The Musée de l'Histoire de France occupies the north and south wings of the palace — essentially, the parts that are not the King's Apartment or the Hall of Mirrors. Created by Louis-Philippe in 1837, it was the first major public museum in France dedicated to national history, and it transformed Versailles from a deserted royal palace into a living institution.
The collections span from the baptism of Clovis in 496 to the Empire period — paintings, portraits, sculptures, and battle scenes that together form a visual chronicle of French rulers and their wars. The portraits of kings from François I onwards are here, as are room after room of historical paintings commissioned by Louis-Philippe from the leading academic artists of his day.
Not everything is great art. Much of it is dutiful historical illustration rather than inspired painting. But the sheer scale impresses, and for anyone interested in French history the museum provides context for everything else at Versailles: who these people were, what they did, and how they wanted to be remembered.