Roulez carrosses !

The palace of Versailles in Arras

"Roulez carrosses!" is the first exhibition in France devoted to horse-drawn coaches and carriages and, in this case, historical examples, all totally luxurious in every detail and all different: carriages for the outings of the children of Louis XVI, a sumptuous berline for the wedding of Napoleon I, the hearse of Louis XVIII, the coronation coach of Charles X, etc.

Other outstanding masterpieces from the collections of Versailles accompany them: a series of paintings by Van der Meulen, major royal portraits, or unique vehicles like these fantasy sledges in which Louis XV and then Marie-Antoinette were pulled over the snow-covered walks of the park of Versailles.

This book describes episodes from the political history of the palace, dynastic events and customs of the court, narrated and commented on here by eminent historians.

Fans of handsome horse-drawn vehicles will discover the grand coaches for ceremonial occasions – from the "modern coach" invented in the reign of Louis XIV to the coaches for state ceremonies of the presidents of the Republic – along with their technical innovations, the refinement of their accessories and the extreme lavishness of their ornamentation, at a time when the art of French coach-building was at its apogee.

with the supervision of Béatrix Saule
Skira Flammarion , 2012
26 x 26 cm, 256 pages