THE CITY PROHIBITED IN MONACO

From 14 July to 10 September 2017 at Grimaldi Forum.

THE FORBIDDEN CITY IN MONACO - Court life of emperors and empresses of China.

In 2001, the Grimaldi Forum honored “the China of the First Emperor” through a memorable exhibition… Summer 2017, place for the last Chinese imperial dynasty, the Qing (1644 - 1911), to celebrate its splendor, its tastes and its greatness.

The Forbidden City is one of the most prestigious palatial complexes and the most visited site in the world with some 10 million admissions per year. Both a palace and a museum, it is around him that the new capital of Beijing is organized. The Forbidden City arose ex-nihilo from the will of the 3rd of the Ming emperors and was built in a single throw between 1406 and 1420. It will become the cradle of power where the Manchu emperors will succeed one another for nearly three centuries.
The personality of the Qing emperors is at the center of this project and more particularly the sovereigns Kangxi (1662-1722), Yongzheng (1723-1735) and Qianlong (1736-1795), who intend to be paragons of Chinese culture. As the representative of Heaven on earth, the emperor, known as the “Son of Heaven”, is an omnipotent being, at the same time military leader, religious leader and leader of letters. The public will discover outstanding testimonies linked to these different functions: portraits, ceremonial costumes, furniture, precious objects, scientific instruments,… some of which are among the “national treasures”. In the tradition of the Manchu people, whose powerful army of the "Eight Banners" will take control of China from 1644, the military conquests of the Qing emperors will also be represented through various objects and engravings illustrating their victorious campaigns.
Under the reign of the Qing, the beautiful part goes back to the culture. Illustrating the official taste of one of the peak periods in the history of Chinese civilization, the various forms of expression of Chinese art, which at that time exerted a notorious influence on the West, will be highlight: the arts of the brush, through calligraphy and painting, the universe of decorative arts, with a cabinet of porcelain and a cabinet of lacquer, music and opera. The excellence and refinement of this art have left a legacy still very present today as demonstrated by the impressive screen-landscape Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), one of the most legendary Chinese painters of the twentieth century.
Conceived as a visit at the pleasure of the rooms of the Palace to the gardens of the Forbidden City, the route travels through the emblematic places of the city-palace (Temple of Heaven, throne room, Buddhist temple, temple of ancestors, pavilion of tea) plunging the public into a journey to the heart of the history of a multi-millennial civilization.