Hercules Room

The decoration of the Hercules Room initiated in 1712 under Robert de Cotte was interrupted by the death of Louis XIV in 1715; it resumed in 1729 and was completed in 1736. The exceptional quality of the marbles and the splendor of the chimney bronzes contribute to making this room one of the finest in the palace. It is the paintings however that attract attention, The Feast in the House of Simon by Veronese, and the ceiling, one of the largest in the world, representing the Apotheosis of Hercules, one of François Lemoyne’s masterpiece. The Hercules Room was inaugurated on January 26^th 1739 with a grand ball given on the occasion of the marriage Louis XV’s eldest daughter to a Spanish Infante.