Second Room of the Apartments at Versailles by Antoine Trouvain

Second Room of the Apartments at Versailles 1694 - 1698

print, engraving

toned paper

print

pencil sketch

sculpture

charcoal drawing

charcoal art

unrealistic statue

pencil drawing

france

portrait drawing

engraving

pencil art

statue

This etching by Antoine Trouvain depicts a scene from the royal apartments at Versailles. The print, titled "Second Room of the Apartments at Versailles", was created between 1694 and 1698 and shows a group of men and women seated around a table, likely engaged in a game of cards. The detailed depiction of the interior setting provides viewers with a glimpse into the lavish lifestyle of the French aristocracy during the late 17th century. The work is now part of the Minneapolis Institute of Art's collection, showcasing the intricate artistry of French printmaking.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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Versailles was known as a gambling den ("ce tripot"), and fortunes were won and lost in an evening of gaming in the Appartements. While Louis XIV was said to prefer billiards, cards were most popular among the courtiers, with games like Reversi and 21, along with roulette, which was forbidden by the Pope and banned in the city of Paris. By the late 1690s, the king spent less and less time at the evening entertainments, and Antoine Trouvain's engravings, not surprisingly, portray the younger generation of the court at play. Sitting at this card table with "Monseigneur," the Grand Dauphin or heir to the throne, are two of Versailles most fashionable ladies, Louise-Françoise, "Madame la Duchesse" (no. 4) and Marie Anne de Conti, "Madame la Princesse" (no. 2), both of whom were the illegitimate daughters of the king, by different mistresses, and thus half-sisters of the Dauphin. Their tenuous birth was rectified by the prestigious marriages arranged for them with two princes of blood.