View of the Galerie des BataillesLouis-Philippe opening the Galerie des Batailles, 10 June 1837, painted by François-Joseph HeimCentral part of the ceiling of the Galerie des Batailles
The Galerie des Batailles (French:[ɡalʁidebataj]; English: "Gallery of Battles") is a gallery occupying the first floor of the Aile du Midi of the Palace of Versailles, joining onto the grand and petit appartement de la reine. 120 m (390 ft) long and 13 m (43 ft) wide, it is an epigone of the grand gallery of the Louvre and was intended to glorify French military history from the Battle of Tolbiac (traditionally dated 496) to the Battle of Wagram (5–6 July 1809).
History
The gallery was a major component of the Musée de l'Histoire de France created by Louis-Philippe I. It replaced apartments which had been occupied in the 17th and 18th centuries by
The architects Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine[1] and Frédéric Nepveu created a solemn decorative scheme for it, with a wide cornice supporting a coffered painted ceiling with entablatures supported by Corinthian columns along the length of the gallery. 13 bronze tablets on the wall are inscribed with the names of princes, admirals, constables, marshals and warriors killed or wounded whilst fighting for France. There are also busts placed on supports against the columns and between the paintings.
The main contents of the rooms, however, were envisaged as the vast paintings showing major military events in French history, some already in existence but mostly specially commissioned for the Galerie. While a number of them were of questionable quality, a few masterpieces, such as the Battle of Taillebourg by Eugène Delacroix, were displayed here.
Battle of Austerlitz, 2 December 1805, oil on canvas, sketch after an original that in 1846 was in the Paillet collection, commissioned by Napoleon I for the ceiling of the salle du Conseil d'État at the palais des Tuileries in Paris, showing Napoleon accompanied by Jean Rapp, 9.58m by 5.10m
Battle of Cassel. Won by Philippe de Valois. 23 August 1328. 5.43m by 4.65m, showing Philip and Nicolas Zonnekin, dated and signed "Scheffer Henry 1837".
Battle of Rocroi, 19 May 1643, the duc d'Enghien ordering his troops to stop fighting the Spanish, who have come to him to surrender. Artist : François Joseph Heim (1787–1865.)vers 1834, 4.65m by 5.43m
The Grand Condé at the battle of Lens, 20 August 1648, victory over the Spanish troops commanded by archduke Leopold. Circa 1835, Artist : Jean-Pierre Franque (1774–1860). 4.65m by 5.43m
The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745, showing Maurice de Saxe presenting the captured British and Dutch prisoners and colours to Louis XV and the dauphin; Artist: Horace Vernet (1789–1863). Date:1828. 5.1m by 9.58m
Battle of Lawfeld, 2 July 1747 : Louis XV pointing out the village of Lawfeld to Maurice de Saxe. Artist :Pierre Lenfant (1704–1787). Period : reign of Louis XV (1723–1774). 2.75m by 2.5m
Jean Baptiste Kléber, général en chef (1753–1800). After Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire (1798–1880) (location uncertain)
François Louis de Morlan. Killed at the battle of Austerlitz in 1805. (Charpentier)
Damage
In 1978, Breton nationalists of the Breton Revolutionary Army caused major damage to the Galerie[2] in planting a bomb. Having failed to plant one in the Hall of Mirrors, they moved to the galerie des Batailles, targeting Napoleon as a symbol of French colonialism.
^Liens sur l'attentat de 1978 : [1], "Attentat château de Versailles - Institut National de l'Audiovisuel - Truveo Video Search". Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2010..
Bibliography
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Galerie des Batailles.
Constans, Claire (1985). "1837: L'inauguration par Louis-Philippe du musée dédié 'À Toutes les gloires de la France'". Colloque de Versailles
Mauguin, Georges (1937). "L’Inauguration du Musée de Versailles". Revue de l’histoire de Versailles: 112–146
Verlet, Pierre (1985). Le château de Versailles. Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard.