Sustainability

The project to restore Madame Du Barry’s apartment

In February 2021, a large-scale project was launched at the heart of the Palace of Versailles. Thanks to support from the AXA Group, Madame Du Barry’s apartment - one of the most refined in the former royal residence and a testimony to the private Versailles of Louis XV - will be restored to its former harmony and charm. The work will concern all 14 rooms in the apartment, involving a range of artistic professions and skills.

This challenge, launched in spring 2021, is scheduled to be completed in October 2022, enabling visits of this space to resume for an exhibition covering Louis XV’s return to Versailles in 1722.

Check out the video presenting this project:

The history of AXA and the Palace of Versailles goes back a long way. Here is a quick recap:

• In 2013, AXA ASSURANCES IARD MUTUELLE carried out a patronage action by helping fund the French state’s acquisition of a national treasure (Manufacture de la Savonnerie carpet modeled on the piece from Madame Victoire’s second antechamber at the Palace of Versailles, model designed by Pierre-Josse Perrot (1700-1750), Manufacture de la Savonnerie’s official designer during the first half of the 18th century, woven in 1761). This national treasure was awarded to the Etablissement Public du Château, du Musée et du Domaine National de Versailles under the ministerial decree of December 19, 2013.
• In 2014, AXA ASSURANCES IARD MUTUELLE carried out a patronage action to support the exhibition China at Versailles: Art and Diplomacy in the 18th Century.
• In 2015, AXA - alongside the cultural association Société des Amis de Versailles - helped fund the acquisition of King Louis XIV’s bureau, delivered to the King in 1685 by Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt. In the same year, AXA ASSURANCES IARD MUTUELLE carried out a patronage action supporting restoration work at the Palace of Versailles for a concert by the German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter as part of celebrations to mark the tricentenary of the death of Louis XIV at Versailles.
• In 2018, the AXA Group and AXA ASSURANCES IARD MUTUELLE (alongside the company Plastic Omnium) helped fund the restoration of the Salle du Sacre and its painted decorations for a major exhibition on Louis-Philippe and Versailles.