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Publication : “Versailles Mirrored: The Power of Luxury, Louis XIV to Donald Trump”.

Robert Wellington, Versailles Mirrored : The Power of Luxury, Louis XIV to Donald Trump, Londres, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2025, 256 p.
Présentation de l’éditeur :
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. Following a brief overview of the history of Versailles and the political and cultural motivations of its creation, 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 Château 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.
Robert Wellington is Associate Professor of Art History in the Centre for Art History and Art Theory, The Australian National University, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, London, and co-editor of The Versailles Effect (2021).
Table des matières
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction – World’s End
Part I | 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 II | 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 III | Generation Wealth
7 Tanned by the Sun King: Donald J. Trump
8 Return to Historicism: Emad Khashoggi
Postscript – A Hermès Scarf
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Maxime Georges Métraux (13 novembre 2025). Publication : “Versailles Mirrored: The Power of Luxury, Louis XIV to Donald Trump”. Groupe de Recherche en Histoire de l'Art Moderne. Consulté le 10 décembre 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/154zo


