In the King's Bedchamber
In 1701 Louis XIV moved his bedchamber into the drawing room lying east-west in the Palace, facing the rising sun. The three glazed doors into the Hall of Mirrors at the back were blocked off so as to form an alcove for the bed, with a carved and gilded wood balustrade separating the alcove from the rest of the chamber and over the bed a stucco allegory of France watching over the King in his slumber by Nicolas Coustou. It was in this chamber, become the visible sanctuary of the monarchy, that Louis XIV lunched en petit couvert (in relative privacy) and the ceremonies of the King’s rising and retiring took place every day. It was likewise in this chamber that Louis XIV died on 1 September 1715 after reigning for 72 years.
The chamber’s opulent decor of gold and silver brocade on a crimson ground forms a backdrop to paintings chosen by Louis XIV: The Four Evangelists and Paying Caesar’s Taxes by Le Valentin and Giovanni Lanfranco on the upper walls, Saint John the Baptist by Giovanni Battista Caracciolo above the door, Mary Magdalene by Le Dominiquin and two portraits of Antoon Van Dyck. On the two mantelpieces installed during the reign of Louis XV stand a bust of Louis XIV by Antoine Coysevox and a barometer clock and four candelabra that belonged to the Comte de Provence, Louis XVI’s brother.
[Versailles website]
The Palace of Versailles was created at the instruction of Louis XIV, and was the centre of French government and power from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until Louis XVI and the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789.
The chateau is built around a hunting lodge established by by Louis XIII, and was created in four phases: 1664–68, 1669–72, 1678–84 and 1699–1710, by the architects Le Vau, Le Nôtre, and Le Brun.
In the King's Bedchamber
In 1701 Louis XIV moved his bedchamber into the drawing room lying east-west in the Palace, facing the rising sun. The three glazed doors into the Hall of Mirrors at the back were blocked off so as to form an alcove for the bed, with a carved and gilded wood balustrade separating the alcove from the rest of the chamber and over the bed a stucco allegory of France watching over the King in his slumber by Nicolas Coustou. It was in this chamber, become the visible sanctuary of the monarchy, that Louis XIV lunched en petit couvert (in relative privacy) and the ceremonies of the King’s rising and retiring took place every day. It was likewise in this chamber that Louis XIV died on 1 September 1715 after reigning for 72 years.
The chamber’s opulent decor of gold and silver brocade on a crimson ground forms a backdrop to paintings chosen by Louis XIV: The Four Evangelists and Paying Caesar’s Taxes by Le Valentin and Giovanni Lanfranco on the upper walls, Saint John the Baptist by Giovanni Battista Caracciolo above the door, Mary Magdalene by Le Dominiquin and two portraits of Antoon Van Dyck. On the two mantelpieces installed during the reign of Louis XV stand a bust of Louis XIV by Antoine Coysevox and a barometer clock and four candelabra that belonged to the Comte de Provence, Louis XVI’s brother.
[Versailles website]
The Palace of Versailles was created at the instruction of Louis XIV, and was the centre of French government and power from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until Louis XVI and the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789.
The chateau is built around a hunting lodge established by by Louis XIII, and was created in four phases: 1664–68, 1669–72, 1678–84 and 1699–1710, by the architects Le Vau, Le Nôtre, and Le Brun.