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 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 Le Vau's envelope of Louis XIII’s château, constructed as part of Louis XIV's History of the Palace of Versailles#Second build ...

''.

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 Robert de Cotte (; 1656 – 15 July 1735) was a French architect-administrator, under whose design control of the royal buildings of France from 1699, the earliest notes presaging the Rococo, Rococo style were introduced. First a pupil of ...

for

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

. However, with the death of Louis XIV 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 (), 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 maturity (then defi ...

commissioned architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, ''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 painter. He was a winner of the Prix de Rome, professor of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, and '' Premier peintre du Roi'' to Louis XV. He wa ...

, which gave the room its present name (Verlet, 322). There are only two other paintings decorating this room, both of which are by

Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * Veronese (moth), ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte 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). Louis XIV received the latter painting as a

diplomatic gift A diplomatic gift is a gift given by a :diplomat, politician or leader when visiting a foreign country. Usually the gift is reciprocated by the host. The use of diplomatic gifts dates back to the ancient world and givers have competed to outdo e ...

from the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

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 Palace The Louvre Palace (, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxe ...

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

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

. 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. During the reign of Louis XV the room served as a ball room as the King felt the salon de Mars was too small and the

Hall of Mirrors The Hall of Mirrors () is a grand Baroque architecture, Baroque style gallery and one of the most emblematic rooms in the royal Palace of Versailles near Paris, France. The grandiose ensemble of the hall and its adjoining salons was intended to ...

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 Philip of Spain; and the wedding dinner ''au grand courvert'' of the Duke of Chartres on 5 January 1769 (Verlet, 323). After the destruction of the '' escalier des ambassadeurs'' in 1752, Louis XV 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 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

the ''salon d’Hercule'' served for diplomatic functions such as the embassy sent by Ali II ibn Hussein of

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

(January 1777); the receptions of the representatives of the Three Estates of the Estates General (May 1789); and, the reception of the embassy of Sultan

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali (''Haidar'alī''; ; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's ...

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

(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

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