Title: The Forbidden City and The Palace of Versailles: China-France Cultural Encounters in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Duration: 18 December 2024 to 4 May 2025
Location: Hong Kong Palace Museum, Hong Kong
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Forbidden City in China and the Palace of Versailles in France each stood as the centre of their respective countries’ political, cultural, and artistic life. Despite the vast geographic distance between them, the courts in Beijing and Versailles were keenly curious about one another. Led by a number of enlightened rulers and facilitated by travelling French missionaries, China and France embarked on extensive and impactful exchanges.
This special exhibition presents nearly 150 spectacular treasures from the Palace Museum and the Palace of Versailles, illuminating the fascinating encounters and exchanges between China and France in science, artisanship, arts, culture, and philosophy during the 17th and 18th centuries.
For more information, please visit the website HERE.
Image: (Left) The Qianlong Emperor in Court Attire, Court painters, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736–1795), Hanging scroll, ink and colours on silk, © The Palace Museum // (Right) Louis XIV in Coronation Mantle, Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743), 1701–1712, Oil on canvas, MV 3563, © The Palace of Versailles.