Two Boudoirs of Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette had two boudoirs at Fontainebleau but it was her husband (Louis XVI) who had ordered the construction of the second one - he thought that the Queen should have another one, probably because the original one had very few windows and was therefore poorly lit. The second one was conveniently located right above the first one.

Boudoir de la Reine is the first one and is also known as the "silver bedroom". It lies between what is now Napoleon's throne room but used to be the King's apartments and the Queen's other apartments. In 1786 the Rousseau brothers redecorated the room in an Antique style. The nickname the "silver room" comes from the decoration on the walls: floral patterns on a silver background with a golden frame. The furniture for the room was intended to match the colour-tone - one of the desks are inlaid with mother-of-pearl! The locks are thought to have been created by the King himself, a touching gesture.

This is the decoration above the door - you can clearly see the inspiration

The desk of the Silver Bedroom

The other bedroom is inspired by the Turkish style and was a gift from Louis XVI. The bedroom is a perfect example of how the interest in exotic designs were still very much alive. Everywhere you look in this room you can find symbols of that Turkish inspiration: turbans, incense burners, crescent moons etc. Another funny little addition to the room is the pair of "firedogs" (sculptures placed in front of the fireplace) from 1777 which are decorated with a sitting, golden camel! The furniture was lost during the revolution and the ones that are now exhibited were created for Empress Josephine.