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Palace and Park of Versailles*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	France
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, vi
Reference	83
Region†	Europe
Inscription history
Inscription	1979  (3rd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, France.

In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles. When the château was built, Versailles was a country village; today, however, it is a suburb of Paris. From 1682, when King Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789, the Court of Versailles was the centre of power in Ancien Régime France. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy which Louis XIV espoused.

[edit] Origins and the first château: Louis XIII

The earliest mention of the village of Versailles is found in a document dated 1142, the “Charte de l'abbaye Saint-Père de Chartres” (Charter of the Abbey of Saint-Père de Chartres). ^[1] Of the signatories of the charter was one Hugo de Versailles, hence the name of the village. During this period, the village of Versailles centered on a small castle and church and the area was controlled by a local lord. The village's location on the road from Paris to Dreux and Normandy brought some prosperity to the village but following the Black Plague and the Hundred Years War, the village was largely destroyed and its population severely diminished.

In 1575, Albert de Gondi, a Florentine, purchased the seigneury of Versailles. Gondi had arrived in France with Catherine de Medici and his family became influential in the French Parliament. In the early decades of the 17th century, Gondi invited Louis XIII on several hunting trips in the forests of Versailles. Following this initial introduction to the area, Louis XIII ordered the construction of a hunting chateau in 1624. Designed by Philibert Le Roy, the structure was constructed of stone and red brick with a slate roof. Eight years later, in 1632, Louis obtained the seigneury of Versailles from the Gondi family and began to make enlargements to the château. ^[2]

[edit] Sources

• Bluche, François. Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle. Paris: Arthème Fayard, 1991.
• Guérard, Benjamin éd. Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres. Paris, 1840.
• Marie, Alfred. Naissance de Versailles. Paris: Edition Vincent, Freal & Cie, 1968.
• Nolhac, Pierre de. La création de Versailles. Versailles: L. Bernard, 1901.
• Verlet, Pierre. Versailles. Paris: Arthème Fayard, 1961.

[edit] Expansion under the rule of Louis XIV

Louis' successor, Louis XIV, had a great interest in Versailles. He had grown up in the disorders of the civil war between rival factions of aristocrats called the Fronde, and wanted a site where he could organize and completely control a government of France by absolute personal rule. He settled on the royal hunting lodge at Versailles, and over the following decades had it expanded into one of the largest palaces in the world. Beginning in 1669, the architect, Louis Le Vau, and the landscape architect, André Le Nôtre, began a detailed renovation of the château. It was Louis XIV's hope to create a center for the royal court. Following the Treaty of Nijmegen in 1678, the court and French government began to be moved to Versailles. The court was officially established there on 6 May 1682.

By moving the royal court and the seat of the French government, Louis XIV hoped to gain greater control of the government from the nobility, and to distance himself from the population of Paris. All the power of France emanated from this centre: there were government offices here, as well as the homes of thousands of courtiers, their retinues, and all the attendant functionaries of court. By requiring that nobles of a certain rank and position spend time each year at Versailles, Louis prevented them from developing their own regional power at the expense of his own and kept them from countering his efforts to centralize the French government in an absolute monarchy. The meticulous and strict court etiquette that Louis XIV established, which overwhelmed his heirs with its petty boredoms, was epitomized in the elaborate procedures accompanying his rising in the morning, known as the Lever, divided into a petit lever for the most important and a grand lever for the whole court. Like other French court manners, "etiquette" was quickly imitated in other European courts.

[edit] Evolution of Versailles

Upon the death of Jules Cardinal Mazarin in 1661, who had served as co-regent during the minority of Louis XIV, Louis XIV (b. 5 September 1638 at Saint-Germain-en-Laye; d. 1 September 1715 at Versailles; reigned 14 May 1642 – 1 September 1715) began his personal reign by vowing to be his own prime minister. From this point, construction and expansion at Versailles became synonymous with the absolutism of Louis XIV.

The idea of Versailles was originally started when Louis XIV wanted to ensure that all of his advisors and the rulers of each region would be kept close to him. He feared that they would rise up against and start a revolt, which eventually happened anyway. He thought that if he kept all of his potential over-throwers near him, that they would powerless and would not be able to attack because they would have to attack themselves to attack him. After the disgrace of Nicolas Fouquet in 1661 — Louis claimed the finance minister would not have been able to build his grand château at Vaux-le-Vicomte without having embezzled from the crown — Louis XIV, after confiscation of Fouquet’s estate, employed the talents of architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect André Le Nôtre, and painter/decorator Charles Le Brun for his building campaigns at Versailles and elsewhere. For Versailles, there were four distinct building campaigns (after minor alterations and enlargements had been executed on the château and the gardens in 1662-1663), all of which corresponded to Louis XIV’s wars.

[edit] 1st building campaign

Pierre Patel, “View of Versailles from the Avenue de Paris, ca. 1662”.

The First Building Campaign (1664-1668) commenced with the Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée of 1664, a party that was held between 7th and 13th May 1664. The party was ostensibly given to celebrate the two queens of France — Anne of Austria, the Queen Mother and Marie-Thérèse, Louis XIV’s wife, but in reality celebrated the king’s mistress, Louise de La Vallière. The fête of the Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée is often regarded as a prelude to the War of Devolution, which Louis XIV waged against Spain — both the Queen Mother and Marie-Thérèse were Spanish by birth — from 1667 to 1668). The First Building Campaign (1664-1668) saw alterations in the château and gardens in order to accommodate the 600 guests invited to the party.

