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Behind the Hall of Mirrors, symbol of the power of the King stands the remarkable project manager Charles le Brun (1619-1690).
A French tourism official said that tourists are coming to France to see La Joconde from Leonardo Da Vinci and the Hall of Mirrors from …?
It is with the restoration of the hall of Mirrors between 2004 and 2007 that le Brun came again under the lights of celebrity as at the time of Louis XIV.
As “First Painter of the King”, as director of the Gobelins (royal factory of tapestries and furniture), as a chancellor of the royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, le Brun superintended all the decoration of the palace of Versailles.
He designed the decorations, the paintings of the royal apartments, the ornaments of the woodworks, the tapestries, even the locks. He directed the many teams, and could give a unit of style to the décor.
One could say of this complete decorator that “all arts worked under him”.
From 1678 to 1684, Charles le Brun decorated 1.000 m2 of the ceiling of the Hall of Mirrors with paintings illustrating the military campaigns of Louis XIV and his actions of interior policy. He upset the codes of official painting by painting for the first time in this type of compositions the face of the King.
The exhibition Charles le Brun at the end of 2007 was therefore welcome to highlight his oeuvre at Versailles.
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Inutile de décrire à nouveau la célèbre Galerie des Glaces, d'autres l'ont fait ici à satiété.
Derrière ce symbole de la puissance du Roi il y a le maître d'œuvre Charles le Brun (1619-1690).
En tant que "Premier Peintre du Roi", en tant que directeur des Gobelins (fabrique royale de tapisseries et de meubles précieux), en tant que chancelier de l'Académie royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Le Brun était le maître d'œuvre de la décoration du château de Versailles.
Il conçoit les principaux décors, les peintures des grands appartements, les ornements des boiseries, les tapisseries, même les serrures. Il dirigea des équipes nombreuses, et sut donner une unité de style.
C'est ainsi qu'on a pu dire de ce décorateur complet que "tous les arts travaillaient sous lui"
De 1678 à 1684, Charles le Brun décora par des peintures couvrant 1.000 m2 du plafond (magnifiquement restauré de 2004 à 2007) la splendide galerie des Glaces du château de Versailles en y illustrant les campagnes militaires de Louis XIV ainsi que ses actions de politique intérieure.
Il bouleversa les codes de la peinture officielle en peignant pour le première fois dans ce type de compositions le véritable visage du Roi.
Le Brun est pour moi le plus grand personnage du Château de Versailles après son royal commanditaire.
Address: Château de Versailles.
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Historians did wonder whether the story of the Venetian glassmakers attracted in France by Colbert and betraying the Venetian secrecy of the manufacture of mirrors was true. It is said that these glassmakers coming from Murano were pursued in France by Venetians who tried to assassinate them to prevent the transmission of their production secrecy. A quite profitable manufacturing as Venetian mirrors did cost much more than a painting of Rubens!
Recent chemical analyzes showed that the mirrors of Versailles were indeed manufactured in France, by the Saint-Gobain company created by Louis XIV, because typical components coming from Normandy were found in these mirrors.
At the time the silvering of the mirrors was done with tin and mercury what involved a high mortality among the workmen exposed to the toxic mercury vapours.
During the recent restoration of the gallery 30% of the old mirrors had to be replaced whereas silvering with mercury is prohibited since 1850.
Now, as visitors will see, the mirrors with mercury give special reflections, tonality and depth, while modern mirrors produce rather flat images.
Old mirrors were found at antique dealers and in the attics of the French Senate.
Since the silvering of these 357 old mirrors contains approximately 19% mercury an analysis of the air of the hall of mirrors was carried out.
Be reassured the content of mercury in the air of the gallery is lower than the WHO's standards.
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Les historiens se sont demandés si l'histoire des verriers vénitiens attirés en France par Colbert et trahissant le secret vénitien de la fabrication des miroirs était vraie?
Il est dit que ces verriers venus de Murano furent pourchassés par des Vénitiens qui essayèrent de les assassiner pour empêcher la transmission de ce profitable secret.
Ces miroirs coûtaient à l'époque beaucoup plus cher qu'un tableau de Rubens!
Des analyses chimiques ont montré que les miroirs furent bien fabriqués en France par la compagnie de Saint-Gobain créée par Louis XIV car on y a trouvé des composants typiques provenant de Normandie.
A cette époque l'étamage des miroirs se faisait avec du mercure ce qui entraînait une mortalité élevée parmi les ouvriers exposés aux vapeurs toxiques de mercure.
Lors de la restauration récente de la galerie des glaces on a du remplacer 30% des miroirs anciens alors que l'étamage au mercure est interdit depuis 1850.
Or comme les visiteurs peuvent constater les miroirs au mercure donnent des reflets, un scintillement, une tonalité et une profondeur spéciales, là où les miroirs modernes produisent des images plates.
Des miroirs anciens ont été trouvés chez les antiquaires et dans les greniers du Sénat français.
Etant donné que le tain de ces 357 anciens miroirs contient environ 19% de mercure des analyses de l'air de la galerie des glaces ont été effectuées.
Soyez rassurés le taux de mercure dans l'air est inférieur aux normes de l'OMS.
