Association Française pour le Rayonnement du Théâtre du Château de Drottningholm

Le Palais des Tuileries et ses Théâtres

dans la collection d'un amateur

Catalogue

by Patrick Rondeau and Rémy-Michel Trotier

The history of the theatres installed in the North wing of Palais des Tuileries, in Paris, is long and complex. It starts in 1662, on the 14^th of February, with the opening of a vast space equiped with machines and using the full architectural volume; it ends with the fire which, in 1871 on the 24^th of May, destroyed the whole palace.

Between these two dates, eight different architectural configurations can be numbered; the North wing has been, in the two centuries of its occupation, progressively fragmented. Parallel to the history of the building is the one of the artists who all impacted on the life of the place. Used for opera, for theatre and ballet, the « Salle des Machines » has also been used as reserve for decorations, as concert hall, political theatre, reception room and even as hospital.

Fifty-one original documents selected here  by Patrick Rondeau evokes through the multiplicity of its forms, its names, and its uses, the complex history of the « Salle des Machines » and of the various theatres it has welcomed. By cataloguing this selection, the Académie Desprez aims at proposing to researchers – and to amateurs – a useful reference to documents – sometimes rare or not easily accessible – relative to this place so often quoted and still so badly known.

Rémy-Michel Trotier
July 2006