Philippe I, Duke of Orléans

This is a piece from my ongoing passion project, Versailles Untold. This project aims to reveal stories from the Palace of Versailles that are buried, but nonetheless important. It is for people who visit Versailles or research its history and feel that they are not a part of the story. Born out of my own frustration that the stories I loved were either not on display, hidden in odd French books, misrepresented in media, or totally ignored - I seek to create an interactive way for people to take ownership of their history and their place at Versailles. 

Illustrated here is Philippe I, the brother of King Louis XIV, better known as Monsieur. He was a celebrated war hero, outwardly gay, and frequently dressed as a woman at court. He loved fashion, art, and culture - he amassed one of the greatest art collections of European history, and essentially discovered Molière. Monsieur is pictured here in a royal portrait that he never received, dressed in beautiful women's clothing, holding his hard-earned military baton that is only given to the second highest ranking in the French Military of the time (first is always the King), wearing many pearls as they were reportedly his favorite.

This is a personal piece that I created in 2018.