Royal Chapel, Versailles_img 0148
In 1664 the young “Sun King”, Louis XIV, began to transform his father’s hunting lodge at Versailles into a royal palace. In 1682 it became the centre of political power in France when Louis moved his court there from the previous royal residence at the Louvre in Paris. The Palace at Versailles was intended to impress and by the time it was completed it was by far the largest, most extravagantly opulent royal abode in all Europe. Costs of the project are difficult to estimate but by any accounting they were enormous and placed an inordinate burden on the French economy.
This Royal Chapel was completed and consecrated in 1710 just five years before Louis’s death. The upstairs gallery shown here was reserved for the King and his family. Every morning at 10:00 he would come here to attend Mass while his nobles occupied the space on the ground floor below.
In his tour guide to Paris, Rick Steves rather colourfully comments that, “While Louis XIV entered through the upstairs and looked down on the golden altar, the lowly nobles on the ground floor . . . knelt with their backs to the altar and looked up--worshiping Louis worshiping God.” He goes on to note that “In the vast pagan ‘temple’ that is Versailles--built to glorify one man, Louis XIV--this Royal Chapel is a paltry tip of the hat to that ‘other’ god...the Christian one. It’s virtually the first, last, and only hint of Christianity you’ll see in the entire complex.”
© Irwin Reynolds, all rights reserved. If you are interested in using one of my images or would like a high quality fine art print, please send an email to irwinreynolds@me.com.
Royal Chapel, Versailles_img 0148
In 1664 the young “Sun King”, Louis XIV, began to transform his father’s hunting lodge at Versailles into a royal palace. In 1682 it became the centre of political power in France when Louis moved his court there from the previous royal residence at the Louvre in Paris. The Palace at Versailles was intended to impress and by the time it was completed it was by far the largest, most extravagantly opulent royal abode in all Europe. Costs of the project are difficult to estimate but by any accounting they were enormous and placed an inordinate burden on the French economy.
This Royal Chapel was completed and consecrated in 1710 just five years before Louis’s death. The upstairs gallery shown here was reserved for the King and his family. Every morning at 10:00 he would come here to attend Mass while his nobles occupied the space on the ground floor below.
In his tour guide to Paris, Rick Steves rather colourfully comments that, “While Louis XIV entered through the upstairs and looked down on the golden altar, the lowly nobles on the ground floor . . . knelt with their backs to the altar and looked up--worshiping Louis worshiping God.” He goes on to note that “In the vast pagan ‘temple’ that is Versailles--built to glorify one man, Louis XIV--this Royal Chapel is a paltry tip of the hat to that ‘other’ god...the Christian one. It’s virtually the first, last, and only hint of Christianity you’ll see in the entire complex.”
© Irwin Reynolds, all rights reserved. If you are interested in using one of my images or would like a high quality fine art print, please send an email to irwinreynolds@me.com.