[edit] 2nd building campaign

The Second Building Campaign (1669-1672) was inaugurated with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (the treaty that ended the War of Devolution). During this campaign, the château began to assume some of the appearance that it has today. The most important modification of the château was Louis LeVau’s envelope of Louis XIII’s hunting lodge. The envelope — often referred to as the château neuf to distinguish it from the older structure of Louis XIII — enclosed the hunting lodge on the north, west, and south. The new structure provided new lodgings for members of the king and his family. The main floor — the piano nobile — of the château neuf was given over entirely to two apartments, one for the king and one for the queen. The Grand appartement du roi occupied the northern part of the château neuf and Grand appartement de la reine occupied the southern part. The western part of the envelope was given over almost entirely to a terrace, which was later destroyed for construction of the Hall of Mirrors (Galerie des Glaces).

Garden façade of the château ca. 1675 showing the terrace that was later to become part of the Hall of Mirrors

The ground floor of the northern part of the château neuf was occupied by the appartement des bains, which included a sunken octagonal tub with hot and cold running water. The king’s brother and sister-in-law, the duc and duchesse d’Orléans occupied apartments on the ground floor of the southern part of the château neuf. The upper story of the château neuf was reserved for private rooms for the king to the north and rooms for the king’s children above the queen’s apartment to the south.

Significant to the design and construction of the grands appartements is that the rooms of both apartments are of the same configuration and dimensions — a hitherto unprecedented feature in French palace design. In his monograph “Il n’y plus des Pyrenées: the Iconography of the first Versailles of Louis XIV,” Kevin Olin Johnson posited the hypothesis that the unprecedented similarity to the king and queen’s apartments represented Louis XIV’s wish to establish his wife as queen of Spain. In doing so, a dual monarchy of sorts would have been created. Louis XIV’s rationale for the joining of the two kingdoms was seen largely as recompense for Philip IV's failure to pay his daughter Marie-Thérèse’s dowry, which was among the terms of capitulation to which Spain agreed with the promulgation of the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659, ending the war between Spain and France that had been waged since 1635). Louis XIV regarded his father-in-law’s act as a breach of the treaty and consequently engaged in the War of Devolution.

Both the grand appartement du roi and the grand appartement de la reine formed a suite of seven enfilade rooms. Each room is dedicated to one of the then-known celestial bodies and is personified by the appropriate Greco-Roman deity. The decoration of the rooms, which was conducted under the direction of the Charles Le Brun, depicted the “heroic actions of the king” and were represented in allegorical form by the actions of historical figures from the antique past (Alexander the Great, Augustus, Cyrus, etc.).

[edit] 3rd building campaign

With the signing of the Treaty of Nijmegen (1678, which ended the Dutch War of 1672-1678), the Third Building Campaign at Versailles began (1678-1684). Under the direction of the architect, Jules Hardouin Mansart, the Palace of Versailles acquired much of the look that it has today. In addition to the Hall of Mirrors,

Louis XIV’s third building campaign resulted in the construction of the Hall of Mirrors.

Mansart designed the north and south wings (which were used by the nobility and Princes of the Blood, respectively), and the Orangerie. Charles Le Brun was occupied not only with the interior decoration of the new additions of the palace, but also collaborated with André Le Notre in landscaping the palace gardens. As symbol of France’s new prominence as a European super-power, Louis XIV officially installed his court at Versailles in May of 1682.

[edit] 4th building campaign

Pierre Denis MARTIN “View of the château de Versailles as seen from the Place d’Armes, 1722.” This was how Versailles looked at the end of Louis XIV’s fourth building campaign.

Soon after the crushing defeat of the War of the League of Augsburg (1688-1697) and owing possibly to the pious influence of Madame de Maintenon, Louis XIV undertook his last building campaign at Versailles. The fourth building campaign (1699-1710) concentrated almost exclusively on construction of the Chapel Royal, designed by Mansart and finished by Robert de Cotte and his team of decorative designers. There were also some modifications in the king’s Petit Appartement, namely the construction of the Salon de l’Oeil de Boeuf and the King’s Bedchamber. With the completion of the chapel in 1710, virtually all construction at Versailles ceased; building would not be resumed at Versailles until some 20 years later during the reign of Louis XV.

[edit] Sources

• André Félibien, Description sommaire du chasteau de Versailles, (Paris, 1674)
• Pierre de Nolhac, La création de Versailles, (Versailles, 1901).
• Pierre de Nolhac, Versailles, résidence de Louis XIV, (Paris, 1925).
• Pierre de Nolhac, Histoire de Versailles. 3 vol. (Paris, 1911).
• Kevin Olin Johnson, “Il n’y plus de Pyrenées : Iconography of the first Versailles of Louis XIV,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts (6e pér., vol. 97, janvier 1981) : 29-40.

[edit] Features of the Palace of Versailles

[edit] Grands Appartements

As a result of Louis LeVau’s envelope of Louis XIII’s château, the king and queen had new apartments in the new addition, known at the time as the château neuf. The State Apartments – Grands Appartements, which are known respectively as the grand appartement du roi and the grand appartement de la reine, occupied the main or principal floor of the château neuf. LeVau’s design for the state apartments closely followed Italian models of the day, as evidenced by the placement of the apartments on the next floor up from the ground level — the piano nobile — a convention the architect borrowed from 16th and 17th century Italian palace design.

[edit] Grand Appartement du roi

Le Vau’s plan called for an enfilade of seven rooms, each dedicated to one of the then-known planets and their associated titular Roman deity. LeVau’s plan was bold as he designed a heliocentric system that centered on the salon d’Apollon (Salon of Apollo).

