Versailles Mirrored
The Power of Luxury, Louis XIV to Donald Trump
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Product details:
- Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
- Date of Publication 2 October 2025
- Number of Volumes Hardback
- ISBN 9781350451315
- Binding Hardback
- No. of pages256 pages
- Size 236x162x20 mm
- Weight 700 g
- Language English
- Illustrations 48 colour illus. 692
Categories
Short description:
A history of the Palace of Versailles as the paradigm of cultural capital in Western architecture, interior design, and material culture from the 17th century to the present.
MoreLong description:
Why has Louis XIV's Palace of Versailles, defining symbol of hedonistic opulence in 17th-century France and synonymous with the notion of the divine right of kings, continued to shape the aesthetics of cultural capital in the centuries since his death?
In Versailles Mirrored, Robert Wellington tracks this enduring fascination with the Sun King's palace through eight case studies spanning the 17th to 21st centuries. The book demonstrates how the extravagant palace style began as a symbol of the state in the 17th century; how it was adopted by the nouveau riche to show off their financial success in the 19th century; and, remarkably, how that palace look returned to play a role in statecraft in the hands of US President Donald Trump. Wellington links the aristocratic architectural traditions of France, England, and Germany to North America through the lens of Versailles, French architecture, and the decorative arts.
Opening with a brief overview of the history of Versailles and the political and cultural motivations of its creation, subsequent chapters address aristocratic buildings in France and Germany built by the Sun King's contemporaries; historicism in the 19th century in Britain, Germany, and America; and the present day, with Trump's buildings and Chï¿1⁄2teau Louis XIV, known as the 'world's most expensive home', purchased by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
In uncovering the motivations of those patrons, the book ultimately reveals why Versailles remains a powerful point of reference for those who wish to flaunt their social, cultural, and political capital.
Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction - World's End
Part 1: The Old Regime
1. Making Versailles: Louis XIV
2. The Inveterate Francophile: Ralph Montagu
3. Reflections of the Sun: John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
Part 2: The Age of Historicism
4. Sun King to Moon King: Ludwig II of Bavaria
5. Gilded Age Ambitions: Alva Vanderbilt
6. Frenchified Blenheim: Sunny, 9th Duke of Marlborough
Part 3: Generation Wealth
7. Tanned by the Sun King: Donald J. Trump
8. Return to Historicism: Emad Khashoggi
Postscript - A Hermï¿1⁄2s scarf
Bibliography
Notes
Index
