Château de Versailles - Exhibition: Genius and Majesty: Louis XIV by Bernini

Cultural

From Tuesday 03 June to Sunday 28 September 2025

Every day except Monday

Location : Château de Versailles

Enlarge

Presentation

From 3 June to 28 September 2025, the Château de Versailles is staging an exhibition focusing on the famous Bust of Louis XIV, created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, a major figure of 17th-century Italian Baroque better known in France as Le Bernin.

The bust of Louis XIV, sculpted in 1665 by Bernini, is one of the most emblematic works in the collections of the Château de Versailles, and one of the masterpieces of 17th-century sculpture. Since 1684, visitors have been able to admire it in the Salon de Diane, at the heart of the Grands Appartements du Roi. The exhibition will look back at the background to the creation of this now famous portrait, and will also reveal the artist's working method and the special bond that developed between the sculptor and the King of France. It will also give the public a unique opportunity to see this work up close, which is usually displayed high up and at a distance from visitors.

The first room will present the main protagonists of Bernini's trip to France (2 June - 20 October 1665), which saw the birth of what some art historians have described as ‘the most grandiose Baroque portrait’.

The second room, focusing on Bernini's own work, will present his influences and the French “responses” to this masterpiece. French Classicism versus Italian Baroque: a confrontation that would also be repeated during the reign of Louis XV.

Drawn from public and private collections in France and abroad, the works on display at the Château de Versailles tell the story of this key moment in the history of sculpture.

General information