The Salon d’Apollon was originally designed to serve as the king’s bed chamber. It was transformed and used as a throne room; the rings that originally supported the canopy that was suspended over the throne are clearly visible in the photo.

The salon d’Apollon originally was designed as the king’s bedchamber, but served as a throne room.^[3] The original arrangement of the enfilade of rooms was thus:

• Salon de Diane (Diana, Roman goddess of the hunt; associated with the Moon)^[4]
• Salon de Mars (Mars, Roman god of war; associated with the planet Mars)
• Salon de Mercure (Mercury, Roman god of trade, commerce, and the Liberal Arts; associated with the planet Mercury)
• Salon d’Apollon (Apollo, Roman god of the Fine Arts; associated with the Sun)
• Salon de Jupiter (Jupiter, Roman god of law and order; associated with the planet Jupiter)
• Salon de Saturne (Saturn, Roman god of agriculture and harvest)
• Salon de Vénus (Venus, Roman goddess of love; associated with the planet Venus)

The configuration of the grand appartement du roi conformed to contemporary conventions in palace design.^[5] However, owing to Louis XIV’s personal tastes^[6] the grand appartement du roi was reserved for court functions — such as the thrice-weekly appartement evenings given by Louis XIV.

The rooms were decorated by Charles LeBrun and demonstrated Italian influences (LeBrun met and studied with the famed Tuscan artist Pietro da Cortona, whose decorative style of the Pitti Palace in Florence LeBrun adapted for use at Versailles). The quadratura style of the ceilings evoke Cortona’s sale dei planeti at the Pitti, but LeBrun’s decorative schema is more complex. In his 1674 publication about the grand appartement du roi, André Félibien described the scenes depicted in the coves of the ceilings of the rooms as allegories depicting the “heroic actions of the king.”^[7] Accordingly, one finds scenes of the exploits of Augustus, Alexander the Great, and Cyrus alluding to the deeds of Louis XIV. For example, in the salon d’Apollon, the cove painting “Augustus building the port of Misenum”^[8] alludes to the construction of the port at La Rochelle; or, depicted in the south cove of the salon de Mercure

Lit de parade, Salon of Mercury. The clock, by Antoine Morand, was offered to Louis XIV in 1706. It is the only piece of furniture from the Grand Appartement that has survived, however the original Boulle marquetry case has been replaced.

is “Ptolemy II Philadelphus in his Library”, which alludes to Ptolemy’s construction of the Great Library of Alexandria and which accordingly serves as an allegory to Louis XIV’s expansion of the Bibliothèque du roi.^[9][10] Complementing the rooms’ decors were pieces of massive silver furniture. Regrettably, owing to the War of the League of Augsburg, in 1689 Louis XIV ordered all of this silver furniture to be sent to the mint, to be melted down to help defray the cost of the war.

LeVau’s original plan for the grand appartement du roi was short-lived. With the inauguration of the 2nd building campaign, which suppressed the terrace linking the king and queen’s apartments and the salons of Jupiter, Saturn and Venus for the construction of the Hall of Mirrors, the configuration of the grand appartement du roi was altered. The decor of the salon de Jupiter was removed and reused in the decoration of the salle des gardes de la reine; and elements of the decoration of the first salon de Vénus, which opened onto the terrace, were reused in the salon de Vénus that we see today.^[11]

From 1678 to the end of Louis XIV’s reign, the grand appartement du roi served as the venue for the king’s thrice-weekly evening receptions, known as les soirées de l’appartement. For these parties, the rooms assumed specific functions:

• Salon de Vénus: buffet tables were arranged to display food and drink for the king’s guests.
• Salon de Diane: served as a billiard room.
• Salon de Mars: served as a ballroom.
• Salon de Mercure: served as a gaming (cards) room.
• Salon d’Apollon: served as a concert or music room.

In the 18th century during the reign of Louis XV, the grand appartement du roi was expanded to include the salon de l’Abondance — formerly the entry vestibule of the petit appartement du roi — and the salon d’Hercule — occupying the tribune level of the former chapel of the château.

[edit] Grand Appartement de la reine

Forming a parallel enfilade with that of the grand appartement du roi, the grand appartement de la reine served as the residence of three queens of France — Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche, wife of Louis XIV; Marie Leszczyska, wife of Louis XV; and Marie-Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI (additionally, Louis XIV’s granddaughter-in-law, Marie-Adélaïde de Savoie, as duchesse de Bourgogne, occupied these rooms from 1697 (the year of her marriage) to her death in 1712).

The Queen's bedchamber. There is a barely discernible hidden door in the corner near the jewel cabinet by Schwerdfeger (1787) through which Marie Antoinette escaped the night of 5/6 October 1789 when the Paris mob stormed Versailles.

