Famous work · not an exact-location map point
Reception of the Grand Condé at Versailles
Louis XIV receiving the victorious Grand Condé on the Ambassadors' Staircase at Versailles — a staircase Gérôme had to reconstruct, because it was pulled down in 1752.
No single real-world viewpoint
A reconstruction of a 1674 court ceremony on the Ambassadors' Staircase — demolished in 1752 — worked up by Gérôme from engravings; a historical-event tableau, not a real viewpoint.
Reception of the Grand Condé at Versailles — at a glance
- Artist
- Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904)
- Year
- 1878
- Movement
- French Academic art / history painting
- Place
- The Escalier des Ambassadeurs, Château de Versailles, France
- Viewpoint
- A reconstruction of a grand staircase demolished in 1752 — its site is in the palace, but the space is gone
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- c. 74 × 100 cm
- Now at
- Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Overview
The Reception of the Grand Condé by Louis XIV is a history painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, made in 1878. It shows the moment in December 1674 when the prince de Condé — ‘the Grand Condé’, back from his campaigns in Franche-Comté and Alsace but crippled by gout — climbs the great staircase of Versailles to be received by the King, who comes partway down to meet him, courtiers ranged on the steps. It is oil on canvas, about 74 by 100 cm, and it hangs in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
Where was Reception of the Grand Condé at Versailles painted?
Scholarship The setting is the Escalier des Ambassadeurs, the sumptuous marble-and-fresco grand staircase that was the ceremonial entrance to the state apartments of Versailles from the 1670s. Louis XV had it demolished in 1752 to make room for other works. Gérôme reconstructed it for the painting from surviving engravings, descriptions and fragments, so he is showing a real, historically important space that visitors to Versailles today cannot see — only its site within the palace. Versailles itself, of course, survives and is a museum.
What is in the painting?
The wide marble staircase rises steeply, its walls painted with illusionistic architecture and figures, busts in niches, a coffered light well above. Condé, bare-headed, leaning on the balustrade and a cane, mounts the lower steps; Louis XIV, in a plumed hat, descends a few steps towards him with a welcoming gesture; the Dauphin and a crowd of courtiers in wigs and silks fill the stairs and landings. Bright, even daylight from the glazed roof.
Look closely
The two principals
The King descends a few steps with a welcoming gesture; Condé climbs towards him, leaning on the balustrade and a cane.
The illusionistic walls
The staircase walls carry painted architecture and figures, busts in niches — Gérôme's reconstruction of the lost décor.
The crowd of courtiers
Wigged, silk-clad courtiers fill the steps and landings in exact period dress.
The roof light
Even daylight falls from the glazed light well above the staircase.
Analysis
Composition and technique
A steep, richly decorated staircase as a stage, with the King descending and the old general climbing to meet him.
Scholarship Gérôme uses the diagonal of the staircase to bring the two principals together at its centre, surrounds them with a meticulously reconstructed décor and a crowd of exact period costumes, and lights the whole thing evenly from above. The precise historical setting is as much the subject as the meeting.
History & provenance
The painting is in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
Sources
- Musée d'Orsay, Paris — collection entry for Jean-Léon Gérôme, ‘Réception du Grand Condé à Versailles’ (1878)
- Château de Versailles — history of the Escalier des Ambassadeurs (built 1670s, demolished 1752)
Related paintings
Arrival of the French Ambassador in Venice
1727
Canaletto's ceremonial reception on the Molo of Venice — the same subject, a Venetian quay instead of a French staircase.
The Coronation of Napoleon
1807
David's state ceremony in Notre-Dame — French court spectacle on the grandest scale.
The Death of Leonardo da Vinci
1818
Ingres reconstructing a historic French-royal scene, as Gérôme does here.
More by Jean-Léon Gérôme
Phryne before the Areopagus
Bonaparte Before the Sphinx
The Duel After the Masquerade
