Marie Antoinette: the Garden of Love

Marie Antoinette’s influence extended beyond fashion, shaping the interiors, decorative arts, musical tastes and even the gardens of her time.

The queen made her mark on the palace of Versailles at the Petit Trianon, whichbecame the centrepiece of an elegant and unaffected style.

Between 1774 and 1785, she landscaped the gardens and redesigned the interiors of the jewel-like château, transforming them into a private retreat that became famous throughout Europe.

In its meandering English gardens and rustic village hamlet, the queen adopted streamlined fashions and a lifestyle that paid homage to the pleasures of the countryside. The gardens influenced all aspects of her style, from the design of her gowns to her porcelain services.

Whilst a true representation of Marie Antoinette’s personal style this retreat into a rural fantasy only fuelled public resentment, reinforcing perceptions of royal detachment. Over a century after the queen’s execution, in 1901, two Oxford dons reported encountering Marie Antoinette as a ghost still haunting her cherished Petit Trianon gardens.

This talk will consider the creation of the queen’s greatest and most indelible legacy on the architecture of her time, one that has ensured her status as an early modern style icon.