Le Peristyle
by Iryna Goodall
Title
Le Peristyle
Artist
Iryna Goodall
Medium
Photograph
Description
Opening onto the black-and-white tiled marble floor courtyard on one side and the gardens on the other, the Peristyle is a sheltered colonnade connecting the two wings of the Grand Trianon.
The Grand Trianon’s colonnade is thus incorrectly known as a ‘Peristyle’, an architectural term which actually describes a row of columns running all the way around a building or courtyard. Although this gallery simply connects the two wings of the Grand Trianon Palace, the name decided upon in Louis XIV’ day has stuck.
In 1810 Napoleon had both sides glassed in, as he found it otherwise too cold to comfortably walk from Empress Marie-Louise’s apartments in the south wing to his in the north. He also lined the peristyle with stoves to heat it. The glass windows were removed on both sides of the peristyle in 1910, allowing for direct access between the courtyard and gardens.
It was in this closed hallway that Maréchal Bazaine appeared before a military tribunal from October to December 1873, following the capitulation of the Army of the Rhine under his command in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
The Grand Trianon, formerly the Marble Trianon, was erected by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1687 on the site of the former ‘Porcelain Trianon’. Commissioned by Louis XIV in 1670 to get away from the arduous pomp of life in the court and to pursue his affair with Madame de Montespan.
Originally a family retreat for Louis XIV, the Grand Trianon Palace was later used by Marie Leszczynska in the summer months. Her father, King Stanislaw I of Poland, stayed here when he visited Versailles. Marie-Antoinette preferred the Petit Trianon, given to her as a gift by Louis XVI. Napoleon commissioned a program of restoration work and stayed here on several occasions.
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June 21st, 2021
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Viewed 178 Times - Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 04/14/2024 at 4:08 AM
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