A mechanical painting for Versailles

10/2/24 - Acquisition - Versailles, Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon - The many visitors to the exhibition "Louis XV, passions d’un roi" (see article) will certainly not have forgotten the astonishing mechanical painting (ill. 1) devoted to the young monarch’s education, whose recent - and timely - reappearance provided an opportunity to understand the role of a small anonymous painting kept by the Musée Carnavalet since the end of the 19th century (ill. 2 and 3): in it, the young king appears to be almost crushed between his tutor, the future Cardinal de Fleury, and the Regent Philippe d’Orléans.

Recently restored, the small oil on copper was displayed next to this mechanical painting, of which it forms the third scene, depicting the infant king being introduced to the art of fortifications - poliorcetics, according to Hélène Delalex’s extensive notes - with the help of large plans. Various scientific instruments on the floor evoke Mathematics or Geography, and form a veritable still life. The unidentified palatial setting has all the hallmarks of a theatrical set, and probably does not represent the Tuileries Palace or any other real building.

Presented until now…