Versailles by Night 2

Anterooms in Versailles' King's Pavilion.

“O Wind, If Winter Comes, Can Spring Be Far Behind?”

Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ode to the West Wind

With winter approaching once again, wood for fireplaces, screens or room dividers, curtains and carpets are delivered to the apartments of the Palace for those of its occupants who can afford them. In the Duchess's main drawing room in Her apartments of the South East Pavilion of the Secretaries of State, a wool carpet from the Savonnerie manufactory have been laid on the parquet flooring, and two newly aquired room dividers now stand in front of two of the room's doors, ready to cut out the infamous draughts of the Palace of Versailles. Note that wood has also been delivered to the fireplace.

These two elegant and newly acquired room dividers are not identical but symmetrical. They are the perfect complement to the beautiful portrait of Madame Adélaïde by Nattier that hangs above the very fine chest of drawers, by Jean-Henri Riesener (late period). The flower motif on the screens will be a constant reminder, during the cold winter days, that in a few months, spring will have come back to Versailles and its gardens.