Versailles' Hall of Mirrors renovated
VERSAILLES -- At last, the Hall of Mirrors is once again fit for a king.
Workers at the Chateau of Versailles are putting the finishing touches on a 3-year, $15.6 million renovation of the gilded gallery of 357 mirrors where King Louis XIV entertained — and intimidated — diplomats and courtiers.
The hall's grand reopening will likely come sometime in June.
...The vaulted ceiling is especially astonishing.
Before the renovation, Charles Le Brun's overhead paintings — marking important moments in the Sun King's reign — were dark and faded, and visitors rarely looked up.
Skies that were supposed to be sunny blue were a ghoulish green. Details were lost, covered over by grime, darkened varnish and overzealous restorations of the past. Now, a pair of chubby children playing cards is visible again. In another panel, restorers revived a strand of pearls in a treasure chest, a detail that was masked over in the 19th century.
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Workers at the Chateau of Versailles are putting the finishing touches on a 3-year, $15.6 million renovation of the gilded gallery of 357 mirrors where King Louis XIV entertained — and intimidated — diplomats and courtiers.
The hall's grand reopening will likely come sometime in June.
...The vaulted ceiling is especially astonishing.
Before the renovation, Charles Le Brun's overhead paintings — marking important moments in the Sun King's reign — were dark and faded, and visitors rarely looked up.
Skies that were supposed to be sunny blue were a ghoulish green. Details were lost, covered over by grime, darkened varnish and overzealous restorations of the past. Now, a pair of chubby children playing cards is visible again. In another panel, restorers revived a strand of pearls in a treasure chest, a detail that was masked over in the 19th century.