Madame de Sévigné : Lettres parisiennes

From April 15 to August 23, 2026, the Carnavalet Museum, History of Paris, celebrates the 400th anniversary of Marie de Rabutin-Chantal's birth with 'Madame de Sévigné: Parisian Letters.' More than 200 works — paintings, drawings, objects — from the museum's collections, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the Louvre, fill the hôtel where the letter-writer resided from 1677 to 1696. Exploring these rooms is like walking through the marquise’s very home. The exhibition links her literary work with the urban and social history of Louis XIV’s Paris to offer an unprecedented rereading of the Grand Siècle, far beyond a simple biographical tribute.

From Place Royale to the letters from Provence: the journey of a letter-writer who became a classic The path opens on the marquise's presence in the collective imagination and her literary legacy. Born on February 5, 1626, Place Royale (now Place des Vosges), Marie de Rabutin-Chantal embodies a unique voice of the Grand Siècle. From an old Burgundian noble family, she received a rare education for a young girl of her time from her maternal grandparents, the Coulanges. 1,372 letters are recorded in Madame de Sévigné’s correspondence In 1644, Marie married Henri de Sévigné, a Breton gentleman; they had two children: Françoise-Marguerite and Charles. The preserved correspondence mainly consists of letters to her daughter. Married in 1669 to the Count of Grignan, her daughter moved to Provence in February 1671. This departure marked twenty-five years of epistolary exchanges which have become classics of French literature. Claude Lefèbvre (1632–1675), Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné, circa 1665, oil on canvas CC0 Musée Carnavalet, History of Paris / Paris Musées The portrait Claude Lefèbvre painted around 1665, a key piece in the museum’s collection, opens this first section. Drawings, autographs, and objects from public and private collections complement the portrait. 'Madame de Sévigné: Parisian Letters' immediately anchors its theme in the enduring reception of this epistolary work, whose power transcends centuries. Twenty-five years of correspondence that form a classic of French literature.

Marais salons, the spirit of conversation, and the birth of an art of living Widowed at twenty-five after her husband’s death in a duel in 1651, the marquise divided her time between the Marais district and her Rochers lands in Brittany. She frequented the most refined literary circles of the capital, especially those of the Marquise de Rambouillet and Mademoiselle de Scudéry. There, an art of living based on wit and conversation was cultivated. ️ The exhibition unfolds in the rooms of the Carnavalet Museum, the marquise’s home from 1677 to 1696, in the heart of the historic Marais neighborhood. Paintings and art objects illustrate the spread of gallant culture beyond aristocratic circles. Visitors sense the active role Sévigné played in this dynamic, between Marais salons and echoes of the Versailles court. Her correspondence reveals an intelligence about the social world that goes beyond mere social reporting. Attributed to Pierre Mignard (1612–1695), Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné, Countess of Grignan (1648–1705), circa 1669, oil on canvas CC0 Paris Musées / Musée Carnavalet - History of Paris This portrait, attributed to Pierre Mignard, shows Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné shortly before her marriage to the Count of Grignan in January 1669. The young woman holds a bouquet of orange flowers, ribbons, and a pearl necklace. Married to the Count of Grignan, she moved to Provence in February 1671, beginning twenty-five years of epistolary exchange with her mother. Acquired by the museum in 1892, this painting was already featured in the 'Madame de Sévigné' exhibition at the Carnavalet in 1996-1997. Digitized in gigapixel format as part of the Paris Musées Second Canvas project, it allows close observation of every detail. By combining art history and social history, the exhibition renews the perspective on the letter-writer. The collected works evoke an era when women fully participated in the capital’s intellectual life, and where private letters became a literary genre in their own right.

Trials, disgraces, and private life in the letter-writer's home As a member of an elite observing the grandeur of the court from a distance, Sévigné grasped the tensions of political Paris under Louis XIV. Her letters capture sensational trials, disgraces, and the violence that marked a transforming capital’s history. From the poisoning affair to public executions, the letter-writer’s pen brings events to life. ✒️ The final section of the route reconstructs the daily life of the woman of letters within the Carnavalet Museum, her family residence from 1677 to 1696. Furniture, documents, and period objects evoke the material environment of her writing. Visitors move through the very rooms where the marquise spent her days, divided between intense writing and the social life of the Marais. This close connection between place and content gives 'Madame de Sévigné: Parisian Letters' at the Carnavalet a resonance impossible to replicate elsewhere. Visitors who book their tickets gain a unique experience: touring the rooms in the author’s own home. The final scene anchors the story in the history of the place and completes a journey through the century through the eyes of a free and attentive woman of her time.