Musée Lambinet, Versailles

24.35 A perfect complement to visiting the Château of Louis XIV

Aug 28, 2024

On a summer Sunday morning around 10:30 following a basket-heavy shop at the Notre Dame market in Versailles, we walked over to the Musée Lambinet on boulevard de la Reine. Built in 1752 by Joseph Barnabé Porchon, this beautiful hôtel particulier or private residence, was donated to the city in 1926 by Nathalie Lambinet and now houses the municipal museum of Versailles. Despite this functional description, the museum is a particularily rich visit, and is the perfect complement to a visit of the château and its grounds.

Paintings by Fragonard, Corot, Le Sidaner (L to R)

The collection is vast and varied with works by Corot, Delacroix, Corbet and Fragonard amongst others… period rooms, furniture, bibelots and sculpture across 3 floors and multiple rooms. Never overwhelming, it feels more like a voyage of discovery. The audioguide is a must! It is well conceived and even includes a wonderful immersive experience of the period rooms that envelops the visitor in the sounds and conversations of the 19th century residence. So well done, you may look over your shoulder when you hear the floorboards creaking.

Period rooms are perfectly accompanied by the museum's audioguide.

The exhibit also dedicates a section to the history of Versailles with particular attention to the Revolution. This provides a much needed enriched context to the château where the focus is on the history of the royalty. Whether before or after the city’s main attraction built by Louis XIV, the Musée Lambinet adds dimension to your day in Versailles, and gives a lovely overview of French culture and arts.

Are you visiting Versailles this week? or are you in Paris and curious to visit?

This Friday, 30 August in the evening there is a soirée on Art & Oenology from 19h30 - 21h30. There will be a dégustation of 5 wines accompanied by a presentation by Olivier Delorme, wine educator and a docent of the museum. A lovely way to pass an evening in the museum with the waning light of une soirée d’été.

For adults 18+ years of age, 30€ per person.

Details & Reserve

INFORMATION

Musée Lambinet
54, boulevard de la Reine
78000 Versailles
Wednesday - Friday 12 - 19h
Saturday - Sunday 10 - 19h

Imagine evening at the château of Versailles under Louis XIV, standing in the courtyard—the clip-clop of horses hooves, the rattle of a calèche or two or three, the low and constant murmur of voices, skirts swishing, laughter, music in the distance and illuminated windows all along the façade glowing with candlelight reflecting in the gold leaf woodwork and ornamentation. Mirrors and candles worked in concert to amplify the light in rooms before the advent of electricity.

Illumination was a marker of wealth, and Louis XIV dedicated a fortune to ensure Versailles was aglow in all its splendor—not only for the incredible mirrors lining the galerie des glaces, but also a significant amount on the thousands of candles supplied weekly by Cire Trudon to the royal household. These were not common candles made of tallow, but beeswax candles of superior quality and smell. The importance of appearance to maintain cultural and diplomatic dominance knew no budget limitations. Versailles glowed in all its glory.

In the mid-19th century, the expression was first used by anti-royalists speaking against the opulent and ostentatious spending of a royal court. Then as the kilowatt replaced the wick, the expression transferred to the consumption of electricity. From generation to generation since, French parents have used the expression to remind their children to turn off the lights to reduce the electric bill. So well-known is the expression that, as energy costs skyrocketed in France in 2019, it was featured in an advertising campaign by Total Energies, a major supplier of electricity and gas in the country, to “partner” with their clients by encouraging a lower energy consumption. The positive undercurrent of the expression today serves also as a reminder to reduce our unnecessary energy use while increasing our eco-responsible awareness.

Source: Le HuffPost, 14 September 2022

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