Furnishing the Palaces

In the early years of the new dynasty, new furniture made for the palaces followed late Baroque French fashions inspired by furniture made for Louis XIV’s Château de Versailles. These patterns provided the source for many European princes throughout the late seventeenth century. Typical of a Baroque princely apartment (until about 1720), was the classic arrangement of mirror, table and pair of candle-stands, often all made in gilded wood, and placed in a long line against the window wall. In the 1720s, a rival style emerged making use of Italian prototypes, both contemporary and ancient, which harmonised with the interior architecture and painting collecting.