The Hall of Mirrors ( La Galerie des Glaces ), Versailles

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 …? Indeed most do ignore.
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.

Historians did wonder whether the story of the Venetian glassmakers attracted in France by Jean-Baptiste 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.

.. one of the things I remember is the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Versailles was such a 'hit' that all over Europe, other kings and monarchs have built their own Versailles-like palaces.

Unfortunately I can't find my photos from 1964, and my parent's photos haven't been digitized yet

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The Hall of Mirrors is the central gallery of the palace. The gallery has beautiful windows that reflect the light from thefloor to seiling arched windows. The beautiful chandeliers are also reflected in the mirrors and give the galley and even larger scale. The guilded sculpture candelabras are incredibly beautiful and add to the luxury of the decoration. Don't forget to look up at the ceiling that has some decorative panels depicting victories of Loius XIV.

The Treaty of Versailles was signed here on June 28, 1919 and ended WWI.

The Hall of Mirrors is a popular attracion at Versailles so be prepared for the tourist crunch when walking through the gallery.

This amazing place is the central gallery of Versailles and is one of the most famous rooms in the world. It is absolutely astonishing!! just luxury, luxury and more luxury as the rest of the Palace.

It was made by Jules Hardoin-Mansart and the painter Carles Le Brun. The paintings reflects Louis XIV history: since he took the power on 1661 to the Nimegue peace in 1678.

Many royal celebrations as well as royal wedding receptions, took place in there. This room is very large (73 m) and it is almost impossible to have a nice picture of it without people!!

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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?

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This is probably the room that Versailles is most well known for. Its a massively huge long room lined with mirrors and countless chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Unfortunately its also extremely full of people! Well worth the visit though.

Back in time big halls were fashion.
They were a way to connect all the different appartments.

This fabulous Halls is situated inside the Castle of Versailles.

The King wanted to build one even in Versailles, for this reason between 1678 and 1684 he decided to build one. closing the new castle terrace.
The big Hall was designed using architectual lines from the new castle for a lenght of 73 meters.

All the decorations inside the Hall have been done by Charles Le Brun.
You will be fascinated from the quantity of mirrors, fabulous paintins and statues all over the Hall lenght.