Abstract EN:

In 1723, one year after the young Louis XVth and the Court returned to Versailles, the duc d’Antin, Minister of Arts, allowed the miniaturist Jean-Baptiste Massé (1687-1767) to make, at his own expense and for his own benefit, the engraved decoration of the Grande gallery of Versailles and, also, that of the contiguous Peace and the War rooms. Based on a project begun by Le Brun himself in 1687, in the line of the Cabinet du Roi, the engraved compilation of the Grande Galerie de Versailles took thirty years to complete before it’s publication in 1753. Based on methods borrowed from the material history of books and on numerous archives and contemporary testimonies, this thesis is dedicated to the artistic adventure of this compilation. It tries to describe all the stages of its making, from it’s conception to it’s reception during the second half of the XVIIIth century. It also tries to replace this work within a wider art context, in order to emphasize the part played, from the end of the XVIIIth century, by engraved publications of masters’ works in spreading art and helping it to be appreciated by the public. The study of the engraved compilation of the Grande Galerie de Versailles sheds light on the way Le Brun’s art was perceived in the XVIIIth century, at a time when these paintings, however famous, were not understood anymore, nor even visible.