Chartered bus to Versailles exhibit set for April 6

A chartered tour from Mississippi State will offer up to 150 participants an early look at an exhibit named the top event in the U.S. by the American Bus Association.

The Department of Art is sponsoring an April 6 field trip to "Splendors of Versailles," the Jackson exhibition of more than 150 objects drawn from the collections of France's National Museum of the Chateau of Versailles.

The tour leaves the Starkville campus at 8:30 a.m. for the Mississippi Arts Pavilion and returns at 6 p.m., said organizer Dr. Paul Grootkerk, professor of art.

Cost is $20 per person, which includes transportation, a box lunch and exhibition ticket. Deadline for payment is March 6.

"We'll arrive in Jackson around 11 a.m., leaving participants plenty of time to enjoy their box lunches or to visit other nearby museums before our 'Versailles' tour at 1 p.m.," Grootkerk said.

Among other Jackson exhibits is "Our Nation's Colors," a collection of American paintings at the Mississippi Museum of Art through July 7.

"Splendors of Versailles" is expected to draw visitors from around the world. It features many privately held objects that are receiving their first public viewing, Grootkerk said.

Among the most famous objects;

• A 14-foot equestrian statue of Louis XIV, originally sculpted in 1665 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The reproduction that will be viewed in Jackson is a "perfect" replica, Grootkerk said, the original being too fragile to transport.

• A portrait of Louis XIV by Hyacinthe Rigaud. A copy also by the artist now hangs as the chimney piece in the Apollo Room at Versailles.

For more information about the tour, contact Grootkerk at 325-1922 or 325-2970. Payment may be made in the Department of Art office, 103 Freeman Hall.