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Looking at the paintings in Versailles
Use the setting to choose how to look. A ceiling, a state portrait and a museum history painting each ask for a different kind of attention.
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A scene above your head
In the Hercules Room, François Lemoyne’s painted vault receives the hero among the gods. Lemoyne was a painter working under Louis XV. His scene was painted on canvas and attached to the ceiling, rather than painted directly into wet plaster. Follow the figures across the vault and notice how their arrangement opens the surface above you. The Hall of Mirrors uses another painted programme. The painter Charles Le Brun placed the achievements of Louis XIV’s reign overhead. The paintings present events from the monarchy’s point of view. The ordinary movement of people crossing the gallery continues below that account of the monarch.
One king, many copies
In the Apollo Room, the full-length state portrait presents Louis XIV through his pose, mantle and royal objects. The painter Hyacinthe Rigaud made the original in 1701. The version at Versailles is the copy of 1702. The original is in the Louvre. The copy had a purpose. A state portrait could circulate a controlled image of the ruler to more than one place. At Versailles, its setting in the former throne room gives it another relationship with the ceiling’s sun god, Apollo.
History painted afterwards
The Gallery of Great Battles presents events from many periods in a museum arrangement created under King Louis-Philippe. Distinguish the event represented from the time when an artist painted it. Look for who commands the scene, which action is easiest to see and how the figures direct attention towards it. In the Coronation Room, Jacques-Louis David’s painting shows Napoleon placing the crown on Joséphine’s head. David made two large versions of the scene. The original, painted in 1805–1807, is in the Louvre. The second, painted in 1808–1822, was acquired by Versailles in 1947 and installed here the following year. Begin with the action at the centre, then look at the people watching. Their poses turn a ceremony into a carefully composed account of power.
Photo gallery 1
Image credits
- Azurfrog · Grand Trianon Salon des malachites.JPG · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- G.Garitan · Grand Cabinet madame victoire 1505549.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Pedemann · Grand Trianon Billard.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Jen Wen Luoh · Petit Trianon - Antichambre 01.jpg · CC BY 2.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Jorge Láscar from Melbourne, Australia · Le grand escalier - Petit Trianon (24276910376).jpg · CC BY 2.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Photo: Myrabella / Wikimedia Commons · Cabinet dore Marie-Antoinette Versailles.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Hyperios · Bosquet du théâtre d eau Les Belles Danses.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Léa Le Floc'h · Chateau de Versailles et son reflet.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · WebP / AVIF
- Coyau / Wikimedia Commons · Hameau de la Reine, maison de la Reine depuis les Cascatelles 01.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / AVIF