When Louis Le Vau’s envelope of the château vieux was completed, the grand appartement de la reine came to include a suite of seven enfilade rooms with an arrangement that mirrored almost exactly the grand appartement du roi. The configuration was:

• Chapel — which was pendant with the salon de Diane in the grand appartement du roi^[12]
• Salle de gardes — which was pendant with the salon de Mars in the grand appartement du roi
• Antichambre — which was pendant with the salon de Mercure in the grand appartement du roi
• Chambre — which was pendant with the salon d’Apollon in the grand apartment du roi
• Grand cabinet — which was pendant with the salon de Jupiter in the grand appartement du roi
• Oratory — which was pendant with the salon de Saturne in the grand appartement du roi
• Petit cabinet — which was pendant with the salon de Vénus in the grand appartement du roi^[13]

As with the decoration of the ceiling in the grand appartement du roi, which depicted the heroic actions of Louis XIV as allegories from events taken from the antique past, the decoration of the grand appartement de la reine likewise depicted heroines from the antique past and harmonized with the general theme of a particular room’s decor.^[14]

With the construction of the Hall of Mirrors, which began in 1678, the configuration of the grand appartement de la reine changed. The chapel was transformed into the salle des gardes de la reine and it was in this room that the decorations from the salon de Jupiter were reused.^[15] The salle des gardes de la reine communicates with a loggia that issues from the escalier de la reine, which formed a parallel pendant (albeit a smaller, though similarly-decorated example) with the escalier des ambassadeurs in the grand appartement du roi. The loggia also provides access to the appartement du roi, the suite of rooms in which Louis XIV lived. Toward the end of Louis XIV’s reign, the escalier de la reine became the principal entrance to the château, with the escalier des ambassadeurs used on rare state occasions. After the destruction of the escalier des ambassadeurs in 1752, the escalier de la reine became the main entrance to the château.

From 1682, the grand appartement de la reine included:

• Salle des gardes de la reine
• Antichambre (formerly the salle des gardes)
• Grand cabinet
• Chambre de la reine

With the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the court moved to Vincennes and later to Paris. In 1722, Louis XV reinstalled the court at Versailles and began modifications to the château’s interior. Among the most noteworthy of the building projects during Louis XV’s reign, the redecoration of the chamber de la reine must be cited.

To commemorate the birth of his only son and heir, Louis-Ferdinand, in 1729, Louis XV ordered a complete redecoration of the room. Elements of the chamber de la reine as it had been used by Marie-Thérèse and Marie-Adélaïde de Savoie were removed and a new, more modern decor was installed.^[16]

During her life at Versailles, Marie Leszczynska (1703-1768) lived in the grand apartment de la reine, to which she annexed the salon de la paix to serve as a music room. In 1770, when the Austrian archduchess Marie-Antoinette married the dauphin, later Louis XVI, she took up residence in these rooms. Upon Louis XVI’s ascension to the throne in 1774, Marie-Antoinette ordered major redecoration of the grand appartement de la reine. At this time, the queen’s apartment achieved the arrangement that we see today.

• Salle des gardes de la reine — this room remained virtually unchanged by Marie-Antoinette.^[17]
• Antichambre — this room was transformed into the antichambre du grand couvert. It was in this room that the king, queen, and members of the royal family dined in public. Occasionally, this room served as a theater for the château.
• Grand cabinet — this room was transformed into the salon des nobles. Following the tradition established by her predecessor, Marie-Antoinette would hold formal audiences in this room. When not used for formal audiences, the salon des nobles served as an antechamber to the queen’s bedroom.
• Chambre de la reine — this room was used as the queen’s bedroom, and was of exceptional splendor. On the night of 6/7 October 1789, Marie-Antoinette fled from the Paris mob by escaping through a private corridor that connected her apartment with that of the king.

[edit] Sources

The following imprints represent current understanding of the Grands appartements at Versailles.

Primary Monographs

• Combes, sieur de. Explication historique de ce qu'il y a de plus remarquable dans la maison royale de Versailles. (Paris: C. Nego, 1681.)
• Félibien, André. Description sommaire du chasteau de Versailles. (Paris, 1674).
• Félibien, André. La descriptioon du château de Versailles, de ses peintures, et des autres ouvrags fait pour le roy. (Paris: Antoine Vilette, 1694.)
• Félibien, Jean-François. Description sommaire de Versailles ancienne et nouvelle. (Paris: A. Chrétien, 1703.)
• Monicart, Jean-Baptiste de. Versailles immortailisé. (Paris: E. Ganeau, 1720.)
• Piganiol de la Force, Jean-Aymar. Nouvelle description des châteaux et parcs de Versailles et Marly. (Paris: Chez Florentin de la lune, 1701.)

