Research seminar “Versailles: art et histoire”
In the current academic year (2025/26), the Centre de recherche du château de Versailles is organising a research seminar for students registered at its university and member institutions.
The exclusively interdisciplinary seminar will at all times be considering the history of art in association with social and political history, based around five themes focusing primarily on Versailles, and more generally on the places and expression of monarchical power.
First sequence: “Art and the Court: history and practice” (an overview of the historiography of the French court). This will be followed by discovering in situ the rites and ceremonies associated with the sovereign’s everyday life.
Second sequence: “Court Society and culture” (Versailles habitat and court networks, cultural practices associated with this lifestyle).
Third sequence: “Women at Versailles”.
Fourth sequence: “Celebrations and entertainment” (public spaces and the more private side of Versailles).
Fifth sequence: “Court and palace after the Ancien Régime” (the history of the château after the French Revolution and its transformation into a museum).
The seminar is directed by Flavie Leroux and Bastien Coulon, research officers at the Centre de recherche du château de Versailles.
For the 2025-2026 academic year, the seminar will take place on Mondays from January 12 to February 9, 2026.
Call for Applications
Applications must be submitted before October 20, 2025, to the organizers, Flavie Leroux and Bastien Coulon. They should include a short curriculum vitae and, in one to two pages maximum, a cover letter outlining the applicant’s research interests in relation to the seminar.
