The Nobles' Antechamber

A portrait of Louis XV hangs on the far wall. His queen, Marie Leszczyńska, used this room as a formal salon where she received the ladies of the court. Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI's queen, later disliked formal audiences and converted it into an antechamber for the nobility instead. Averse to grandiose, authoritarian décor, she redecorated the walls with pale green fabric trimmed in broad gold bands, aiming for an intimate, private space rather than an imposing palace built to be seen.