In this week’s blog post, Costume Society News Editor Dr Babette Radclyffe-Thomas reviews the textiles on show at The Science Museum’s Versailles: Science and Splendour exhibition.
Versailles: Science and Splendour has opened at London’s Science Museum and explores how Versailles, the seat of the royal monarchy from 1682 to 1789, became the ultimate statement of France’s power and prestige. Exploring a 120-year journey through the evolution of science at Versailles, the exhibition details how the monarchs Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI encouraged scientific pursuit and scientific knowledge to become widespread, fashionable, and a tool of power to enhance the France’s prestige.
“Versailles: Science and Splendour reveals stories of the individuals and innovations which played a key role in enhancing France’s prestige and extending its influence. The exhibition highlights how science flourished at Versailles, from the kings’ personal interest in luxurious scientific instruments and spectacular demonstrations, to its strategic role beyond the palace through newly founded institutions and scientific expeditions” said, Glyn Morgan, Curatorial Lead for Exhibitions at the Science Museum.
The exhibition was developed with the Palace of Versailles and showcases more than 120 objects spread across five thematic rooms. Objects on display for the first time in the UK include Louis XV’s rhinoceros, a royal portrait of a pineapple and the world’s most famous watch, Breguet’s No. 160 ‘Marie Antoinette’, which was made for Marie Antoinette. On loan from the L. A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art, in 1783 one of the greatest watchmakers of all time, Abraham-Louis Breguet was given an unlimited budget to craft an exceptional timepiece for Queen Marie-Antoinette. The timepiece became Breguet’s masterpiece and was famously crafted over four decades from the finest materials including sapphires, platinum and gold.
The key focus of the exhibition is clearly science but there are various dress history and textile highlights. The fourth room, ‘Advancing Medicine’, details how monarchs and members of the royal family helped change the perception of surgery and promoted inoculation against smallpox by allowing their sacred bodies to be subject to new medical procedures. In this room, the ‘Ruban à l’inoculation’ fashion plate circa 1788 from the Gallery of French Fashions and Costumes, shows a woman wearing a pink spotted inoculation ribbon. This style was probably inspired by fashion trendsetter Queen Marie-Antoinette who sported a headdress à l’inoculation following her husband’s recovery.
There is also a life-sized fabric model designed and used by renowned midwife Madame du Coudray for teaching the safe delivery of babies. Born outside the nobility, to a family of doctors, Madame du Coudray rose to prominence through her pioneering practical training of midwives. Over 25 years, Madame du Coudray trained over 5,000 women across France and contributed to reducing mortality. While other obstetrics models were used in Europe, her sophisticated life-sized mannequins were renowned and envied abroad. such as the seven-month foetus and womb parts circa 1778 on display. Part of the only surviving mannequin, a seven-month fetus and womb parts a is showcased in the exhibition.
There are many royal portraits of fashion trendsetter Madame de Pompadour and a circa 1717 portrait by Augustin-Oudart Justinat of Louis XV as a child dressed in an extremely ornate outfit. A grand portrait of La Peyronie, Louis XV’s surgeon who was instrumental in founding the French Academy of Surgery, by Hyacinthe Rigaud in 1743, France’s leading portraitist. He is depicted in a rich velvet coat and holding a copy of Memoirs of the New Academy, highlighting La Peyronie’s status.
The exhibition runs until 21 April 2025.
