Exhibition Highlights

Join us for Parisian Letters as we celebrate the 400th birthday of Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, better known as the Marquise de Sévigné. Marie was a woman who truly stood out in 17th-century France; born into nobility and raised in Paris, she received an exceptional education that was quite rare for girls of her time.

While her social standing was high, her life was marked by personal drama. In 1644, she married Henri de Sévigné and they had two children, Françoise Marguerite and Charles. Tragically, Marie was left a widow at the young age of twenty-five after her husband was killed in a duel.

This exhibition invites you to step into Marie’s world and see a transforming Paris through her eyes. Through her handwritten letters, portraits, and personal objects, you'll discover a city full of life, described by a woman with a witty, elegant, and deeply human touch. At the heart of it all are the letters she wrote to her daughter, which offer a wonderfully intimate look at motherhood, social gossip, and the major events of King Louis XIV’s reign.