2 thoughts on “Grand Trianon Red Room”

1. Nancy J Padgett Post authorFriday, May 31, 2013 at 9:13 am

   Jane, Good question. The curators of the current Versailles properties have tried to replicate the colors of the fabrics and the furniture as much as possible. Unfortunately, most of the original moveable belongings were trashed and burned by the mobs during the French Revolution, or deteriorated during the period of neglect of the 19th c. The curators may be relying on history paintings or colored etchings to reconstruct the colors for the walls and the fabrics. Currently, the room signs say clearly what’s original and what’s either a modern reproduction or the real thing but transferred from some other property or donation, at least as it applies to the furniture. I have more photos of fabric colors–will post later. Some are pretty strange to our modern eyes. I saw more beautifully furnished rooms at the Museum of the History of Paris ( the Carnavalet), but cannot say how close those fabrics approach the original, as the signs did not address this.

   Cheers, Nancy
2. Jane Friday, May 31, 2013 at 8:24 am

   The deep pinks in the fabrics look like chemically made colors whereas I wonder what these colors looked like when made from natural dyes in the early 1700’s ?