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Two hundred and forty years after their last visit, Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI return to Fontainebleau. Not just a visit: a major exhibition, from 11 October 2026 to 25 January 2027, organised in collaboration with the Grand Palais RMN.
Between 1774 and 1786, the royal couple visited seven times in Fontainebleau. These autumn stays – the famous «Fontainebleau season» – combined hunting, entertainment, diplomatic receptions and political decision-making. This is the central theme of the exhibition: to show what these walls actually witnessed, rather than simply recounting a legend concocted elsewhere.
More than one hundred and twenty works, featuring loans from the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian in New York. The exhibition unfolds in seven stages, curated by Muriel Barbier and Jean Vittet. Seeing objects that have been scattered since the Revolution brought together once more in the very place for which many were designed is what sets an exhibition apart from an exhibition-event.
The exhibition is being held in the Belle Cheminée Hall, on the tour route, and it is included in the castle admission ticket. In other words, there’s no extra charge. Follow this up with «The Splendour of the Enlightenment» in the Saint-Louis auditoriums, which explores the figure of Henry IV during the reign of Louis XVI and directly complements the theme.
The castle is open every day except Tuesdays, from 9.30 am to 5 pm during the winter season, with last admission at 4.15 pm. The first few weeks and the All Saints’ Day holidays will be busy: please arrive when it opens. Information and tickets are available at the Fontainebleau Castle site.
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