Seventeen lofty windows are matched by as many Venetian
framed mirrors. Between each window and each mirror are pilasters
designed by Coyzevox, Tubi and Caffieri--reigning masters of their
time. Walls are of marble embellished with bronze-gilt trophies; large
niches contain statues in the antique style. The gilded cornice is by
Coyzevox, the ceiling by Lebrun. The conception of the latter
comprises more than a score of paintings representing events that had
to do with wars waged by Louis the Great against Holland, Germany and
Spain. In the period when Versailles was the residence of kings--not a
museum, alone, and the assembly-place of international Councils--the
tables in the Grand Gallery, the benches between the windows, the
many-branched candelabra, the tubs in which orange trees grew, were all
of heavy silver. Thousands of wax candles lighted the salon, some of
them set in immense chandeliers, others in lusters of silver and
crystal. But Louis the Fourteenth's reign was not yet over when he was
compelled to send many hundred pieces of his precious furniture to the
mint, and the superb appointments of the Hall of Mirrors were partially
substituted by furnishings of wood and damask.
[Illustration: The Hall of Mirrors]
Visitors to Versailles view the private or "little" apartments of King
Louis the Great, Louis XV and Louis XVI. The superb bedchamber of
Louis XIV contains the bed in which the French Monarch died on
September 1, 1715.
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