The Grand Dauphin, an unfinished destiny

His existence took place in the shadow of his father. And what a father! It’s not easy being the eldest son of Louis XIV and the sole survivor of his legitimate children. If Louis the Grand Dauphin had the rank of second person in the kingdom throughout his life, his personality is today largely forgotten. The one called “Monseigneur” was nevertheless “the child of peace”.

His coming into the world in 1661, consolidating the union of the Infanta Maria Theresa with the young Sun King, sealed the rapprochement of France and Spain. “Incredible festivities celebrated the event,” recalls Lionel Arsac, curator of an exhibition at the Palace of Versailles which intends to put the spotlight back on the heir to the throne, then the most brilliant in Europe.

Numerous portraits allow us to follow the evolution of this blond and chubby child, raised by a governess before “moving to men” at the age of seven and receiving teaching from the famous preacher Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet. “Louis XIV takes care of his education. He regretted that his had been chaotic because of the Fronde revolts,” continues the curator.

A prince always loyal

Benefiting from modern pedagogies, designed to make him an accomplished prince, the young Dauphin nevertheless does not escape the classic lessons of religion, Latin, history, horse riding, military strategy… If he does not seem to be a very lively student, he submits to his educators.

As an adult, this bon vivant married Marie-Anne of Bavaria – an allied principality – without hesitation and went for a time to lead the armies, notably at the siege of Philippsburg (present-day Germany) in 1688. Always loyal, he even took advice from his father for the gardens of his private estate, his beloved castle of Meudon.

“He reveals his tastes as a hunter and above all a passionate collector,” explains Lionel Arsac. He had his various apartments luxuriously decorated; interested in the painting of his time, he is also very fond of gems and other crystal vases, bronze statues, cabinetmaking masterpieces…

As his second son became Philip V of Spain, most of these magnificent curiosities were inherited by the court of Madrid. Monsignor died in 1711, at the age of 49, by smallpox. Louis XIV was “suffocating with grief”, contemporaries say.

In the following years, two of his sons and the eldest of his grandsons disappeared, carried away by an epidemic before being ascended to a throne. The future Louis XV was then two years old. He won’t remember his grandfather.