The Salon d'Hercule (also known as the Hercules Salon or the Hercules Drawing Room) is on the first floor of the

Château de Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed ...

and connects the Royal Chapel in the North Wing of the château with the ''

grand appartement du roi The ''grand appartement du roi'' is the King's grand apartment of the Palace of Versailles. As a result of Louis LeVau's envelope of Louis XIII’s château, constructed as part of Louis XIV's second building campaign (1669–1672), the ki ...

''.

Description

Originally, the fourth and penultimate chapel, the ''salon d’Hercule'' occupies the tribune level of this chapel. Initially called the ''nouveau salon près de la chapelle'' (new salon near the chapel) when the room was started in 1710 by Robert de Cotte for

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

. However, with the death of

in 1715 the project was postponed (Verlet, 321). Beginning in 1724, work on the ''salon d’Hercule'' recommenced.

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

commissioned architect

Jacques Gabriel Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

, ''marbrier'' Claude-Félix Tarlé, and sculptors Jacques Verberckt and François-Antoine Vassé to complete the room (Verlet, 321). The room was completed in 1736 with the ceiling painting ''Apothéose d’Hercule'' (''Apotheosis of Hercules'') by

François Lemoyne François Lemoyne or François Le Moine (; 1688 – 4 June 1737) was a French rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which co ...

, which gave the room its present name (Verlet, 322). There are only two other paintings decorating this room, both of which are by Veronese. Above the fireplace is the artist’s ''Rebecca at the Well''; on the opposite wall forming a pendant is the famed ''Feast in the House of Simon'' (Verlet, 322).

received the latter painting as a diplomatic gift from the Republic of Venice in 1664. Owing to the size of the work – 4.5 meters high by 9.7 meters long – the painting was displayed in the '' galerie d’Apollon'' of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. It was installed in ''salon d’Hercule'' in 1730 where it remained until 1832 at which time it was transferred to the

. In 1961 the ''Feast in the House of Simon'' was returned to the ''salon d’Hercule.'' In 1994, under the aegis of the Société des amis de Versailles and BNP the painting was restored.Société des amis de Versailles
During the reign of

the room served as a ball room as the king felt the salon de Mars was too small and the '' galerie des glaces'' was too large. The inaugural ball held in the ''salon d’Hercule'' was on 26 January 1739 to celebrate the marriage of Louis XV’s eldest daughter Marie Louise-Élisabeth with Infante Filipe of Spain (Luynes, 335-345); and the wedding dinner ''au grand courvert'' of the duc de Chartres on 5 January 1769 (Verlet, 323). After the destruction of the '' escalier des ambassadeurs'' in 1752,

planned for the ''salon d’Hercule'' to be the landing for a new staircase for the château (Verlet, 323). During the reign of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

the ''salon d’Hercule'' served for diplomatic functions such as the embassy sent by the bey of Tunis (January 1777); the receptions of the representatives of the Three Estates of the Estates-General (May 1789); and, the reception of the embassy of the sultan

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

(September 1778) (Verlet, 555).

Gallery of images

File:François Lemoyne - L'Apothéose d'Hercule - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Apotheosis of Hercules'', 1733–1736 (ceiling) by

File:Éliézer et Rebecca, Veronese.jpg, ''Rebecca at the Well'', second half of the 16th century by Veronese File:Veronese, Paolo - Feast at the House of Simon - 1570-1572.jpg, ''Feast in the House of Simon'', 1570 by Veronese

Notes

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salon D'hercule Palace of Versailles World Heritage Sites in France Art museums and galleries in France Baroque architecture at Versailles