Modern Research

• Batiffol, Louis. “Le château de Versailles de Louis XIII et son architecte Philbert le Roy.“ Gazette des Beaux-Arts 4 pér., vol. 10 (novembre 1913): 341-371.
• Batiffol, Louis. “Origine du château de Versailles.“ La Revue de Paris (avril 1909): 841-869.
• Berger, Robert W. “The chronology of the Enveloppe of Versailles.“ Architectura 10 (1980): 105-133.
• Bottineau, Yves. “Essais sur le Versailles de Louis XIV II: le style et l'iconographie.“ ‘‘Gazette des Beaux-Arts’’ 6 pér., vol. 112 (octobre 1988): 119-132.
• Brière, Gaston. “Le replacement des peintures décoratives au 'grands appartements' de Versailles.“ Bulletin de la société de l'histoire de l'art français (1938): 197-216.
• Constans, Claire. “Les tableaux du Grand Appartement du Roi.“ Revue du Louvre #3 (1976): 157-173.
• Gruyer, Paul. “Les plafonds de Versailles.“ La Renaissance de l'Art Francais (janvier 1920): 250-259.
• Hoog, Simone. “Les sculptures du Grand Appartement du Roi.“ Revue du Louvre #3 (1976): 147-156.
• Josephson, Ragnar. “Relation de la visite de Nicodème Tessin à Marly, Versailles, Rueil, et St-Cloud en 1687.“ Revue de l'Histoire de Versailles (1926): 150-67, 274-300
• Kimball, Fiske. “Genesis of the Château Neuf at Versailles, 1668-1671.“ Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6 pér., vol. 35 (1949): 353-372.
• LeGuillou, Jean-Claude. “Aperçu sur un projet insolit (1668) pour le château de Versailles.“ Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6 pér., vol. 113 (février 1989): 79-104.
• LeGuillou, Jean-Claude. “Le château-neuf ou enveloppe de Versailles: concept et evolution du premier projet.“ Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6 pér., vol. 102 (decembre 1983): 193-207.
• LeGuillou, Jean-Claude. “Remarques sur le corps central du château de Versailles.“ Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6 pér., vol. 87 (février 1976): 49-60.
• Lemoine, Pierre. “La chambre de la Reine.“ Revue du Louvre #3 (1976): 139-145.
• Lighthart, E. “Archétype et symbole dans le style Louis XIV versaillais: réflexions sur l’imago rex et l’imago patriae au début de l’époque moderne,” (Doctoral thesis, 1997).
• Marie, Alfred. Naissance de Versailles. (Paris: Edition Vincent, Freal & Cie, 1968.)
• Marie, Alfred and Jeanne. Mansart à Versailles. (Paris: Editions Jacques Freal, 1972.)
• Marie, Alfred and Jeanne. Versailles au temps de Louis XIV. (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1976.)
• Marie, Alfred and Jeanne. Versailles au temps de Louis XV. (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1984.)
• Mauricheau-Beaupré, Charles. Le château de Versailles. (Paris: D. A. Longuet, 1929.)
• Mauricheau-Beaupré, Charles. Versailles. (Paris: Draeger et Veive, 1949.)
• Nolhac, Pierre de. “La construction de Versailles de LeVau.“ Revue de l'Histoire de Versailles (1899): 161-171.
• Nolhac, Pierre de. La création de Versailles. (Versailles: L. Bernard, 1901.)
• Nolhac, Pierre de. Versailles, résidence de Louis XIV. (Paris: L. Conrad, 1925.)
• Nolhac, Pierre de. Versailles au XVIIIe siècle. (Paris: Louis Conard, 1926.)
• Reynaud, Nicole et Jacques Vilain. “Fragments retrouvés de la décoration du Grand Appartement de la Reine Marie-Thérèse.“ Revue du Louvre #4-5 (1970): 231-238.
• Sabatier, Gérard. “Le parti figuratif dans les appartements, l'escalier et la galerie de Versailles.“ XVIIe siècle no. 161 (octobre/décember 1988): 401-426.
• Saule, Beatrix. “Le premier goût du Roi à Versailles: décoration et ameublement.“ Gazette des Beaux-Arts vol. 120 (octobre 1992): 137-148.
• Verlet, Pierre. Le château de Versailles. (Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1985.)
• Verlet, Pierre. Versailles. (Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1961.)
• Walton, Guy. “'L'Envelope' de Versailles: refelxcions nouvelles de dessins indedits.“ Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire de l'Art français. (1977): 127-144.

[edit] Appartement du roi (King's Private Apartments)

Main article: Appartement du roi

[edit] Le petit appartement du Roi; l’appartement interieur du roi

Main article: Petit appartement du roi

[edit] Le petit appartement de la reine

Main article: Petit appartement de la reine

[edit] Galerie des Glaces

Main article: Galerie des Glaces

[edit] Chapels of Versailles

Main article: Chapels of Versailles

[edit] L’Opéra

Main article: l'Opéra of the Palace of Versailles

[edit] Gardens of Versailles

Main article: Gardens of Versailles

[edit] Subsidiary structures

Main article: Subsidiary structures of the Palace of Versailles

[edit] Post-royal: Museum of the History of France

After the Revolution the paintings and sculpture, like the crown jewels, were consigned to the new Musée du Louvre as part of the cultural patrimony of France. Other contents went to serve a new and moral public role: books and medals went to the Bibliothèque Nationale, clocks and scientific instruments (Louis XVI was a connoisseur of science) to the École des Arts et Métiers. Versailles was still the most richly-appointed royal palace of Europe until a long series of auction sales took place on the premises, which unrolled for months during the Revolution, emptying Versailles slowly of every shred of amenity, at derisory prices, mostly to professional brocanteurs. The immediate purpose was to raise desperately-needed funds for the armies of the people, but the long-range strategy was to ensure that there was no Versailles for any king ever to come back to. The strategy worked. Though Versailles was declared an imperial palace, Napoleon never spent a summer's night there.

Versailles remained both royal and unused through the Restoration. In 1830, the politic Louis Philippe, the "Citizen King" declared the château a museum dedicated to "all the glories of France," raising it for the first time above a Bourbon dynastic monument. At the same time, boiseries from the private apartments of princes and courtiers were removed and found their way, without provenance, into the incipient art market in Paris and London for such panelling. What remained were 120 rooms, the modern "Galeries Historiques".[3] The curator Pierre de Nohlac began the conservation of the palace in the 1880s, but did not have the necessary funding until John D. Rockefeller's gift of 60 million francs in 1924-1936. Its promotion as a tourist site started in the 1930s and accelerated in the 1950s and 1960s.^[18]

In the 1960s, Pierre Verlet, the greatest writer on the history of French furniture managed to get some royal furnishings returned from the museums and ministries and ambassadors' residences where they had become scattered from the central warehouses of the Mobilier National. He conceived the bold scheme of refurnishing Versailles, and the refurnished royal Appartements that tourists view today are due to Verlet's successful initiative, in which textiles were even rewoven to refurbish the state beds.

