The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-13 00:00:00

TILE EMPRESS'S APARTMENTS
THE TUILERIES.

, • ' ______L—.7----_
• A., . correspondent -'of the Independanee Berge
..
,•
writes ;,---,, I had the good fortune to visit the other
clay the private apartments of the Empress at the
Tnileriee.,• Workmen had been engaged on them
for two years, 'during the absence of their Maje
tieS. These suites of rooms, which run in a paral-
lel line with the reception. rooms on the draw
ti ng"
ng-
room floor, consist of an• ante-chamber, a Wai
roam for the ladies of honour, a saloon of audience, •
a private room for her Majesty; that is to say, Or -
most retired and private of the suite. le or
,
• " The Empress, whose preference for the sty
Louis XVI. is well known, has• desired her apart-
ments in question to be entirely.decorated after the
fashion and taste of Marie Antoinette. . M. Le fuel
received orders to renew the elegant ornainell-
tation. of Trianon in this Parisian palace. Art
and industry have done marvels under his super-
intendence, so that wo see again the graceful
araliespies, the rounded tapering Volutes, the ex-
quisite garlands, and the fine carvings of the latter
part of the eighteenth century. All the models are
unique, and executed with admirable nicety, front
the door handles to the chimney pieces, the panels
and Sq
to uares of glass, end the whole furniture, from
timepieces tong in the fireplace, is to
• . the ton.r,
harmony with this style of decoration.
e The . first saloon, of, a pale green, ;is adorned
with arabesques of a rather deeper tint. Medallions
glisten in the panels, and within them are birds,
paintedby M. Appert. The prevailing colour of the
second saloon is a rosy white, the arabesquei are
rose-coloured. The tops of the doors, the enclostir.es
or frames of' tho panelling, the medallions, natal
natural flowers, sometimes on a white groun",
sometimes on a gilt one, executed with charm
freedom and freshness, by a young artist, vio
nanie Lias slipped my memory. Then. comes the •
private saloon of the Empress, the grounder whici` •
is likewise of a very light green, and the
of which• Contain the portraits of her ladies of, .
honour, painted •by M. Dubuffe ; then her Brat
withdrawing room, lined with green stuff, on Whlc"'
..'
are hung valuable pictures; the doors of this cabl"
net and the next are of aramanth and palissander•
set' off by bronzes, gilt, and' admirably chased. 11,1°
panelling
new' bronzes are of inimitable finish, and decided:l
the locks, the arabesques of the chicane'''. deco
the. marble, slabs that issue from .M. Christofflo f
factory are capable of competing with the works °
the illustrious Gouttierea. The tesaelated 11°°r7
ceilings, and chimneys, reveal a taste so pure all ! ,
refined that they reflect honour on M.
" The staircase leading to these appartment° le
entirely of stucco, and its accompanying baluStra"
the
looks like a fringe or iron and gold. BetviPPTl .0
two spiral turns of the staircase a medallion coots' p
a group of three children bearing the attributeil
.1,
the 'Empire, and sciilptured by Madams' N°ein,
• Lefuel. :..,5.
Constant. . • .
" These private•apartments, which have been2l; '
ready occupied by her Majesty the Empress s .
her return front Compiegne, are a work of rt, and
decidedly one of the masterpieces of decOrativ l' ,
fri
in our age, owing to the delicate care tliat skits „",, •
bestowed on every part of their arrangnmon'