Salon of Mercury
The State Apartments of the King, a prestigious series of seven rooms (Salon of Hercules, Salon of Diana, Salon of Abundance, Salon of Venus, Salon of Mars, Salon of Mercury and Salon of Apollo), was used as a parade apartment for hosting the sovereign’s official acts. Bedecked with lavish Italian-style decoration much admired by the king at the time, it was composed of marble panelling and painted ceilings.
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The author at the Salon of Hercules
During the day, the State Apartment was open to all who wished to see the king and the royal family passing through on their way to the chapel. Several times a week, during the reign of Louis XIV, evening gatherings were held here.
Salon of Abundance
The State Apartments were originally intended as the King’s residence. The construction of the Hall of Mirrors, between 1678 and 1686, coincided with a major alteration to the State Apartment and the King transformed them into galleries for his finest paintings, and venues for his many receptions for courtiers usually held three times a week, from six to ten in the evening, with various entertainments during the season from All-Saints Day in November until Easter.
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The Salon of Hercules
From the Royal Chapel, we entered a vestibule that led us to the Salon of Hercules, the last room to be built by Louis XIV at the end of his reign. Originally a chapel covering two floors, it served until 1710 when it was replaced by the current Royal Chapel. Beginning in 1712, it was rebuilt, under the supervision of the First Architect of the King, Robert de Cotte.
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Jandy at the Salon of Hercules
To create a new room, a floor was laid but the decoration was not finished until the reign of Louis XV who, in 1730, brought the huge painting by Paolo Veronese, The Meal in the House of Simon the Pharisee, to Paris from the Gobelins, where it had been stored since its arrival in France as a gift from the Republic of Venice to Louis XIV in 1664.
Rebecca at the Well (Paolo Veronese, second half of the 16th century)
In 1736, work on the Hercules Room was completed when The Apotheosis of Hercules (after whom the room was named), a ceiling painting by François Lemoyne was finished.
Apotheosis of Hercules (François Le Moyne)
This vast, impressive and allegorical work, considered at par with masterpieces by Italian fresco painters, depicted no fewer than 142 persons and was created using the marouflage technique wherein the scenes were painted on canvas and then stuck onto the ceiling.
Meal in the House of Simon the Pharisee (Paolo Veronese, 1570)
In return for his work, Lemoyne was made First Painter to the King by Louis XV but he committed suicide a year later, in 1737, exhausted by this huge project which had taken four years to complete.
Salon of Abundance
The Salon of Abundance, a refreshment room where coffee, wines and liqueurs were served on an elegant tables and gilded chairs lined with green velvet during evening soirées, was also the antechamber to the Cabinet of Curios or Room of Rare Objects (now the Games Room of the King or le salon de jeux du roi) which could be entered through the end door.
Goddesses of Abundance and Liberality (René-Antoine Houasse, 1683)
It displayed Louis XIV’s collection of precious jewels, silverware vases, medallions and other rare objects (of which nothing remains) which he liked to show his privileged guests. The room was restored in 1955.
The Duke of Burgundy (Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1704)
Portrait of King Louis XV (Hyacinthe Rigaud)
These served as a source of inspiration for the decoration of René-Antoine Houasse‘s painting Goddesses of Abundance and Liberality (1683) located on the ceiling over the door opposite the windows. It includes a depiction of the King’s Vessel over the door.
Portrait of King Philip V(left) and Portrait of Louis of France, Dauphin (right), both done by Hyacinthe Rigaud.
The precious King’s Vessel, in the form of a mastless ship which was placed on the king’s table during important occasions or on the sideboard, contained the sovereign’s serviette and was a symbol of power which had to be hailed by everyone who passed by.
