320 RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE IN FRANCE. 





307. VERSAILLES : PALACE FROM SOUTH-WEST AND ORANGERY, 

 BY -J. H. MANSART (i 681-86). 



still one of the most splendid apartments in the world, and worthy of 

 the magnificent monarch whose apotheosis is figured forth in the 

 paintings of the roof and every detail of the decoration. 



Other examples of Le Brun's work may be seen in the rooms at each 

 end of the gallery, the Salons de la Paix and de la Guerre, and in the 

 suite which leads from the latter to the Salon d'Hercule, as well as in 

 the Queen's Staircase (Figs. 261, 262, 281, and 342). They exhibit the 

 same harmonies in white, mauve, and green marble, with enrichments of 

 gilt bronze, pewter, and lead, combined with painting and carved wood- 

 work in white and gold, and, owing to their smaller extent, the effect of 

 excessive ponderousness in the ceilings is not so much felt. Among 

 the army of assistants employed under Le Brun in the decoration of 

 the palace and its gardens were several painters of the families of 

 Audran andCoypel, Jean Jouvenet and Houasse, the sculptors Coysevox, 

 Lespagnandel, Tuby, Marsy, Lehongre, Girardon, and the metal workers 

 Philippe Caffieri and his son Jacques, Ladoireau, and Gucci. 



MINOR WORKS AT VERSAILLES. In addition to the works already 

 mentioned, Mansart built the two great stable blocks (1679-85), the great 

 service block, "Grand Commun " (1682-4), the present chapel (begun 

 1696, but not finished till 1710, after his death), and, in the gardens, 

 the monuments known as the " Domes" and the "Colonnade" and the 

 present Orangery. Mansart's orangery (1681-6) to the south of the 

 palace superseding an earlier brick one by Le Vau is by its simplicity and 

 Titanic scale a most impressive work (Fig. 307). It consists of vaulted 



