An exhibition at London's Science Museum explores the Palace of Versailles's lesser-known history as a hub of scientific innovation during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Any mention of the Palace of Versailles is likely to summon images of gilt panelling, extravagant coiffure and majestic avenues radiating into the landscape—those lingering symbols of both grandeur and frivolity. But unless you count a faux window and some wooden topiary, all of that barely gets a look in at Versailles : Science and Splendour. This elegantly eccentric exhibition at London’s Science Museum concentrates instead on the palace’s lost reputation as a centre of scientific excellence.
A version of the show appeared at the palace itself, 14 years ago, but it has been reimagined for London and includes many new objects. One — an intricate gold timepiece created for Marie Antoinette that was 40 years in the making — is making its UK debut. The engine of the exhibition is the relationship between science and power in the 17th and 18th centuries (the reigns of Louis XIV, XV and XVI), a time when France was a dominant political, cultural and military force in Europe. For such a vast, ambitious subject, its collection of 100 or so objects seems a modest assembly, but considering every item within the palace walls was pillaged or sold off during the French Revolution, it’s an impressive feat to bring them together. They are also choice pieces, miracles of ingenuity or beauty — often both — that together tell a story of wonder and obsessions, of theft, shipwrecks and knuckle-gnawing medicine. We begin in the mid-1660s, when work began on turning a former hunting pavilion at Versailles into a vast architectural glory fit for the Sun King (it became France’s seat of power in 1682). At the same time, the founding of a Royal Academy of Sciences established a quid pro quo between the king and the scientists in his employ, whose work might benefit the realm — astronomy to improve navigation, geometry and chemistry for better artillery, and so o
Versailles Science Museum EXHIBITION History Of Science French Revolution
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