The Coronation Coach of Charles X is a horse-drawn coach used for the coronation of Charles X of France in 1825. The highly-adorned bronze- and gilt-covered state coach is the only coronation carriage of a king of France that still exists today, and is exhibited in the Gallery of Coaches in Versailles, France.
Construction started in 1814 by the coachbuilder Duchesne according to the plans of the architect Charles Percier for the coronation of Louis XVIII. According to the German historian Rudolf Wackernagel, three proposed plans were submitted to the monarch: one by J.B. Pérez, the other by Antoine Carassi, and the third by Percier. [1] Only the structures and body were finished. The construction was abandoned when the king, as a prudent politician, renounced this ritual ceremony, in the post-revolutionary and post-imperial France. [2] [3] [4]
On the death of Louis XVIII in 1824, his brother Charles X acceded to the throne and announced his desire to have a coronation, thus renewing the tradition of his ancestors. The Marquis de Vernon, Grand Equerry of the king's stables, put the carriage back into construction. At a cost of 325,000 francs (equivalent to F62,000,400in 2022), the coach was completed in less than six months, engaging numerous craftsmen including coachbuilders Daldringen and Ots, sculptor Henri-Victor Roguier , bronze workers Denière and Matelin, and the painter Pierre Claude François Delorme. [2]
For transport to Reims, the location for the coronation, the coach was partially dismantled, wrapped in a canvas cover, and fitted with sturdy wheels for the journey. It was reassembled for the sovereign's procession on May 28, 1825. Pulled by eight caparisoned horses, it was used again the following day for the procession going to the Reims Cathedral for the coronation, and again on June 6, 1825 for the arrival of Charles X into Paris. It was used for the last time in 1856 for the baptism of Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial, son of Emperor Napoleon III. [2]
Considered one of the most beautiful carriages in the world, it is the only coronation carriage of a King of France preserved today. Exhibited in the Great Stables at Versailles, it constitutes the centerpiece of the Gallery of Coaches alongside the funeral carriage of Louis XVIII. [5]
The coach is a Berlin style. [6] Standing 4.5 metres high and almost 6.7 metres long, the coach weighs between 4 and 5 tonnes with its bronze sculptures, compared to the typical 1.5 tonnes of a state coach. The interior is trimmed with crimson silk velvet, decorated with gold embroidery and passementerie. It has eight windows, is supported by leather thoroughbraces (suspension straps), and it is entirely covered in bronze sculptures on the outside which have been gilded. The decoration and all the sculptures are made by Roguier. [2] [3] [5]
When Napoleon III chose it for the baptism of his son, the panels were replaced to display imperial emblems. The original panels with the royal coat of arms are stored in the Palace of Tau in Reims. [2]
The coach is so heavy that it is only drawn by the horses at a walk, about 3 km/h. [5]
Charles X was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother of reigning kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile. After the Bourbon Restoration in 1814, Charles became the leader of the ultra-royalists, a radical monarchist faction within the French court that affirmed absolute monarchy by divine right and opposed the constitutional monarchy concessions towards liberals and the guarantees of civil liberties granted by the Charter of 1814. Charles gained influence within the French court after the assassination of his son Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, in 1820 and succeeded his brother Louis XVIII in 1824.
Charles Percier was a neoclassical French architect, interior decorator and designer, who worked in a close partnership with Pierre François Léonard Fontaine, originally his friend from student days. For work undertaken from 1794 onward, trying to ascribe conceptions or details to one or other of them is fruitless; it is impossible to disentangle their cooperative efforts in this fashion. Together, Percier and Fontaine were inventors and major proponents of the rich, grand, consciously-archaeological versions of neoclassicism we recognise as Directoire style and Empire style.
The French Crown Jewels and Regalia comprise the crowns, orb, sceptres, diadems and jewels that were symbols of Royal or Imperial power between 752 and 1870. These were worn by many Kings and Queens of France as well as Emperor Napoleon. The set was finally broken up, with most of it sold off in 1885 by the Third Republic. The surviving French Crown Jewels, principally a set of historic crowns, diadems and parures, are mainly on display in the Galerie d'Apollon of the Louvre, France's premier museum and former royal palace, together with the Regent Diamond, the Sancy Diamond and the 105-carat (21.0 g) Côte-de-Bretagne red spinel, carved into the form of a dragon. In addition, some gemstones and jewels are on display in the Treasury vault of the Mineralogy gallery in the National Museum of Natural History.
