LE NOTRE AND VERSAILLES 



117 



The Salle du Bal (illus. opposite) placed in a bosquet near by, was one 

 of the most charming features of the garden ; it was elliptical in shape, 

 and had a cascade of rockwork at one end from which fell silvery sheets 

 of water, producing a scintillating effect when brilliantly lit up on 

 the occasion of a ball. The orchestra were seated above, and the spectators 

 ranged themselves opposite 

 upon tiers rising from the 

 arena where the dancing 

 took place. 



The great sheet of water 

 known as the Piece des Suisses 

 was completed in 1683. It 

 serves most effectively to 

 continue the perspective be- 

 yond the Orangery parterre 

 and reflects upon its surface 

 the hills of Satory beyond. It 

 was made by Le Notre out 

 of a swamp which the 

 engineers had tried in vain 

 to drain. In 1688, with the 

 completion of the Salle du 

 Bal and the Colonnade, the 

 colossal work of laying out 

 the gardens appears to have 

 been achieved,-and although 

 changes continually took 

 place afterwards, these did 

 not materially destroy the 

 general lines of the design. _v 



Of all the groves, with their delicate cabinets de treillage and frail rocaille 

 fountains, the Salle du Bal and the Colonnade alone remain in anything like 

 their old completeness and elegance. 



The Gardens of Versailles remained much as Le Notre had left them 

 for the next half century, though under the Regency the palace was de- 

 serted and they were not kept up. An interesting picture, painted in 



GROUP OF CHILDREN, BY LE GROS. 