Salon of Venus
Along with the Salon of Diana, the Salon of Venus, because it was at the top of the great staircase known as the “Ambassadors’ Staircase,” is one of the main entrances used by courtiers to get to the King and Queen’s Grand Apartments. Prior to it being destroyed in 1752 to make more room, the Ambassador’s Staircase ended here. Like some of the other rooms, this room was named after a planet, following a running theme linked to sun mythology which inspired the decoration in Versailles during the 1670s.
Statue of Louis XiV (Jean Warin)
The Salon of Venus was used during so-called “evening soirees” (social gatherings for specially invited courtiers) when the salon was lit by two very large chandeliers and eight smaller chandeliers of crystal and filled with small tables, chairs lined with green velvet and laced with gold, and either huge bouquets of flowers or pyramids of rare, exotic fruit such as oranges and lemons. Sometimes, light meals such as marzipan and crystallized fruit were served.
Ceiling frescos
Featuring the highest level of the Baroque style of all the state apartments, it is the only place where Charles Le Brun created dialogue between the architecture, sculptures and paintings (sometimes real and sometimes fake) such as the marble pilasters and columns created through perspective paintings by Jacques Rousseau, and the two trompe l’oeil , life-size statues of Louis XIV (in the costume of a Roman emperor) near the windows, by Jean Warin.
Venus Subjugating the Gods and Powers (René-Antoine Houasse)
On the ceiling in a gilded oval frame, is Venus Subjugating the Gods and Powers (1672-1681), another painting by René-Antoine Houasse, featuring the planet Venus along with symbols associated with the Goddess of Love (same name in Greek mythology).
Around the ceiling are trompe l’oeil paintings and sculpture illustrating mythological themes. The paintings decorating the arches and moldings show great men or heroes from the Antiquity, some of them related to Venus while others to Louis XIV himself, whose actions, inspired by the goddess, often alluded, more or less obviously, to the deeds of Louis XIV. For example, the arch depicting Alexander the Great, marrying Roxana, evokes the king’s own wedding while the arch illustrating Emperor Augustus, watching Roman circus games, refers to the carousel held in honor of Queen Maria Theresa in 1662.
Salon of Diana
Like the Salon of Venus, the Salon of Diana served as a vestibule to the King’s State Apartment. Used by Louis XIV as a billiards room, it had galleries, with two tiers of seating installed, from which courtiers could watch the king, who was very skilled, play. On display here is the celebrated bust of Louis XIV by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, made during the famous sculptor’s visit to France in 1665.
Bust of Louis XIV (Gian Lorenzo Bernini, at center)
The decoration of the walls and ceiling depicts scenes from the life of the goddess Diana who, in ancient Greek mythology, was the goddess of the hunt, the sister of Apollo (the sun god), and was also associated with the moon. The ceiling’s central section, painted by Gabriel Blanchard, depicts goddess watching over navigation and hunting scenes.
Fireplace
The arches, also illustrating the themes of navigation and hunting, celebrates Louis XIV’s cynegetic taste; hunting with Cyrus Hunting the Wild Boar by Claude Audran the Younger and Alexander Hunting the Lion, by Charles de La Fosse; and navigation by making allusions to the royal navy, which was undergoing considerable expansion by Colbert at the time, with Julius Cesar Sending Roman settlers to Carthage by Claude Audran the Younger and Jason and the Argonautes, by Charles de La Fosse.
Diana and Endymion (Gabriel Blanchard)
The painting The Sacrifice of Iphigenia (1680), by Charles de La Fosse, over the fireplace shows the last-minute intervention by Diana. Opposite, above the console, is Diana and Endymion, a painting by Gabriel Blanchard.
One of the busts from the collection of Cardinal Mazarin
The ancient busts are from collections belonging to Cardinal Mazarin which were bequeathed to Louis XIV.
Salon of Mars
The Salon of Mars, used by the royal guards until 1782, was decorated on a military theme with helmets and trophies, making its dedication to the god of war highly appropriate. Between 1684 and 1750, it was turned into a concert room, with galleries for musicians on either side. Decorating the room today are portraits of Louis XV and his Queen, Marie Leszczinska, by the Flemish artist Carle Van Loo.