Versailles retains the political function of hosting the Congress of France when a dual meeting of the French Legislature considers a revision to the constitution.

[edit] Cost

One of the most baffling aspect to the study of Versailles is the cost. How much Louis XIV and his successors spent on Versailles. Owing to the nature of the construction of Versailles and the evolution of the role of the palace, construction costs were essentially a private matter. Initially, Versailles was planned to be an occasional residence for Louis XIV and was referred to as the “king’s house.”^[19] Accordingly, much of the early funding for construction came from the king’s own purse, funded by revenues received from his appanage as well as revenues from the province of New France (Canada), which, while part of France, was a private possession of the king and therefore exempt from the control of the Parliaments.^[20]

Once Louis XIV embarked on his building campaigns, expenses for Versailles became more of a matter for public record, especially after Jean-Baptiste Colbert assumed the post of finance minister. Expenditures on Versailles have been recorded in the compendium known as the Comptes des bâtiments du roi sous le règne de Louis XIV and which was edited and published in five volumes by Jules Guiffrey in the 19^th century. These volumes provide valuable archival material pursuant to the financial expenditures of all aspects of Versailles from the payments dispersed to artists to mole catchers.^[21]

To counter the costs of Versailles during the early years of Louis XIV’s personal reign, Colbert decided that Versailles should be the “showcase” of France. Accordingly, all materials that went into the construction and decoration of Versailles were manufactured in France.^[22] Accordingly, Colbert nationalized the tapestry factory, owned by the Gobelin family, to become the Manufature royale des Gobelins.

Louis XIV visits the Gobelins with Colbert, 15 October 1667. Tapestry from the series, “Histoire du roi” designed by Charles Le Brun and woven between 1667 and 1672. Articles of Louis XIV’s silver furniture are seen in this tapestry.

In 1667, the name of the enterprise was changed to the Manufacture royale des Meubles de la Couronne.^[23] The Gobelins were charged with all decoration needs of the palace, which was under the direction of Charles Le Brun.

One of the most costly elements in the furnishing of the Grands Appartements during the early years of the personal reign of Louis XIV, was the silver furniture, which can be taken as a standard – with other criteria – for determining a plausible cost for Versailles. The Comptes meticulously list the expenditures on the silver furniture – disbursements to artists, final payments, delivery – as well as descriptions and weight of items purchased. Entries for 1681 and 1682 concerning the silver balustrade used in the Salon de Mercure serve as an example:

• Year 1681

II. 5 In anticipation: For the silver balustrade for the king’s bedroom: 90,000 livres
II. 7 18 November to Sieur du Metz, 43,475 livres 5 sols for delivery to Sr. Lois et to Sr. de Villers for payment of 142,196 livres for the silver balustrade that they are making for the king’s bedroom and 404 livres for tax: 48,861 livres 5 sol.
II. 15 16 June 1681 – 23 January 1682 to Sr. Lois and Sr. de Villers silversmiths on account for the sliver balustrade that they are making for the king’s use (four payments): 88,457 livres 5 sols.
II. 111 25 March – 18 April to Sr. Lois et Sr. de Villers silversmiths who are working on a silver balustrade for the king, for continued work (two payments): 40,000 livres

• Year 1682

II. 129 21 March to Sr. Jehannot de Bartillay 4,970 livres 12 sols for the delivery to Sr. Lois et de Villers sliversmiths for, with 136,457 livres 5 sol to one and 25,739 livres 10 sols to another, making the 38 balusters, 17 pilasters, the base and the cornice for the balustrade for the château of Versailles weighing 4,076 marc at the rate of 41 livres the marc^[24] including 41 livres 2 sols for tax: 4,970 livres 12 sols.^[25]

Accordingly, the silver balustrade, which contained in excess of one ton of silver, cost in excess of 560,000 livres. It is difficult – if not impossible – to give an accurate rate of exchange between 1682/82 and today.^[26] However, Frances Buckland provides valuable information that provides an idea of the true cost of the expenditures at Versailles during the time of Louis XIV. In 1679, Mme de Maintenon, stated that the cost of providing light and food for 12 people for one day amounted to slightly more than 14 livres.^[27] In 1689, in order to defray the cost of the War of the League of Augsburg, Louis XIV, in December of that year, ordered all the silver furniture and all articles of silver at Versailles – this included chamber pots – to the mint to be melted.^[28]

Clearly, the sliver furniture alone represented a significant outlay in the finances of Versailles. While the decoration of the palace was costly, certain other costs were minimalized. For example, labor for construction was often low, due largely to the fact that the army during times of peace and during the winter, when wars were not waged, was pressed into action at Versailles. Additionally, given the quality and uniqueness of the items produced at the Gobelins for use and display at Versailles, the palace served as a venue in which to showcase not only the success of Colbert’s mercantilism but also to display the finest that France could produce. ^[29]

Restoration Programs: The Costs

The restoration initiatives launched by the V^th Republic, have proven to be perhaps more costly than the expenditures of the palace in the Ancien Régime. Staring in the 1950s, when the museum of Versailles was under the directorship of Gérald van der Kemp, the objective was to restore the palace to its state – or as close to it as possible – in 1789 when the royal family left the palace. Among the early projects was the repair of the roof over the Hall of Mirrors, the publicity campaign brought international attention to the plight of post-war Versailles, garnered much foreign money including a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. Concurrently, in Russia, the restoration of the palace of Pavlosk located outside of Leningrad – today’s St. Petersburg – brought the attention of French museum authorities, including the curators of Versailles.

