La Régence À Paris, 1715-1723 : L'aube Des Lumières

Exhibition at the Musée Carnavalet, Paris, 20 October 2023 - 25 February 2024

"The Regency is a whole century in eight years. (Jules Michelet)

The Regency officially began on 2 September 1715, on the death of Louis XIV, with a veritable coup d'état. Under the government of the Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, Paris changed: the young Louis XV left Versailles and moved to the Tuileries Palace in Paris, where he remained until June 1722. The Regent moved to the Palais-Royal, where he transformed the city into a capital through enlightened patronage and political intrigue.

Through more than 200 works (paintings, sculptures, graphics, decorative elements and pieces of furniture) from public and private collections, this exhibition catalogue exposes, with great historical acuity, the socio-economic, cultural and aesthetic changes at work. Organised thematically, the book gives an account of a multi-faceted modernity during which the first manifestations of the Enlightenment saw the light of day.