Under the monumental nave of the Royal Stables, known as the Petites Écuries du Roi, the château de Versailles unveils its stunning collections presented inside the Galerie des Sculptures et des Moulages.
Until the 31st of December, you can travel to Athens and Rome without ever leaving France, a guaranteed change of scenery in the grandiose setting of the Petites Ecuries du Roi, part of the Royal Stables. This is where are preserved the moulding collections of the most famous Greek and Roman sculptures, created in the past for the hands-on training of French artists. They will remind you how much the art from the National Domain of Versailles owes to the Antiquity.
The glory of a king and his sculptors
Amongst the 60 sculptures in moulded plaster, you will find the statues of Apollo at the Belvedere, Diana the huntress and the Caryatids of the Erechtheum, in much better condition than the originals located on the Acropolis, in Athens. Stemming from the gardens of Versailles, these masterpieces ordered by Louis XIV, to participate in his glorification, are well preserved and ornament a stunning space usually closed to the public.
The talents of an era and memorial preservation
Considered as a represenative model of human anatomy, this iconographical repertoire has made the royal château into a "new Rome". For that, the venue conceived by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, as a gem of classic French architecture, now welcomes the "Gypsothèque", showcasing the Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquity departments of the Louvre museum, in keeping with the workshop of the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, to lead an important salvation campaign in regards to a world heritage in danger.
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