L'album De Marie-Antoinette Recueil Des Vues Et Plans Du Petit Trianon

In 1774, Marie-Antoinette took possession of the Petit Trianon and redesigned its gardens. Following the fashion of the time, she created an English or Anglo-Chinese garden from scratch, an Eden of undulating terrain and elegant buildings. In 1781, the Queen commissioned her architect, Richard Mique, to produce several large watercolour collections, true portraits of her new estate. The subtle watercolours of the painter Claude Louis Châtelet capture the enchanting atmosphere of the place.

This book by Élisabeth Maisonnier, chief curator at the Château de Versailles and head of the drawing room, reproduces Marie-Antoinette's personal copy and devotes a study to it which highlights the special place of the Petit Trianon in the fashion for English gardens at the end of the 18th century.