Versailles and me Xavier Mauduit. “Versailles takes us back in time”

Columnist and presenter, Xavier Mauduit is above all a passionate historian of archives and places. Before participating in 28 Minutes on Arte or presenting Le Cours de l'Histoire on French culture, he defended a thesis on the House of Emperor Napoleon III. He is the author of numerous works including Flamboyant Second Empire! (with Corinne Ergasse, Albin Michel).

Comments collected by David Chanteranne, editor-in-chief

Could you tell us about your first memory of Versailles?

Xavier Mauduit: As for many of us I imagine, my first memory of Versailles is a school visit, in primary school. Without even knowing the details of French history, the splendor of the palace − and therefore the power of the king − fascinated the child that I was. When I think about it today, I tell myself that a few centuries later, I was touched by the splendor, as Louis XIV imagined it to dazzle his visitors. Through the profusion of works of art, the richness of the furniture, or the gilding, the success is total, timeless, and universal. However, my first memory of Versailles dates from my adolescence, with a visit to the gardens to discover the statues, the groves, and the flower beds. A very fun journey through what seemed to me to be a labyrinth, but which was not one, because everything was cleverly ordered. Happy visiting. Again, it was dazzling, but my first memory of Versailles was later when, as a young man, I was captain of a rented boat on the Grand Canal. It was a sporting and aesthetic adventure, with this incredible perspective on the castle, which moves away and then comes closer. I still have some aches and pains. I have other vivid memories of Versailles because each visit is an opportunity for a new encounter. The years pass and, although we don't change, we are no longer quite the same. This is the case with every visit to Versailles: there is always a discovery to be made!

If I ask you your best memory of Versailles, you will tell me that there are as many as there are visits!

X.M.: I would be tempted to say so! However, I keep the memory of a very special visit recently. Due to the health crisis, monuments and museums had been closed and, after confinement, their reopening provided the opportunity for a visit to Versailles. There was no one on the imposing esplanade in front of the castle, the image was incredible. No waiting at the checkouts, deserted rooms, with a few visitors who, like me, seemed fascinated and lost. I spoke with a supervisor who told me he never thought he would experience such a situation and who expressed his concern. Then I arrived in the Hall of Mirrors where I was…alone! You imagine the emotion in this mythical, fantasized, dazzling place. Usually, during our visits to these historic places which seem frozen in the past, we are reminded of the reality of our century when another visitor appears equipped with a cell phone, a cap, and jeans. In the deserted castle, it was a timeless moment, with the impression of being back in the 17th century, and the strange feeling of being privileged. However, there was a form of disappointment in this lonely visit, a little sadness: Versailles requires life and its history must be embodied.

Your history thesis focused on the House of the Emperor. As a specialist in the Second Empire, what importance do you give to palaces in the exercise of power?

X.M.: Under the Second Empire, the Palace of Versailles and the Trianon were within the remit of an institution to which I devoted my doctorate, the House of the Emperor. She was responsible for the maintenance and surveillance of the palaces, but also for the organization of the daily life of the sovereign, and therefore of the court. The Household of the Sovereign is defined by its attributions and by the staff who compose it, comparable to civil servants under the Second Empire. The court is more difficult to define when it comes to identifying those who are part of it: who is a courtier? A family member, a loved one, a minister? At least with the Emperor's Household, it's easy to know who's involved: whether it's honorary services or domestic service, the staff gets a salary! The court of Napoleon III was the last that France knew, at least an official court. The Second Empire revived the itinerant curial, which was the most common practice in the history of France. The sedentarization of the court at Versailles under Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI is an exception. Under the Second Empire, the sovereign couple and their entourage moved between the palaces of the Tuileries, Saint-Cloud, Fontainebleau, Compiègne, or even in the residences of Biarritz and Vichy. Other palaces fall within the attributions of the civil list, without the sovereigns occupying them: the Louvre, the Élysée, Meudon, Rambouillet, Pau, Strasbourg, Marseille, and Versailles, setting for grandiose ceremonies. This was the case in August 1864, with a party organized in honor of Don Francis of Assisi, King of Spain, husband of Queen Isabella II: performance at the opera, visit to the park, Grandes Eaux illuminated thanks to to electricity. The ceremony takes part in the “imperial celebration”, according to the expression coined a posteriori to describe the Second Empire. Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie wanted to evolve in sumptuous settings, they chose splendor to demonstrate how confident the regime is in its legitimacy and its sustainability: the celebration sends the message that the country is doing well, that France is prosperous and at peace. In this, the Second Empire is part of a long French tradition, in which we encounter Louis XIV and Napoleon: dazzle with splendor. The Second Empire adds a lightness constructed in a very intelligent way, a play of images where the sovereigns sometimes appear modest, dressed as bourgeois, and sometimes magnified, in uniform and crinolines, in the imperial palaces. What I show in my thesis is that after the Second Empire, which collapsed in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War, the Republic partly resumed this imperial splendor so that the president evolved in a framework that impressed: at the origins of the gold of the Republic, there is the imperial splendor.

