The Salon d’Hércule of the Château de Versailles !!!

Posted in Europe, France, Versailles

In my dear gorgeous Versailles ; there are many places other than the castle. The city needs to be seen more, my kind of town, actually did lived there for 9+ glorious years! Very nice family memories. I found me older paper pictures that again should be in my blog, Walk it back way back and see natural beauty of the once Domaine de Versailles ! Therefore, here is my take again on the salon d’Hercule of the Château de Versailles !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I

Thanks to king of the French Louis Philippe I that seeing history goes to nothing, had the brilliant idea of converting it into a museum! as he said, FOR THE GLORY OF FRANCE, So in 1837, the castle became the museum, and the story began for all of us. I got caught up in this museum magna, the most beautiful of them all. A bit of stories, compiled from my time as living there and Friends of the Castle.

The Grand Appartement du roi or the State Apartment of the king is a prestigious row of seven salons that was to serve as a parade apartment, that is to say as a setting for the official acts of the sovereign. This is why it received a decoration of remarkable wealth, according to the Italian model then very popular with the king: paneling of marble and painted ceilings. During the day, the Grand Appartement was open to everyone and everyone could see the king and the royal family pass there which crossed it every day to go to the chapel. Under Louis XIV, it was the framework of apartment evenings that took place several times a week.

The Salon d’Hercule is the last room created at the end of the reign of Louis XIV. This was the biggest room and serve for dances and balls. Indeed, since 1682, the chapel of the castle occupied its location on two floors and it served until 1710, the date when it was replaced by the current Royal Chapel (see post). Then a floor was put to create a new living room whose decoration ended only under Louis XV. In 1730, this one brought in the already active goblin under Henri IV, Louis XIV made it a royal manufacture of tapestries from 1667 in Paris, The immense painting of Paolo Caliari dit Véronèse, Venetian painter of the Renaissance, and which had been stored there since his arrival in France. Les Repas chez Simon or the Meals at Simon, offered by the Venice Republic in 1664, The work of the Salon d’Hercule lasted until 1736, when François Lemoyne completed the painting of the ceiling representing the Apotheosis d’Hercule. By its effect, this vast allegorical composition, having no less than one hundred and forty-two characters, wanted to compete with the masterpieces of the Italian fresquists, but it was made on marouflaged canvases, that is to say glued to the support. Despite his appointment to the post of first painter of the king whom Louis XV grants him as a reward for his work, Lemoyne, exhausted by this gigantic project which took him four years, he commits suicide a year later, in 1737.

Versailles castle salon d'Hercules veronese on louis XIV bet salon de la chapelle et salons grand apts mar09

The official Château de Versailles on the State Apartments of the King on the salon d’Hercule: https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/palace/king-state-apartment#the-hercules-room

The Versailles tourist office on the palace/museum: https://www.versailles-tourisme.com/chateau-de-versailles.html

There you go folks, one of the must to see in Versailles and worth it. Another masterpiece of my belle France, and hope you have the time to see it while at this huge property that is the Domaine de Versailles. Again, hope you enjoy this post on the salon d’Hercule of the Château de Versailles !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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