Gallery of Illustrious Men
The Gallery of Illustrious Men, probably the longest in Versailles (it stretches almost the entire North Wing), is only interrupted by the emergence of the Royal Opera. In Louis XVI’s time, busts of Enlightenment-philosophers were added to the gallery.
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Statue of Henri Turenne (Augustin Pajou, 1783)
Statue of Nicolas de Catinat (Claude Dejoux)
Some of the statues that line this gallery are Marshals of France who served under King Louis XIV – Louis II de Bourbon (Prince of Condé), Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne (Viscount of Turenne), François de Montmorency, Sébastien Le Prestre (Marquis of Vauban), Anne Hilarion de Tourville and Nicolas Catinat.
Statue of Francois Henri de Montmorency (Louis-Philippe Mouchy)
Statue of Sebastien Le Prestre Vauban (Charles-Antoine Bridan, 1785)
Other statues of those who served under King Louis XIV include Jacques-Benigne Bossuet (court preacher and tutor to the nine-year-old Dauphin, oldest child of Louis XIV) and Abraham Duquesne (Vice-Admiral who distinguished himself in the Third Dutch War).
Statue of Henri Francois d’Aguesseau (Pierre Francois Berruer)
Statue of Anne Hilarion de Tourville (Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1781)
Statues of other famous men in French history are represented here. They include several Chancellors (Henri François d’Aguesseau and Michel de L’Hopital) as well as Carloman (king of the Franks from 768 until his death in 771), Bertrand du Guesclin (an important military commander on the French side during the Hundred Years’ War), Francois Fenelon (French Roman Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet and writer), Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (a French knight at the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance).
Statue of Jacques-Benigne Bossuet (Augustin Pajou)
Statue of Abraham Duquesne (Martin Claude Monot, 1784-87)
All these statues were works of some of the noted French sculptors of that time – Martin-Claude Monot, Louis-Philippe Mouchy (1734 – 1801), Jean-Joseph Foucou (1739 – 1821), Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741 – 1828), Pierre Francois Berruer (1733 – 1797), Augustin Pajou (1730 – 1809), Claude Dejoux (1732 – 1816) and Charles Antoine Bridan(1730 – 1805)
Statue of Bertrand Duguesclin (Jean-Joseph Foucou, 1799)
Statue of Pierre du Terrail Bayard (Charles Antoine Bridan, 1787)
Gallery of Illustrious Men: North Wing, 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.