Monday, 4 July 2016

Façade from the past



A glimpse at the South façade of the South East Pavilion of the Secretaries of State as it appears to you when you climb up the slightly slopping Rue des Récolets. The façade was visibly undergoing some heavy restoration work when this photograph, certainly ancient but of unknown origin, was taken.

A detail in the picture is quite disconcerting though : we know the distinctive curved shape of the roof, where the golden lead ornaments are visible, was drastically simplified under Napoleon 1st (Emperor up to 1815). And yet the first documented and successful attempts at photograph date from the mid 1820 at the earliest estimate...  Could this be the first successful photograph ever taken?

South Façade of the South East Pavilion of the Secretaries of State, Palace of Versailles.



10 comments:

  1. It is quite a shame most of the windows are still missing to this date.
    I encourage people to donate money to the Bureaux de la Duchesse to help restore this masterpiece of a facade to its original state.

    I think more gold is still needed for the roof ornaments as well.
    You can use PayPal and get your "I gave for Versailles" sticker on my website.

    #BDLD #IgiveforVersailles #Giveyourgold #MangerBouger

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    Replies
    1. We are indeed definitely graceful to your Grace for encouraging donations to support the construction work, and furthermore to be kind enough to show interest in the restoration project. We are really ashamed the façade is still in this incomplete state and we hope to remedy to the problem hopefully sooner than later. You're also right in pointing the fact that the work on the roof's golden ornaments is still incomplete. So much work to do, so little time...!

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    2. Maybe if you didn't answer every single comment on that blog yourself you would have more time to finish the work on the damn roof!

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  2. Well, it may have been taken even earlier, possibly in the early 1800's (1805? 1810? Who knows!).

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    Replies
    1. You are such a fraud!
      The people know you are a fake.

      There are modern signs clearly visible on that picture, the no-parking signs from the city of Versailles and the construction sign that says the construction will end in 2015 or some bullshit date like that.

      That pictures is barely one or two years old at the most.

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  3. Formidable et rare photo d'archive.

    ReplyDelete