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"Inside Francis Hammond's \"Versailles: A Private Invitation\"\nIn honor of all things French, AD looks back at photographer Francis Hammond's 2011 book Versailles: A Private Invitation, which presents an unprecedented peek inside the French royal palace\nThe graphic Marble Court dates from the reign of Louis XIII, who built the hunting lodge that eventually became a royal palace. Architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart remodeled the court for Louis XIV.\nThe Staircase of Provence, in the south wing, served the apartments of Louis XVI's brother Louis-Stanislas, Comte de Provence (later Louis XVIII), and his Italian wife, the former Maria Giuseppina of Savoy.\nSeveral rooms whose doors line up to create a majestic sweep of interconnected spaces is called an enfilade; this one in the State Apartments is a stunning example.\nThe 239.5-foot-long Hall of Mirrors was completed in 1684, after six years of construction. The ceilings are by Charles Le Brun and his studio artisans.\nThe jewelry armoire at left, designed by Ferdinand Schwerdfeger for Marie Antoinette and decorated with bronzes by Pierre-Philippe Thomire, arrived at Versailles in 1787, two years before the start of the French Revolution.\nAmong Marie Antoinette's collection of Japanese lacquer is a box in the shape of a puppy reclining on a table.\nIn 1770, this Viennese gueridon with a top made of petrified wood was presented to Marie Antoinette by her sister Maria Christina.\nAfter bathing, Louis XVI would rest on this lit \u00E0 la polonaise, part of the furnishings in his bath at Ch\u00E2teau de Fontainebleau. The bed was made by the \u00E9b\u00E9niste Jean-Baptiste Boulard.\nThis gilded-walnut chair was delivered in 1769 for a lady-in-waiting to the Comtesse du Barry, Louis XV's mistress.\nThis copper cage adorned with porcelain flowers was home to Madame du Barry's pet parrot. The bird was trained to say \"La voil\u00E0 la belle comtesse!\" (There goes the lovely lady!) whenever she appeared.\n\u00C9b\u00E9niste Georges Jacob made rustic-style furnishings for the Queen's Bedchamber, their painted frames carved with climbing ivy and accented with pinecone finials. Sold in 1793 during the imprisonment of Marie Antoinette, some of the objects shown were returned to Versailles in 1945.\nSeen from the windows of Marie Antoinette's bedchamber is the Temple of Love, built in 1778 after a design by architect Richard Mique.\nAn interior view of the Great Stables. It is now the headquarters of the Academy of Equestrian Arts, founded in 2003 by the celebrated horse trainer Bartabas.\nVersailles's citrus trees and tender shrubs spend winters in the orangerie.\nA view of the orangerie parterre, with the potted trees and shrubs set in decorative formation.\n\nVersailles: A Private Invitation was published by Flammarion in 2011"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/versailles-open-invitation-francis-hammond-slideshow>