In the 19th century, the Palace of Versailles experienced a revival. Louis-Philippe, King of France since 1830, decided to create there a Museum of the History of France, dedicated “to all the glories of France.”
After the French Revolution, the
...In the 19th century, the Palace of Versailles experienced a revival. Louis-Philippe, King of France since 1830, decided to create there a Museum of the History of France, dedicated “to all the glories of France.”
After the French Revolution, the Palace was largely abandoned by France’s political powers. It was only with the accession of Louis-Philippe (cousin of Louis XVI) in 1830 that the Palace of Versailles came back to life. Passionate about history, the king decided in 1833 to remodel the Palace, stripping it of its role as a royal residence and transforming it into a museum.
The collection brought together paintings, sculptures, drawings, and engravings depicting major figures and events from the history of France, from its origins to the present. These works came from former royal and private collections, as well as contemporary creations produced during Louis-Philippe’s reign. To achieve this, the king commissioned his architect Frédéric Nepveu to transform the habitable sections of the North and South Wings into museum galleries.
Inaugurated in 1837, the museum served Louis-Philippe as a tool of propaganda, helping him legitimize his position as king while also attempting to reconcile supporters of the different regimes.
Following Louis-Philippe’s fall in 1848, Napoleon III continued developing the museum. It was only at the end of the 19th century that curator Pierre de Nolhac restored Versailles’ character as a royal residence and reorganized the collections.
Today, the Museum of the History of France is closed to the public. Only a few rooms remain accessible as part of the guided tour *“Versailles Through the Centuries”* organized by the Palace of Versailles.
This museum “dedicated to all the glories of France” is today composed of the following rooms:
* the Hall of the Crusades
* the Halls of Africa, Crimea, and Italy
* the Hall of the Empire
* the North and South Attics
