The Sun King & the Court of Versailles

Wednesday 5 June 2024 at 2.00 pm at the Lowther Pavilion.  Guests may attend the lecture – £10 pp (pay on door)

The lecture notes leaflet can be downloaded/printed here

Lecturer: Jane Gardiner

This will be Jane’s first lecture to The Arts Society Fylde. She has an MA History of Art, University of London. She trained at the V&A and continues to lecture there. Previously, she was a Senior Lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art for 17 years, becoming a Deputy Director of Sotheby’s, UK. Jane has lectured for the National Trust, the Art Fund, London University, Buckingham University, l’Institut d’Etudes Superieures des Arts in Paris, a private women’s college in Saudi Arabia, on cruise ships, and at antiques fairs and interior design conferences in America.

The Lecture

For all the things that have been written about the great Sun King, Louis XIV, he is best remembered for the creation of Versailles; the immense chateau, which he built on the site of his father’s old hunting lodge and which became the seat of French government, the setting for all grand court ceremonial and the envy of every other European monarch. This lecture will be an introduction to the sumptuous state apartments, the vast gardens and pleasure pavilions, the spectacular entertainments which took place both inside and out, the collections of the King and the whole etiquette of life at one of the greatest courts in Europe.

Caption: Grille royale du château de Versailles (Creative Commons).