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· Published on September 15th, 2018 at 02:04 a.m.
For one month, the Château de Fontainebleau is dedicating an exhibition to the Kings of the World. From September 8 to October 8, 2018, the castle is hosting 60 pieces from the Al Thani collection to illustrate the representation of royal power over time, from Sumerian kingship (circa 2000 BC) to 19th-century European monarchies.
Take advantage of the exhibition
Kings of the World, Art and Royal Power, the exhibition visible at the
Château de Fontainebleau from September 8 to October 8, 2018, to revisit this ancestral castle of the Ile de France. Capetians, Valois, Bourbons, Bonaparte or Orleans, all the Kings of France marked the place with their presence.
For one month, 60 unique pieces are gathered in the beautiful Salle du Bal for a panorama of the representations of the image of the chief in time and continents thanks to paintings, jewels, sculptures but also coins from the Al Thani collection.
This collection, little known in France, is considered by William Lawrie as an equivalent of the Medici collection in 16th century Florence.
Since ancient times,royal iconography has been an important power issue and each monarchy has supported its power with varying degrees of relevance with numerous and codified representations.
But if the themes are recurrent - the sacred, wars, hunts and royal births - the iconography is not the same in Pharaonic Egypt, in the Ancient Near East, in Mongolia and in Europe. Especially that the medium matters a lot in the dissemination of iconography: a picture hung in the throne room of a castle will support the power vis-a-vis the monarchs invited by the King, while the currency will remind the people of the monarchy at any time.
For some people,iconography is a relic of another time, but it is very current in some countries, for example the British royal family!
