Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Court Pomp: Court Dress in Europe 1650-1800 -- An Exhibition at Versailles


Who would like to purchase a plane ticket with me to fly to Paris and to travel out to Versailles to see the superb exhibition of court dress now on display?

Oh, we can dream, anyhow.

Meanwhile, the museum has thoughtfully posted a superb exhibition website, with pictures of some of the artifacts, from jeweled necklaces worn by court ladies, gowns with panniers so wide they'd never go through any of our modern doorways, and embroidery-encrusted men's coats. The pieces come from all over Europe, and to see them gathered together must be almost overwhelming, especially when set against the backdrop of Versailles rooms, overwhelming in themselves!

Photo: the exhibition homepage, or part of it. It moves...

The site is in French and English (look in the upper right corner of the screen to choose your language). "The Exhibition" section includes lots of information about the exhibition rooms and how the event was set up. "The Works" is a slideshow of items. Use the right and left arrows to move the images around (sometimes it starts at the end of the show, and you have to use the left arrow...) and click on an image to read more about the object shown.

Photo: Court dress worn by Sophie Madeleine of Sweden (1746-1813) for her coronation: bodice, skirt, and skirt tail.

Fair warning: the website uses lots of Flash and sometimes gets stuck. If it sticks on your machine, unstick it by heading to the homepage and then start over.

Visit Court Pomp: Court Dress in Europe 1650-1800 -- An Exhibition at Versailles >>

1 comment:

Lauren Christine said...

Oh, I want to go! :) I had so much fun looking at the website. Thanks for sharing!