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The Prado brings the Grand Dauphin’s jewels to Versailles in a pioneering exhibition
Between 14 October 2025 and 15 February 2026, the Palace of Versailles will host for the first time a major exhibition dedicated to Louis of France (1661–1711), the heir of Louis XIV who never came to reign but whose name became linked to the collecting and arts of his time. Under the title ‘Le Grand Dauphin’, the exhibition will bring together portraits, objects and documents that allow visitors to rediscover his figure.
The Museo del Prado will be one of the main collaborators, contributing key works in both painting and decorative arts. The loaned canvases include Jean Nocret’s recently restored childhood portrait of Luis de Francia, as well as several compositions by Charles y Henri Beaubrun depicting family scenes with Queen María Teresa de Austria.
The Tesoro del Delfín, most of which is kept in Madrid, will also travel to France with a selection of singular pieces: a jade cup mounted in gilded silver, a heliotrope tray with a geometric structure, a spouted jug from the Miseroni workshop, and several original cases that testify to the exclusivity of this collection. Made from materials such as lapis lazuli, rock crystal or heliotrope, they reflect the prince’s passion for the rare and the exquisite. The exhibition, unprecedented until now, seeks to place the Gran Delfín in his rightful place within European cultural history: a prince without a crown who turned art into his true legacy.