Baron François Joseph Bosio was a Monegasque sculptor who achieved distinction in the first quarter of the nineteenth century with his work for Napoleon and for the restored French monarchy.
Louis Antoine of France, Duke of Angoulême was the elder son of Charles X and the last Dauphin of France from 1824 to 1830. He is identified by the Guinness World Records as the shortest-reigning monarch, reigning for less than 20 minutes during the July Revolution, but this is not backed up by historical evidence. He never reigned over the country, but after his father's death in 1836, he was the legitimist pretender as Louis XIX.
The Empire style is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 during the Consulate and the First French Empire periods, although its life span lasted until the late-1820s. From France it spread into much of Europe and the United States.
The Crown of Napoleon was a coronation crown made for Napoleon I and used in his coronation as Emperor of the French on December 2, 1804. Napoleon called this crown the "Crown of Charlemagne", which was the name of the ancient royal coronation crown of France that had been destroyed during the French Revolution. This name allowed Napoleon to compare himself to the famed medieval monarch Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor.
The Château de Compiègne is a French château, a former royal residence built for Louis XV and later restored by Napoleon. Compiègne was one of three seats of royal government, the others being Versailles and Fontainebleau. It is located in Compiègne in the Oise department and is open to the public.
The Louvre Palace, often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois. Originally a defensive castle, it has served several government-related functions in the past, including intermittently as a royal residence between the 14th and 18th centuries. It is now mostly used by the Louvre Museum, which first opened there in 1793.
Antonin Claude Dominique Just de Noailles, 7th Prince of Poix then 4th Spanish Duke of Mouchy, 3rd French Duke of Mouchy and Duke of Poix, was a French politician.
The accession of the king of France to the royal throne was legitimized by a ceremony performed with the Crown of Charlemagne at the Reims Cathedral. In late medieval and early modern times, the new king did not need to be anointed in order to be recognized as French monarch but ascended upon the previous monarch's death with the proclamation "Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!"
Several monarchs have used golden coaches. These horse-drawn coaches were made of wood and covered with gold leaf, a solid golden coach would be very expensive and so heavy that it would be a practical impossibility.
Louis Lafitte was a French painter, designer, illustrator and muralist.
Neoclassicism is a movement in architecture, design and the arts which emerged in France in the 1740s and became dominant in France between about 1760 to 1830. It emerged as a reaction to the frivolity and excessive ornament of the baroque and rococo styles. In architecture it featured sobriety, straight lines, and forms, such as the pediment and colonnade, based on Ancient Greek and Roman models. In painting it featured heroism and sacrifice in the time of the ancient Romans and Greeks. It began late in the reign of Louis XV, became dominant under Louis XVI, and continued through the French Revolution, the French Directory, and the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Bourbon Restoration until 1830, when it was gradually replaced as the dominant style by romanticism and eclecticism.
The scepter of Charles V, also known in the early modern period as scepter of Charlemagne, is one of the most prominent preserved regalia of the Kingdom of France. It was donated by Charles V to the abbey of Saint-Denis on 7 May 1380, shortly before his death. It has been used since for the coronation (sacre) of nearly all monarchs of France until Charles X, only excepting Charles VII and Henri IV. It has been kept at the Louvre since 5 December 1793.
The Galerie des Carrosses - formerly the Musée des Carrosses, until 2006 - is a history and transport museum in Versailles (Yvelines), France, featuring a collection of carriages, mainly from the 19th century. Part of the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles, it is housed in the Grande Écurie.
The Coronation of Charles X took place in Reims on 29 May 1825 when Charles X was crowned as King of France, marking the last coronation of a French monarch. It took place at Reims Cathedral in Champagne, the traditional site of the coronation of French sovereigns. It was the only coronation to take place following the 1815 defeat of Napoleon and the Bourbon Restoration before the direct line were deposed in 1830.
The Coronation of Charles X is an 1827 history painting by the French artist François Gérard depicting the Coronation of Charles X of France at Reims Cathedral on 29 May 1825.
The Entry of Charles X into Paris Following His Coronation is an 1825 history painting by the French artist Louis-François Lejeune. It depicts the entry of Charles X of France into his capital Paris following his coronation at Reims. The king is shown entering the city through the Villette Gate in his Coronation Coach. Today the painting is in the collection of the Palace of Versailles.
