Montalivet Database (representation of history)

This database aims to bring together, comprehensively, the artworks conserved in the History Galleries of Versailles from when they were inaugurated in 1837 to when they were dismantled in 1892. It focuses particularly on the paintings, sculptures and drawings showing scenes from the history of France that formed the collections of this vast museum.

Rather than a catalogue of the collections, here it is a question of creating a truly thematic iconographic database of the works exhibited in the History Galleries of the Palace of Versailles. The point of the database, in concert with the theme of the research programme, will be to enable its content to be examined through historical and iconographic elements present in the artwork and in the historical period represented, through the identity of the characters and the locations where the events take place, as well as through key words referring to specific attributes (fleurs de lys, crown, sceptre, royal cloak, etc.). Finally, it will also offer the user data on the whereabouts of the artworks throughout the relevant chronological period as well as their current location, so that the movement of the collections can be studied in time and space.

This database has been developed by Bastien Coulon, research officer at the Centre de recherche du château de Versailles, with the collaboration of Isabelle Pluvieux, Head of Department, in charge of the databases at the Centre de recherche du château de Versailles.