Versailles Through Swedish Eyes in the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

The history of Swedish descriptions of Versailles in the eighteenth century is just as rich and varied as that of the cultural and political relations between Sweden and France. This article focuses on three Swedish travellers’ accounts of Versailles : scientist Bengt Ferrner (1724–1802), nobleman Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt (1757–1814) and poet Frans Michael Franzen (1772–1847). While Ferrner’s descriptions from Paris abound in references to visits to the opera and theatre, his reaction to Versailles is one of indifference. The relation between Paris and Versailles is important for the appreciation of the latter also, in the diary of Baron Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, who travelled together with King Gustav III in 1784. Armfelt’s position as a royal favourite gave him access to social and cultural circles that Ferrner was excluded from. Armfelt vividly describes the life of the court and gives a detailed account of the ceremonies that surrounded it. The two cities thus appear either in a conflicting relation, as in Ferrner’s case, or in a mutually reinforcing one, as in Armfelt’s diary. Finally, poet Frans Michael Franzen describes the post-revolutionary state of Versailles at the beginning of 1795. Attracted by revolutionary ideas, Franzen voices his aversion to absolutism in his description of the palace of Versailles, which, now deprived of the court, has lost its centrality. Although it is difficult to determine general trends from the writings of the three travellers, they reflect a growing disapproval of the ceremonies and glorification of French absolute monarchy, as epitomized by Versailles.