You host a daily show on France Culture, Le Cours de l’Histoire, and write a column in 28 Minutes on Arte. Do the Ancien Régime in general and Versailles in particular occupy an important place?

X.M.: Every day on French Culture, in Le Cours de l’histoire, it is an immense pleasure to give the floor to specialists who present the fruit of their research during an hour of broadcast. The pleasure is just as great for my columns in 28 Minutes on Arte, when I tell a story in two minutes on Arte. These are two very different exercises, undoubtedly complementary. In any case, it’s a treat for me to learn every day! The Ancien Régime and Versailles are essential, as this period and this palace are linked to our history. In the brief stories that I tell on television, if I talk about ancient Mesopotamia or the kingdom of Abyssinia, in present-day Ivory Coast, I devote at least a third of my presentation to the context that I must specify, because it is little-known or to revive memories for spectators. But when it comes to Versailles, I don't need to elaborate at length: saying "Louis XIV" or "Versailles" is enough to evoke images, memories, and landmarks. They are part of our common history. Besides, I told you that the Ancien Régime and Versailles are essential: even when it comes to the kingdom of Abyssinia, we can come across the Sun King. In 1661 in Paris, Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, baptized a young black man. His name is Aniaba and he is the prince of Assinia. The godfather is Louis XIV who has this remarkable phrase: “There is no longer any difference between you and me except that you are black and I am white. » Unmissable, I tell you! This period offers us lots of stories to tell, surprising or edifying. I am constantly surprised by the liveliness of mind, by the relevance of analysis, and even by the humor of our ancestors of the Ancien Régime.

You know Versailles very well, but are you still amazed by the place?

X.M.: There is constant wonder at Versailles but, more than specific places, it is the details that always surprise me, these elements of the decor that we often pass by without paying attention to them. They are part of the sumptuous whole: without them, something is missing; taken individually, they are a marvel. I remember a handful of windows in front of which I stood in ecstasy. I don't remember which room, except that it overlooked the garden. This fine, chiseled, elegant metal joinery is a real gem. I am sensitive to the know-how, technical mastery, and aesthetic quality that such a work requires. Sometimes majesty is in the details.

What are your favorite places in Versailles?

X.M.: I have a weakness for the Battles Gallery, in the south wing of the castle, a vestige of the museum of French history wanted by Louis-Philippe, under the July Monarchy. It is a warlike narration of our past which gives the impression of being in a school textbook or a history book, as these 19th-century paintings were used as illustrations. Beyond the aesthetic emotion, it is the curiosity to encounter battles of which, for some, I would be hard-pressed to recount the progress, the ins and outs: the battle of Taillebourg, those of Mons-en -Pévèle or Cocherel. Conversely, when it comes to Wagram, Iéna, or Bouvines, it gives the impression of being as close as possible to an artistic rereading of the battles. In this gallery, the presence of busts of illustrious figures from our history reinforces the incarnation of figures from the past. This is the history of France, as it was imagined in the 19th century.

What does Versailles represent to you: is it well anchored in its time?

X.M.: Versailles is often reduced to the reign of Louis foreign sovereigns, and of course signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, without forgetting the visit of the Kennedy couple, received by General de Gaulle in Versailles in 1961. The long historical thread is written beyond reigns and political regimes for a castle which, after having been royal or imperial, is today national: it is our heritage.

If you were given a magic wand, what would you do for Versailles?

X.M.: I wonder if Versailles is not in itself a magic wand, capable of taking us back in time. In our world full of images, it is easy to find photographs of Versailles on the Internet, sometimes of very high quality. It is also possible to visit Versailles remotely, virtually. However, nothing replaces the emotion of being physically in the castle. This is the only way to capture the volumes, the echo in the rooms, the creak of a floorboard, the perfume in the gardens, and to see the decor evolve according to the changes in light when a large cloud passes by. or when the sun comes back. With the magic wand that you offer me, I would like to slip behind the scenes of Versailles, into these places that cannot be visited: the service corridors, the cellars, the warehouses, the kitchens. The ideal would be to go there in August 1855 and attend, from the kitchens, the preparation of the party organized by Napoleon III on the occasion of Queen Victoria's visit to France, for 'The World Exhibition. What an adventure it must be to go behind the scenes of the castle and observe the excitement at the time of deliveries, meal preparation, and service with the busy staff − the one I studied for my thesis: the military commander of the palace who gives orders to the supervisors, the manager who directs the linens, the doormen and the servicemen, the kitchen staff, who come from the Tuileries, and the chamberlains, the house marshals, the squires, the aides-de-camp, the ladies of the palace, to offer the most beautiful celebration. This is why Versailles is perhaps a magic wand, through its ability to make us dream.