERED

HAiR

– 6 –

Louis xvi: the Collector Kinge Rooms F to G f

– 6 –

Portraits of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.

Box in the form of a little dogand a game box mounted with a reclining man.

The interest for Chinacontinued under Louis XVI,who kept Bertin on as hisMinister. The King’s taste forChinese art can notably beseen in his private apartments.Officially, the King had to support French artisans. Marie-Antoinette also collectedobjects from the Far East inher Cabinet Doré (GildedStudy) at Versailles, some ofwhich came from her mother,Maria Theresa of Austria.

These two little lacquered boxesbelonged to Marie-Antoinette. They did not come from China, but rather from Japan. Connect the dots to discover the third object in the showcase: this animal is common in Asian art.

1

2 34

567

8

9

10 11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

20

19

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29 30

31

32

3335

34

37

36

38

3940

41

42

43

44

46

47

48

4950

51

52

45

4

– 7 –

La Pêche Chinoise. Piecein the second Chinesetapestries of Beauvais.

La Pêche Chinoise (Chinese FishingExpedition) is a French work produced by the Manufacture deBeauvais. This tapestry was wovenbased on a drawing by the painterFrançois Boucher. He had a passionfor Asian decorations and includedmany elements that make it seem asif the scene is taking place in China.Take a close look and find them.

5Two of these details are not in this tapestry.Can you tell which ones?

6

Phot

o Cr

edits

- Co

ver:© C. M

ilet ©

RMN Gran

d Pa

lais (P

alace of Versailles) / G. B

lot / J.M. M

anaï / T. Ollivier –

Graph

ic design: DES SIGNE

S studio Muchir D

esclouds. P

. 2:T

he A

stro

nom

ersJ.B

. Monnoyer, J.B

. Belin de Fontenay and G.L. Verna

nsal ©

Brid

geman Art. P

. 3:P

ortra

it of Louis XIV by J.

Garnier: © Palace of Versailles (d

ist. RM

N-Gran

d Pa

lais) /Ch

ristoph

e Fouin. The Porcelain To

wer b

y J. N

ieuh

off ©

Bibliothèque Municipale de Versailles. P

. 4:W

allpap

er and fa

n © Musée de la Com

pagn

ie des Indes Musée d’Art et d’Histoire

de la Ville de Lorient / Y. Boëlle and

G. B

roudic.Baluster vase:

© RMN- Grand

Palais (Palace of Versailles) / Christoph

e Fouin. P

. 5:P

ortra

it of Louis XV. Atelier d

e Louis Michel van

Loo ©

RMN-Grand Palais (P

alace of Versailles) / Gérard Blot. P

ortra

it of th

e Qianlong

Emperor b

y Asselin ©

RMN- GP (Palace of Versailles) / Je

an-M

arc Manaï. P

. 6:P

ortra

it of Louis

XVI b

y J.S

. Dup

lessis ©

Palace of Versailles (d

ist. RM

N-Gran

d Pa

lais) /Ch

ristoph

e Fouin. Marie Antoinette

with

a Rose by E.L. V

igée-Lebrun © Palace of Versailles (d

ist. RM

N-Grand Pa

lais)/Jean-Marc Man

aï. B

oxes ©

RMN-Gran

d Palais (P

alace of Versailles) / Thierry Ollivier. P

. 7:C

hinese Fishing

Expeditio

n, woven und

er th

e direction of A.C. C

harro

n © Centre

des Monum

ents Nationa

ux /D

avid Bordes. P.

8:R

ectang

ular platte

r with

Chinese decoration © RMN- Grand Palais (Palace of Versailles) / Christia

n Jean.

Booklet d

esigned by

www.pa

rismom

es.fr. D

esign: Maïa Bo

uteillet a

nd Elodie Co

ulon. G

raph

ic creation: Elodie Co

ulon.

This decoration, taken from a platter with Chinese decoration,was made by the Manufacture Royale de Porcelaine de Sèvresin 1775, in the style that was in fashion at Versailles at thetime. There are seven errors in the bottom picture. Can youfind them?