Le Petit Trianon (Versailles, France) 1768, Neoclassical

Eastern façade

Le Petit Trianon

Western Façade

In 1768 the building of Le Petit Trianon was completed on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles. Designed by architect Agne-Jaques Gabriel, it has been referred to as “the perfect home”.  Originally meant to be an escape for the King and his mistress Madame de Pompador, she passed away four years before it’s completion. The layout was exactly as described, a “petit” or miniature version of a palace. With a richly decorated interior thanks to Robert Couturier, perhaps the most notable inhabitant was Marie-Antionette, wife of Louis XVI. The location is set near the edge of the woods, where it was meant to feel like a true escape, even if only yards away from the Palace. 

      The structure is said to be a perfect balance of Baroque and Rococo styles, in Neoclassical fashion. The entrance is at the eastern façade. The western façade features rounded corinthian columns, with the center columns being set away from the walls and the outer left and right columns being partially embedded. There is a terrace with split staircase on either end to access the English Garden. The building has clean lines and a symmetrical layout of windows on opposite facades. It is cubic in form, appearing to be perhaps one floor with very high ceilings, but it is actually is 4 levels. As you progress around to eastern side of the building meant for service entry, the façade and columns become more simplified and smoother. The columns, although maintaining corinthian capitals, are flattened and partially embedded into the façade for a paired down look. 

The main staircase that provided a centralized access to the ground and first level, and was located toward the south of the building. The axial layout continues through each level. The ground floor has service as well as a billiards room and a gallery. On the second level, the stairway serves to create a separation between public and private spaces, with the dining hall and small salon to the west, and the dressing room, bedroom and boudoir to the right. The restroom is located in the center of the structure, with the grand salon on the northern side of the building. On this level the main staircase ends and a secondary staircase begins. It sits in the south-east corner of the building and leads from the dressing room, to the mezzanine level, and up to the top floor. The mezzanine level contained a library, room for the first lady in waiting and Madame Campan’s room. This level is accessible via a staircase tucked into the south-east corner of the building. The top floor of Le Petit Trianon was intended to be the most private spaces, with chambers allotted for Louis XV, Marie-Louis and the Dutchesse d’Orleans. 

 

        The idea of having a smaller version of one’s own home in some regard, became a trend that many wealthy and royal people of the time started to follow. It was a way for them to feel as if they were able to understand the common people, in essence trying to get a sense of what it was like to live like them. Marie Antionette, for one, took that concept a bit too far some might say. On the grounds of Le Petit Trianon, she had a peasant farm built. She named it “The Hameau”, and she would spend her days there pretending to be a peasant. There were paid workers who ran the farm, which also provided provisions for the Palace. Le Petit Trianon was important because it showed that at a time when court-life was crucial to many, even the royals felt the excessiveness of it and wanted to escape it. The Architecture is clearly a depart from the traditional styles of the palace which are much more ornate.





Bibliography:

“The Petit Trianon: Boston Architectural Club Yearbook 1913”

BEING A REPRODUCTION OF PLATES FROM A WORK BY JAMES A. ARNOTT AND JOHN WILSON, ARCHITECTS, OF EDINBURGH 

The Architectural Book Publishing Company 1913