Terms and conditions of use
Fourth day – the banquet, for which a table was set in the marble court at the palace of Versailles…
(Quatrième journée – Festin, dont la table estoit dressée autour de la fontaine de la cour de marbre du Chasteau de Versailles…)
1676
plate 4 from Les Divertissemens de Versailles donnez par le Roy à toute sa cour au retour de la conqueste de la Franche-Comté en l’année 1674 (Festivities at Versailles given by the King to his court following the conquest of Franche-Comté in 1674) (1676)
Medium
etching and engraving
Measurements
27.2 × 41.0 cm (image) 29.7 × 41.8 cm (plate) 45.6 × 59.0 cm (sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Mr George Collins Levey, 1879
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
This plate depicts a lavish banquet at Versailles. A grand fountain is surrounded by tables piled with delicacies, while courtiers wait on the sidelines, held back by soldiers. Though the scene appears orderly, it captures the calm before the storm. After the king and ladies had dined, it was customary for the rest of the court to rush the tables in a frenzied scramble known as the ‘looting of the buffets’. According to court historian André Félibien, the chaotic destruction of these extraordinary displays presented ‘pleasant divertissement for all the court’.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Paris, France
Catalogue/s Raisonné
IFF 911
Printing/Publishing
published by l’Imprimerie Royale, Paris
Inscription
printed in ink l.l.: Quatriéme Journée / Festin, dont la table estoit dressée autour de la fontaine de la cour de marbre du Chasteau/ de Versailles, au dessus de laquelle s’élevoit une Colonne toute de lumiere
printed in ink l.r.: Dies Quartus / Caena, cujus mensa extructa erat circa fontem marmorei cavaedij Versaliarum…
printed in ink l.r.: le Pautre Sculps. 1676
Accession Number
p.183.87-1
Departments
International Prints / International Prints and Drawings
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest