Enfilade

Château de Maisons, in Maisons-Laffitte, a northwest outer suburb of Paris, about 12 miles from the city center
(Photo: © EPV / Thomas Garnier)

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From the Château de Versailles:

The Count of Artois, Prince and Patron: The Youth of the Last King of France

Château de Maisons, Maisons-Laffitte, 14 November 2025 — 2 March 2026

The result of a partnership between the Centre des Monuments Nationaux and the Palace of Versailles, this exhibition traces the life of the Count of Artois (1757–1836), brother of Louis XVI and the future Charles X, through his residences, his artistic projects, and his passions. From the splendor of the Château de Maisons to the count’s exile in 1789, it reveals the journey of a refined prince at the heart of the 18th century.

The exhibition begins with a presentation of the Château de Maisons in the 18th century and then traces the life of the Prince of Artois from his birth to his exile. The prince’s personality, his life, his patronage, and his taste are explored through a great variety of objects: graphic arts, paintings, objets d’art, sculptures, furniture, curiosities, and books. The exhibition also highlights the prince’s interest in architecture, as he was the last owner of the Château de Maisons under the Ancien Régime. Sourced primarily from the collections of the Palace of Versailles, the exhibition benefits from additional prestigious loans from the National Archives, the National Library of France, the Louvre Museum, the Mobilier National, the Château de Fontainebleau, the Carnavalet Museum, the Musée de l’Armée – Invalides, the municipal library of Versailles, and the Fine Arts Museums of Amiens and Reims, as well as from private collections.

The exhibition as installed at the Château de Maisons
(Photo: © EPV / Thomas Garnier)

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The Count of Artois, Future Charles X

Reputed for his frivolous spirit and taste for luxury, the Count of Artois was both an attractive and controversial figure, eccentric yet conservative. Charles-Philippe of France, known under the title Count of Artois, was born in Versailles on 9 October 1757. He was the grandson of Louis XV and the brother of Louis XVI and the future Louis XVIII. He became King of France upon the death of the latter in 1824, under the name Charles X, and soon emerged as the representative of the most uncompromising Catholic faction. He was consecrated at Reims the following year. The July Ordinances of 1830, which restricted freedom of the press and dissolved the Chamber, triggered an uprising that became known as the Three Glorious Days. Faced with the revolt, Charles X abdicated and left France. His exile led him first to Scotland, then to Prague, and finally to Istria (a peninsula shared by Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy), where he died on 6 November 1836.

A Taste for Innovation

From an early age, the Count of Artois distinguished himself through his marked interest in splendor and refinement, coupled with an unrestrained passion for the modern currents of art and fashion. He was very close to Marie-Antoinette at the beginning of her reign, and they shared this common enthusiasm. However, unlike the queen, constrained by the demands of court etiquette, the Count of Artois enjoyed far greater freedom to adopt and promote the latest trends.

The château de Maisons, a masterpiece by François Mansart, was built from 1633 onward for René de Longueil, a magistrate of the Parliament of Paris. Designed as a pleasure residence, it became, as early as the 17th century, a place admired by the court. King Louis XIV himself visited it several times. In the following century, the estate entered a new era of splendor when, in 1777, the Count of Artois acquired it. He commissioned the architect François-Joseph Bélanger to transform the château with ambitious embellishment projects, refined interior decoration, and modern gardens. The count intended to make it both a setting for entertainment and a symbol of aristocratic refinement. But the upheavals of 1789 brought the work to a halt, and the prince’s property was confiscated.

After the Revolution, the château passed through various hands, from Marshal Lannes under the Empire to the banker Jacques Laffitte, who subdivided the park. The château was saved from ruin at the beginning of the 20th century thanks to its listing as a historic monument and its acquisition by the State. Today, restored and open to the public, the Château de Maisons remains a jewel of the Grand Siècle and still bears the mark of the Count of Artois’s lavish ambitions, whose tenure constitutes one of the most brilliant episodes in its history.

A Dialogue between Collections

The partnership established in 2013 between the Centre des Monuments Nationaux and the Palace of Versailles creates a dialogue between collections that are too often overlooked and major landmarks of France’s national heritage. Temporary exhibitions allow both institutions to pool their resources in order to offer as many people as possible the opportunity to discover, or rediscover, chapters of French history within the prestigious setting of national monuments. The CMN and the Palace of Versailles have concluded a deposit agreement that will allow the return and presentation, in situ, of works that were once at Maisons during the time of the Count of Artois, seized during the Revolution, and later kept at Versailles.

Curators
• Laurent Salomé, director of the National Museum of the Palaces of Versailles and Trianon
• Vincent Bastien, scientific collaborator at the Palace of Versailles
• Benoît Delcourte, chief curator at the Palace of Versailles
• Raphaël Masson, chief curator at the Palace of Versailles
• Clotilde Roy, responsible for enriching the collections of the Centre des Monuments Nationaux
• Gabriel Wick, doctor of history

Vincent Bastien, Benoît Delcourte, and Clotilde Roy, eds., Le Comte d’Artois, Prince et Mécène: La Jeunesse du Dernier Roi de France (Paris: Éditions du patrimoine, 2025), 96 pages, ISBN: ‎978-2757710821, €16.