Address: Château de Versailles
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After you're done with the Hall the of Mirrors , Marie Antoinette's room, the Planetary Drawing Rooms and exhausted all your camera film, you'll enter a long room known as the "Battle Gallery". Strangely enough, this great room used to be the bedroom of Louis XIV's brother. Now, though, you'll see valuable paintings depicting the great french battle moments.
While you're there, don't just wander blindly down the room. Test your wit and see if you recognise some of these characters...The picture you're looking at is a gender-bender hero who was ahead of her time. She's remembered largely not for her butch-styled haircuts but for her heroic efforts despite her inexperience with war.
Well, if you're not interested than maybe, I'll perk your interest by telling you that all the paintings are worth more than $1million euros in total??
Read on to guess another famous chap or click here Leave a Comment
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Ah...the hall of mirrors. The French name for this place sounds lovely doesn't it? Anyway, this should be the highlight of your tour (Ok, it would be better if those pesky tourists disappeared!), how can it not be? It's 250 feet long , filled with mirrors( they were expensive things in the 17th century), golden statues, awesome chandeliers and astounding views of the palatial gardens...Now imagine this place, filled with waltzing nobles, complete with fussy wigs, fake moles and puffy silk dresses, it must have been magical....
Click here to look at the window views from the Hall of Mirrors.
Historical Tip: It might be interesting to note that the Hall of Mirrors was linked to a period of horrors. The all important Treaty of Versailles was signed over here , an important document which blamed the woes of WWI on Germany and made her instantly bankrupt by US$33b ! The document started a chain of events that led to the horrors of WWII Leave a Comment
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After passing through the Grand Apartments of the King, you'll be in the Hall of Mirrors (galerie des glaces), the most famous part of the palace, built in 1678 as part of the 3rd renovation/addition to Versailles by the Sun King, Louis XIV. The Hall is dazzling and immense, 220 feet long, with one wall covered in mirrors, 357 in all. There are 17 mirror clad arches, each with 21 mirrors, reflecting on the 17 windows that overlook the gardens. Rows of crystal chandeliers hang from the frescoed ceilings, the walls are accented with gold and clad in marble.
The Hall recently had a $16 million facelift, restored to what it looked like in the time of the Sun King. Amazingly about 60-70% of the mirrors are original to that time, manufactured in Paris instead of Venice as ordered by the King. Some were replaced in the 19th century, some were replaced during the restoration with mirrors from that time period. The ceiling frescoes by Charles Le Brun, a tribute to Louis XIV’s military victories in the Dutch Wars of the 1600s, were also restored, many of the originals had been covered up and what exists now are the restored original Le Brun paintings.
Later in its history the Hall was the setting for a meeting between Napoleon and Queen Victoria as well as a formal dinner for US President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie given by French President Charles de Gaulle but more importantly as the setting for the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 that ended World War I.
It's of course impossible to get a shot of the Hall of Mirrors without bus loads of people in it and equally as impossible to take a shot of yourself in one of the mirrors without someone walking into your photo. But I had to try, didn't I? Leave a Comment
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Another point of view of this amazing hall.
Composed of 357 mirrors, the walls of the Hall of Mirrors was a true novelty in the seventeenth century: for the first time, people could seem themselves in their entirety. It was also extremely lavish at a time when even the smallest mirror was an expensive item. The decoration was designed to dazzle visitors, notably ambassadors who came to Versailles, and it conveyed the theme of the French king's magnificence and power, as illustrated on the ceiling painted by Charles Lebrun. The mirrors thus reflected the economic policies of Colbert who, by founding the local glassworks, challenged the glass monopoly then held by the Republic of Venice. Leave a Comment
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Peer out from the 17 windows of the Hall of Mirrors at the Chateau de Versailles and you'll get gorgeous royal garden views from each one of them.
Click here to see the view from another window. Leave a Comment
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17 different gilded windows from the Hall of Mirrors guarantees 17 gorgeous views of the palatial gardens. Here's another view, different but lovely. After viewing the gardens from the state apartments, I was very determined to sit down there and have a good picnic session...
Click here to proceed to Marie Antoinette's bedroom. Leave a Comment
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Dominating the inside of the palace is the Hall of Mirrors. Mirror was as precious as diamond when these were made. Here many banquet was held with dancers glittering in reflected candlelight. It's a pitty that the Hall is always crowded of screaming people......I would like to be able to see it, like it was in the past....quiet, with the candle light, the glasses on the walls, gold and silver wherever....with the red sunset light entering trough the big windows..It's an amazing hall Leave a Comment
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The most impressing hall - Mirror gallery. At one side of a hall - 17 huge windows, and at another - 17 mirrors in the form of windows. It is especially light in a hall therefore, and crystal lusters hanging down from a ceiling and the gilt statues along walls create conditions of special riches and solemnity.
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53, rue de Versailles, Versailles - Trianon Palace Hotel
1 Boulevard de la Reine, Versailles - Atel Residence Du Berry
14, rue d'Anjou, Versailles - Mercure Versailles Chateau
19, Rue De Dangeau Angle rue Montbauron, Versailles - Ibis Hotel - Versailles
4 Avenue du Charles de Gaulle, Versailles
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on March 30, 2009
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