Pavlosk was built by Catherine II son Paul. The tsarevitch and his wife, Marie-Fedorovna were avid francophiles, who, on a visit to France and Versailles in the 1780s, purchased great quantities of silk, which they later used to upholster furniture in Pavlosk. The palace survived the Russian Revolution intact – descendants of Paul I were living in the palace at the time the communists evicted them – however, during the Second World War, the furniture and artifacts housed in the palace, which had been transformed into a museum, were removed. In the process of evacuation the museum collections, remnants of the silks purchased by Paul and Marie-Fedorovna were found and conserved. After the war when Soviet authorities were restoring the palace, which had been gutted by the retreating Nazi forces, they recreated the silk fabrics by using the conserved 18th century remnants.^[30]

When the French authorities saw the results of Russian efforts and the high quality they were able to achieve, the French revived 18th weaving techniques so as to reproduced the silks used in the decoration of Versailles.^[31] The two greatest achievements of this initiative are seen today in wall hangings used in the restoration of the chambre de la reine in the grand appartement de reine and the chambre du roi in the petit appartement du roi.^[32] One of the more costly endeavors for the museum and the government of the V^th Republic has been to repurchase as much of the original furnishings as possible. However, owing to the fact that furniture with a royal provenance – and especially furniture that was made for Versailles – is a highly sought after commodity on the international market, the museum has spent considerable funds on retrieving much of the palace’s original furnishings.

In 2003, a new restoration initiative – the “Grand Versailles” project -- was launched. Initiated shortly after the storms that devastated the gardens, which necessitated unexpected repair and replantation, the project, which will be on-going for the next 17 years; and with a state endowment of €135 million allocated for the first seven years, the project will address such concerns as security for the palace, continued restorations, and the creation of new public spaces for tourists. In addition to state subsidization, the museum also profits from private and corporate patronage. Foundations such as the American Friends of Versailles, which has recently donated US$4 million for the restoration of the “bosquet des trois fontaines” – representing 2/3 of the total cost of the restoration, completed in June 2004 – and VINCI, which underwrote the €12 million restoration project for the Hall of Mirrors, which has been recently completed.^[33]

We may never know the true amount spent on the creation of Versailles, and most current estimates are speculative. A recent estimate has place the amount spent on Versailles during the Ancien Régime as US$2 billion. ^[34] This figure in all probability is an under evaluation of the monies spent on Versailles. V^th Republic expenditures alone that have been directed to restoration and maintenance at Versailles undoubtedly surpass those of the Sun King.

Sources

• Bluche, François. Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle. Paris: Arthème Fayard, 1991.
• Bluche, François. Louis XIV. Paris: Arthème Fayard, 1986.
• Buckland, Frances. "Gobelin tapestries and paintings as a source of information about the silver furniture of Louis XIV," The Burlington Magazine vol. 125, no. 962 (May 1983): 272 n 20.
• Dangeau, Philippe de Courcillon, marquis de. Journal. Paris, 1854-60.
• Guiffrey, Jules. Comptes des bâtiments du roi sous le règne de Louis XIV. 5 vols. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1880-1890.
• LaVarende, Jean de. Versailles. Paris: Henri Lefebvre, 1959.
• Leloup, Michèle. "Versailles en grande toilette," L’Express 07 August 2006. http://www.lexpress.fr/mag/arts/dossier/patrimoine/dossier.asp?ida=451314
• Littell, Mcdougal. World History: Patterns of Interactions. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
• Massie, Suzanne. Pavlosk: The Life of a Russian Palace. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1990.
• Meyer, Daniel. “L'ameublement de la chambre de Louis XIV à Versailles de 1701 à nos jours,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6 pér., vol. 113 (février 1989): 79-104.

[edit] War uses

Proclamation of the German Empire by Anton von Werner

After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, with the Siege of Paris dragging on, the palace was the main headquarters of the Prussian army from 5 October 1870 until 13 March 1871. On 18 January 1871, Prussian King Wilhelm I was proclaimed German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors, and the German Empire was founded.

Sir William Orpen, KBE, “The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 28 June 1919.”

After First World War, it hosted the opening of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, also on 18 January. Germany was blamed for causing the First World War in the Treaty of Versailles which had to be signed in the same room on 28 June 1919. The ravages of war and neglect over the centuries left their mark on the palace and its huge park. Modern French governments of the post-World War II era have sought to repair these damages. They have on the whole been successful, but some of the more costly items, such as the vast array of fountains, have yet to be put back completely in service. As spectacular as they might seem now, they were even more extensive in the 18th century. The 18th-century waterworks at Marly— the machine de Marly that fed the fountains— was probably the biggest mechanical system of its time. The water came in from afar on monumental stone aqueducts, which have long ago fallen in disrepair or been torn down. Some aqueducts were never completed for want of resources or due to the exigencies of war. The search for sufficient supplies of water was in fact never fully realised even during the apogee of Versailles' glory as the seat of government, as the fountains could not be operated together satisfactorily for any significant periods of time.

