The Apollo Salon

On the ceiling, Apollo rides a chariot drawn by four horses, sunlight streaming behind him. Apollo, god of the sun, was the deity Louis XIV identified with himself — just as the sun sits at the center of the solar system, Louis XIV stood at the center of France. On a dais in the middle of the room once stood a silver throne standing 2.6 meters tall, where Louis XIV would sit to discuss affairs of state with his courtiers.

Near the room's exit hangs a portrait of Louis XIV. An estimated 700-plus portraits of him were painted during his lifetime, and this is the most famous of them all — still widely reproduced today. The painting on display here is a copy; the original hangs in the Louvre. Louis XIV originally commissioned it as a gift for his grandson, Philip V, but liked the finished work so much that he kept the original for himself and commissioned the same painter to produce this copy instead. Even as a copy, its authority was considerable: just as visitors had to bow to the king's vessel in the Abundance Salon, turning one's back on this portrait was likewise unacceptable.

In the painting, Louis XIV is sixty-three, yet strikingly ornate in style. After losing much of his hair to the aftereffects of smallpox in his teens and measles in his twenties, he became devoted to wigs. Standing only about 163 centimeters tall — short even by the standards of his time — he used the height of his wigs, and heels over ten centimeters tall, to appear taller. Red dye was extremely expensive in that era, so red heels served as a visible marker of wealth and power, recognizable from a distance. The heels also flattered the shape of his legs, and leg lines were an important standard of male beauty among the nobility at the time. Having trained in ballet since childhood, Louis XIV had firm, well-defined leg muscles, which he showed off through fitted silk stockings. Yet by 1701, when this portrait was painted, worsening gout had already confined him to a wheelchair — the strong, sturdy legs seen in the painting were an idealized touch meant to preserve his image as a powerful king.

With this, we have now seen all seven rooms of the King's State Apartment. Larger and even more magnificent rooms lie ahead.