Undertaken in the context of an ethnological survey entitled “The marble decorations of the Palace of Versailles, from quarry to building. The skills of the marble masons of the Montagne Noire (Minervois)” conducted by the Centre de recherche du château de Versailles and the Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée, the Marbles of Versailles Database is being produced by the Centre de recherche and will be published online by the Réunion des musées nationaux.
It will present a history of the palace and estate of Versailles seen through the lens of its marble decorations.
The study concerns every marble decorative fixture, either currently in place or having ever been in place, in the Palace of Versailles or its gardens, and the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon palaces, their gardens or outbuildings. Regarding the buildings’ interiors, such decorations include fireplaces, columns and floors, while for the exteriors they include pedestals, benches and copings; furniture, sculptures and objets d’art are not included. A succinct reference will also be made to any unfinished projects.
Any marble objects in place when the database is constructed will be located on an up-to-date site map and information will be provided, while the others will be referred to in the texts. Each object will be described in visual and historical terms and cross-referenced to an index of the marbles used to make it, each marble being cross-referenced where possible with the quarry whence it came.
The sources used to document the creation, reconstruction, restoration or removal of the decorations, during the 17th to 21st centuries, primarily comprise, for handwritten documents, entries in accounts, quotes, records and statements regarding the condition and order of delivery and, for figurative sources, plans, elevations and photographs. Most are kept at the Archives nationales (Paris and Saint-Denis sites) and at the archive department at the Palace of Versailles. In each collection, the archives concerning works carried out in the royal, imperial or national buildings have been systematically scrutinised.
Other references further enrich the database: old printed sources, primarily descriptions of Versailles by André Félibien and Jean-Aymar Piganiol de La Force, and recent studies, including a work by Sophie Mouquin, Versailles en ses marbres (Paris, Arthena, 2018).
In addition, the database is abundantly illustrated by recent photographs of conserved decorations and plans and elevations that have been digitised as part of the VERSPERA project, in the case of decorations and spaces that no longer exist.
The various parts of the palace that no longer exist, including the apartments in the Aile du Midi and Aile du Nord wings, and the old groves of trees, are considered in their various successive states. The courtiers who requested the marble, and the palace apartments in which they lived, located with the help of the work by William Ritchey Newton, L’Espace du roi (Paris, Fayard, 2000), are referenced and indexed with the aim of creating a dialogue between the “Marbres de Versailles” database, the VERSPERA project and the “Prosocour” et Immersailles databases.
This project is coordinated by Cyril Pasquier, Research Officer at the Centre de recherche du château de Versailles.
The texts to make the database are due to be completed by late 2025 and published online in 2027.
At a later date, yet to be determined, a second phase will have a wider scope, to include the ministers’ wings and certain other royal annexes in the town, starting with the Grande Écurie and Petite Écurie.
Bernard Ancer, in charge of General Affairs at the Centre de recherche of the château de Versailles (until 06/30/2018);
Lionel Arsac, Heritage Curator In the Sculpture department of the château de Versailles;
Annie Blanc, Engineer Emeritus at the Laboratoire de recherche des monuments historiques, Doctor of Petrography;
Philippe Blanc, Geologist, Doctor of Petrography;
Geneviève Bresc-Bautier, Honorary Director of the sculpture department at the musée du Louvre;
Jean-Baptiste Corne, Doctor in History Of Art, 2BDM architectural agency;
Alexandre Maral, General Heritage Curator, Head of the Sculpture department of the château de Versailles (until 05/11/2024);
Sophie Mouquin, Lecturer in the History of Modern Art at the Université de Lille, Institut de recherches historiques du Septentrion (IRHIS);
Sandrine Pallandre, Head of the Estate Resources service at the Heritage and Gardens department au château de Versailles;
Cyril Pasquier, Research Officer at the Centre de recherche du château de Versailles;
Pierre-Hippolyte Pénet, Chief Heritage Curator, responsible for the architecture, sculptures and decorations at the château de Versailles;
Isabelle Pluvieux, Responsible for websites and databases at the Centre de recherche du château de Versailles;
Emmanuel Sarméo, Doctor in History Of Art, 2BDM architectural agency;
Francis Tourneur, geologist at the Walloon Geological Department (Walloon Region);
Patrick de Wever, Professor at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (until the end of 2016).