[edit] Social History

[edit] The politics of display

Versailles became the home of the French nobility and the location of the royal court - thus becoming the center of French government. Louis XIV himself lived there, and symbolically the central room of the long extensive symmetrical range of buildings was the King's Bedchamber (La Chambre du Roi), which itself was centered on the lavish and symbolic state bed, set behind a rich railing not unlike a communion rail. Indeed, even the principle axis of the gardens themselves was conceived to radiate from this fulcrum. All the power of France emanated from this centre: there were government offices here; as well as the homes of thousands of courtiers, their retinues and all the attendant functionaries of court. By requiring that nobles of a certain rank and position spend time each year at Versailles, Louis prevented them from developing their own regional power at the expense of his own, and kept them from countering his efforts to centralize the French government in an absolute monarchy.^{[citation needed]}

At various periods before Louis XIV established absolute rule, France, like the Holy Roman Empire lacked central authority and was not the unified state it was to become during the proceeding centuries. During the Middle Ages some local nobles were at times more powerful than the French King and, although technically loyal to the King, they possessed their own provincial seats of power and government, culturally influential courts and armies loyal to them and not the King, and the right to levy their own taxes on their subjects. Some families were so powerful, they achieved international prominence and contracted marriage alliances with foreign royal houses to further their own political ambitions. Although nominally Kings of France, de facto royal power had at times been limited purely to the region around Paris.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Court etiquette

Life at the court was narrowly regulated by court etiquette. Etiquette became the means of social advancement for the court.

Louis XIV’s elaborate rules of etiquette included the following:

1. People who wanted to speak to the king could not knock on his door. Instead, using the left little finger, they had to gently scratch on the door, until they were granted permission to enter. As a result, many courtiers grew that fingernail longer than the others;
2. A lady never held hands or linked arms with a gentleman. Besides being in bad taste, this practice would have been impossible because a woman’s hooped skirts were so wide. Instead, she was to place her hand on top of the gentleman’s bent arm as they strolled through the gardens and chambers of Versailles. It is also mentioned that the ladies were only allowed to touch fingertips with the men.
3. When a gentleman sat down, he slid his left foot in front of the other, placed his hands on the sides of the chair and gently lowered himself into the chair. There was a very practical reason for this procedure. If a gentleman sat too fast, his tight trousers might split;
4. Women and men were not allowed to cross their legs in public;
5. When a gentleman passed an acquaintance on the street, he was to raise his hat high off his head until the other person passed;
6. A gentleman was to do no work except writing letters, giving speeches, practising fencing, or dancing. For pleasure he engaged in hawking, archery, indoor tennis, or hunting. A gentleman would also take part in battle and would sometimes serve as a public officer, paying the soldiers;
7. Ladies’ clothing did not allow them to do much besides sit and walk. However, they passed the time sewing, knitting, writing letters, painting, making their own lace, and creating their own cosmetics and perfumes.[4]

In addition, etiquette ordained the order of prominence at court, limited or extended access based on rank or favor, rigidly maintained complex customs of address, and even who could sit or stand under what circumstances in the royal presence or that of the great nobles.

[edit] Buildings inspired by Versailles

Main article: Buildings inspired by Versailles

[edit] Musical events

On record, Versailles has held two musical events.

In 1988 on June 21 and 22, its courtyard played host to Pink Floyd during their "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" European tour, which was filmed. Footage from the show was used on the Delicate Sound of Thunder DVD.

On July 2, 2005, the French Live 8 was held in the courtyard of Versailles.

[edit] The Palace in pop culture

The Palace is featured in Si Versailles m'était conté, a film by Sacha Guitry (1954)^{[35] [36]} that recounts a history of the Palace from the perspectives of its inhabitants. The film features a large cast of French and international stars, including Édith Piaf singing the revolutionary song "Ça Ira" as a mob storms the gates to remove Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.

The Palace of Versailles was used as an area in the Sega Genesis video game Castlevania: Bloodlines, especially the Hall of Mirrors.

In 2006, the French Government gave permission to American director Sofia Coppola to film her movie, Marie Antoinette, in the Palace of Versailles. This included the Hall of Mirrors for the wedding ball scenes, even though it was being renovated at the time.

Singer-songwriter Al Stewart released a song entitled "The Palace of Versailles", a song detailing the French Revolution, The Terror, and the military coup of Napoleon Bonaparte, from the perspective of "the lonely Palace of Versailles".

Rapper Jay-Z refers to the Hall of Mirrors in the song titled "Sweet," from his album American Gangster. "I can walk down the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, and be so satisfied when I look myself in the eyes."

[edit] See also

• Bureau du Roi
• French Baroque and Classicism
• French Rococo and Neoclassicism
• Menagerie

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

• Thompson, Ian. The Sun King's Garden: Louis XIV, André Le Nôtre And the Creation of the Gardens of Versailles. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2006 (hardcover, ISBN 1-58234-631-3).
  • Reviewed by Peter Parker in the Telegraph, October 1, 2006.
  • Reviewed by John Adamson in the Telegraph, 2006.

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Château de Versailles

• Official Site
• Photos of Palace and Gardens of Versailles
• Photos of Versailles
• Extensive photo gallery of Versailles
• Palace of Versailles Independent study article with photographs
• The Story of Versailles by Francis Loring Payne, from Project Gutenberg
• French The Hall of Mirrors Restoration
• French Pictures of : "Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes"
• Palace of Versailles photos
• Visiting information Palace of Versailles
• Comprehensive audio guide covering history and culture of the Chateau.
• Podcasts describing Versailles
• Extensive Images on the Design of Versailles

• Palace of Versailles is at coordinates 48°48′16″N 2°07′23″E / 48.804404, 2.123162 (Palace of Versailles)Coordinates: 48°48′16″N 2°07′23″E / 48.804404, 2.123162 (Palace of Versailles)
  • Satellite image from Mapygon
• Article on Versailles Gardens
• Laguiole Corkscrews made with wood from Gardens of Versailles
• Swan Lake at the Palace of Versailles

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