| Summary: | The desire of sovereigns to have spaces devoted to a form of existence withdrawn from the public developed beginning in the reign of Louis XIV. This practice was reinforced during the reign of Louis XV and did not spare the queen, Marie Leszczyńska, yet Trianon, used more systematically by Marie-Antoinette, seemed to be the focus of all attention. The result of an earlier movement rather than a real innovation, the personal domain made enough of an impression to be reactivated when the Bourbons returned to the throne in 1814. Although Louis XVIII’s wife had died in 1810, her niece, the Duchesse d’Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, also had an estate. Although little-known and little-studied, it should not be attempted to be understood in isolation. It should be integrated into the Bourbon practice of personal residences, and more particularly that of the princesses of the royal family. By considering the Château de Villeneuve in its relationship with Trianon, we can better understand what the estate owes to the queen’s practice, but also what it rejects and adapts to new times. Trianon acted as both a model and a deterrent, allowing the Duchesse d’Angoulême to propose a new type of residence, inspired much more by the practices of Bourbon princesses than by that of her mother alone. Villeneuve thus appeared to be a reasonable compromise between an aspiration to a private life and the need to assume her role at court.
|
|---|