Petit Trianon: Dining Room

Louis XV - who dined here for the first time in 1769 - had a very special idea for the dining room. He wanted a mechanism installed that would make it possible to raise a filled dining table through the floor - in this way the royal party could dine in complete privacy without having to worry about being overheard by servants. However, the project was never completed but the first mechanisms for it can still be seen.

From the windows the French Pavilion is right across from the dining room. The décor of the room is less delicate than the rest of the mansion - dark wooden chairs offers a place to sit and the crimson silk curtains hangs at the large windows. The decoration consists of flowers and fruits carved into the panelling (by Honoré Guibert) and adorning the blue chimney (Jacques-Francois Dropsy). These decorations reflects Louis XV's fondness of nature and his desire to bring the lovely gardens into the house as well. Two large mirrors hangs on the walls but not merely for the decoration's sake; the dinners were held by candlelight and the mirrors would reflect the glow and hereby lighting up the room. In front of one of the mirrors (above the chimney) is a pretty, white bust of Marie Antoinette gazing out into the dining room of the retreat she used to inhabit.

A chandelier hangs from the ceiling with crystals hanging underneath the candles. The large paintings depicts mythological gods and characters such as Adonis and Flora. Some of the portraits refers directly to food: the hunting, the harvest and the fishing.

The bust of Marie Antoinette

One of the dark wooden chairs - quite a change from
the otherwise gilded chairs lined with silk.