Ceiling painting of Mars on a chariot by Claude Audran the Younger
The Salon of Mars, followed on from the two previous rooms, marked the start of the King’s Apartment. A painting by Claude Audran the Younger, in the center of the ceiling, depicts Mars on a chariot pulled by wolves. Two other compositions, on either side of the work, are Victory supported by Hercules and followed by Abundance and Felicity by Jean Jouvenet, to the east, and Terror, Fury and Horror take possession of the powers of the earth, by René-Antoine Houasse, to the west.
Portrait of King Louis XV (Carle van Loo)
The arches, decorated using gold camaieu, celebrate war victories by sovereigns from Antiquity, which naturally correspond to the military triumphs of the king, evoked in the gilded stucco spandrels by the Gaspard and Balthazard Marsy (Balthazar and Gaspard).
Portrait of Marie Leszcynska (Carle van Loo)
The decoration on the cornice, composed of a variety of helmets and military headgear, highlights the military character of the room.
The Family of Darius before Alexander (Charles Le Brun)
The Family of Darius before Alexander (to the left of the chimney) by Charles Le Brun, and The Pilgrims of Emmaus (to the right), in the style of Paolo Veronese, were hung as a pair, upon the king’s request, to demonstrate the desire to show that French painters could rival the greatest Italian masters.
The Pilgrims of Emmaus (Paolo Veronese)
Up until 1750, the room was used for music and dancing during evening gatherings and there were two platforms, on either side of the fireplace (where the two paintings now hang), which were for the musicians.
The fireplace
Two state portraits of Louis XV and Marie Leszczyńska, both painted by Carle Van Loo, are mounted on the side walls, while over the door are four paintings from Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye by Simon Vouet, illustrating the royal virtues of Temperance, Prudence, Justice and Strength.
Salon of Mercury
The Salon of Mercury, the original Chamber of Bed and House (La chambre du Lit et abritera), the State Bedchamber when Louis XIV officially moved the court and government to the Palace in 1682, has a bed that is a replica of the original commissioned by King Louis-Philippe I in the 19th century when he turned the palace into a museum. During winter, the bed was removed to make room for games tables.
Ceiling painting with Mercury on his chariot in the center
When the Salon of Mercury actually served as a bedchamber (referred to as the “bedroom”), the Duke of Anjou (the grandson of Louis XIV) slept here for three weeks before travelling to Spain where he was proclaimed King of Spain on November 16, 1700. From September 2 to 10, 1715, the coffin containing the body of Louis XIV was also displayed in this room.
Portrait of Louis XV (Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1730)
Its walls, ceilings and fireplace were once decorated with tables, mirrors, andirons and magnificently chased chandeliers (made in solid silver by the Gobelins silversmiths). However, in 1689, Louis XIV had to melt them down to finance the War of the League of Augsburg.
Portrait of Queen Marie Leszczynska (Tocque)
The silver alcove (separated from the rest of the room by a silver balustrade) and magnificent tapestries of brocades (fabric made using gold and silver thread) which once hung from the walls and bed were later used, in their turn, to support the War of Spanish Succession. Since the original furniture was lost during the French Revolution, the remaining furniture in the room has been recreated after the Versailles inventory list.
Tapestry
The ceiling paintings, by the Flemish artist Jean Baptiste de Champaigne, depicts the god Mercury (the patron god of trade, arts and sciences and, as the gods’ messenger, of ambassadors) in his chariot, drawn by a rooster, and Alexander the Great and Ptolemy surrounded by scholars and philosophers.
Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos, (Innocenzo da Imola)
In the arches in the ceiling, these themes are also depicted in scenes that evoke events from the reign of Louis XIV such as the reception of ambassadors from far-off countries (Augustus receiving Indian ambassadors and Alexander the Great receiving Ethiopian ambassadors), development of the royal library (Ptolemy Philadelphus talking with wise men in the library of Alexandria), and the publication of Histoire Naturelle by Claude Perrault in the collection in the King’s Cabinet in 1671 (Alexander the Great bringing various foreign animals to Aristotle to allow him to write his Natural History).
Bronze and crystal chandelier
On either side are two paintings that Louis XIV was particularly fond of, and which he hung in his bedroom – David Playing the Harp by Domenico Zampieri, and Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos, attributed to Innocenzo da Imola.
Automaton Clock (Antoine Morand)
One can see through the mechanism of the large Automaton Clock, made by Antoine Morand, the royal clockmaker, for the King in 1706. When it chimes the hour, the miniature figures of Louis XIV and Fame descend from a cloud.
Ceiling painting at Salon of Apollo
The Salon of Apollo, the Ceremonial Room (royal throne room) under Louis XIV, was the setting for formal audiences. The famous and extraordinary 2.6 m. (8-ft.) high throne (a huge wooden armchair covered with silver plaques and sculptures) once stood here on a platform beneath a baldachin but it was melted down in 1689 to help pay the costs of the expensive War of the League of Augsburg and was replaced by a succession of more modest thrones of gilded wood in styles that varied according to the period.
The painting on the center of the ceiling, by Charles de la Fosse, dedicated to the Sun King, the arts and peace, depicts the Sun Chariot of Apollo (the King’s favorite emblem), pulled by four horses and surrounded by allegorical figures such as the Four Seasons.
Painting of Apollo pulled by four horses
The arches, illustrating the king’s magnificence and magnanimity, is seen though various examples from Antiquity – Vespasian building the Colosseum; Augustus building the port of Miseno, Porus before Alexander and Coriolan entreated by his wife and mother to spare Rome.
Portrait of King Louis XIV in Ceremonial Dress (Hyacinthe Rigaud)
The copy (made in 1702) of most famous portrait of Louis XIV, by Hyacinthe Rigaud, hangs over the fireplace. The original portrait, made in 1701 (upon a personal request by the king who wanted to give it to his grandson who had recently become king of Spain), hangs in the Musée du Louvre.
Chandelier
State Apartments of the King: Chateau De Versailles, Place d’Armes, 78000 Versailles, France. Tel: +33 1 30 83 78 00. Website: www.chateauversailles.fr. Open daily (except on Mondays and May 1), from 9:00 AM to 6:30 PM. Last admission is 6 PM while the ticket office closes at 5.45 PM. The estate of Trianon and the Coach Gallery only open in the afternoon while the Park (7 AM to 8:30 PM) and Gardens (8 AM to 8.30 PM, last admission: 7 PM) are open every day. Access to the Gardens is free except on days of fountains shows. You can access the estate of Trianon through the Gardens or through the city. The Petit Trianon is only possible via the Grand Trianon.
Admission: 27 € for Passport with Timed Entry (days with Musical Fountains Shows or Musical Gardens), 20 € for Passport with Timed Entry (without musical fountains show or musical gardens), 12 € for Estate of Trianon ticket(without Musical Fountains Show or Musical Gardens), 10 € for Passport with Timed Entry (free admission, days with Musical Fountains Show or Musical Gardens), 9,50 € for Musical Fountains Show ticket, 8,50 € for Musical Gardens ticket, 28 € for the Fountains Night Show.
How to Get There: The cheapest option for reaching Versailles is by train. There are three train stations in Versailles. RER line C arrives at Versailles Château – Rive Gauche train station, the closest one of the Palace (just 10 minutes’ walk to the Palace). SNCF trains from Gare Montparnasse arrive at Versailles Chantiers train station, which is 18 minutes on foot to the Palace. SNCF trains from Gare Saint Lazare arrive at Versailles Rive Droite train station, 17 minutes on foot to the Palace. RER C and SNCF train times are available on www.transilien.com
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