Feasts and Fantasy at the table of Louis XIV with Dr Samantha Happé

In May 1664, Louis XIV invited his court into an illusion. Les Plaisirs de l’Isle enchantée, the first grand fête at Versailles, announced the arrival of a new palace and a new language of power. While fireworks, ballets, and mythological machines dazzled the eye, dining quietly carried much of the work of persuasion. Feasts were served outdoors beneath thousands of candles, by masked servants, amid music, pastoral fantasy, and theatrical display. Eating became a way of inhabiting enchantment.

This lecture looks closely at those meals and at how they were framed by spectacle. Drawing on contemporary accounts, it examines what was eaten, how it was served, and what it signified within the rhythms of the fête. Dining at Versailles functioned as a form of choreography that bound courtiers to the king through pleasure and carefully managed intimacy. In tasting enchantment, the court learned how to live within the emerging world of the Sun King.

Dr Samantha Happé is the curator at Hamilton Gallery. Her doctoral thesis examined the visual and material culture surrounding the Persian embassy to Versailles in 1715. She has published on the use of art and objects to articulate power during the reign of Louis XIV.

Your ticket includes tea or Market Lane coffee served before the presentation, and time to browse our exclusive range of books, gifts, and homewares at TJC Emporium.

This event is presented on-site at The Johnston Collection. Please see your ticket for details. NOTE: Tickets for this event do not include access to our house museum, Fairhall. Guided tours of the current exhibition can be booked separately.

This event is supported by The Colin Holden Charitable Trust.

Image: Adam Frans van der Meulen. View of the Château de Versailles taken from the heights of Satory in 1664 (detail). 1664. Musée du Louvre, Paris.