Morning journal and courier., 1886-08-07

on the walls, gradually pass to the ceiling
where pictures in rich harmonious colors al
ternate with bronze reliefs of pale greer
color, both framed in rich ornaments of gold
| Opposite the twenty-five windows are al
many mirrors, and the space between win
| dows and mirrors is taken up by gilt candle
sticks eight feet high.
In front of every mirror and in front ot
| every window stands an antique vase of sill
yer five feet high, and beneath it a canopy il
carved wood gilt covered with deep-blue vel
vet, upon which five rows of gold embroi
| dered lilies an inch high produce marvel
GUS effect Imagine all this repeated forty
| four times over, and add to it the wealth Of
color in the paintings on wall and ceiling
| from which moreover descend three rows OF
| candelabra of gilt bronze with fifty candles
| each.
In eight inches stand white marble copies
| of the noblest works of classic art, the Venus
| of Milo reduced to natural size, the Medicis
| Diana and Niobe. On columns of malachite
| are placed busts of the French generals OF
the seventeenth century, no heed being ia
| ken that their victories signifed many de
| feats for the country whose king had placed
them in his gallery. The subjects of the
pictures all treat of the life of Louis XIV.
| His great and small deeds are immortalized
| by the brush of the painter, and it is Won
| der that the Kings self-immolation did not
go SO TAR as to picture even the devastation
| of the Palatinate
The next marvel and the greatest is the
royal bedchamber, lofty room of moderate
| dimensiors with three windows above and
below, the upper being draped with crimson
| silk that throws magic light upon the
| masses of gold distributed all over this re-
| gal apartment. 1t is divided into two parts
| by means of golden balustrade, the back
| part being rounded Here the Kings bed
stands Oh a dais, up to which lead five broad
! steps covered with ruby velvet, on which are
embroidered large golden suns.
The bed is of gilt bronze, work of art as
we meet it once in lifetime. 1t is COW
cred with a counterpane of gold cloth en-
broidered in colors, the center representing
King Louis XIV without his wig, large
emerald on his least, a sapphire in his hair
The bed is surmounted by canopy of gold,
with high crown of gold in the center and
four enormous punches of white plumes at
the four corners; from the canopy descend
the curtains, to examine which a lover of
art will devote several weeks. The outside
| is ruby velvet embroidered in gold, SO that
of the ground color scarcely anything is
seen; the inside is. covered from top to
bottom by pictures from the Bible, at first
sight the produce of the miniature paint
er's brush, but on close inspection the tri-
umph of the need.ewoman's skill. Where
could the hands be found that in the short
space of q few years could cover twenty
| square yards with such marvellous work.
The center of the background is occupied
by a sun embroidered in diamonds and
pearls; and when 1 heard that the King
| never once used this bedroom l was led to
| believe that he expected visit from the
Roi Soleil himself, and hoped to astonish
even his magnificent majesty.
| The walls of this room are entirely hung
with red velvet EN- broidered in gold, the
children holding garlands of flowers being
so solid that a real baby held to the wall
cannot stand out from it more boldly than
do these works of the needle. On one side
of the bed, within the space confined by
the golden balustrade, is the washing stand,
a tall mirror in gold arabesques, the table
of marble supported by gilt bronze figures;
the basin, ever and ten vases in gilt bronze
of size that would astonish even a giant,
and of beauty impossible to describe
The other side of the bed is taken up by a
prayer stool in ruby gold-embroidered vel
vet, the background filed by St. Michael
| in colors, of such splendid workmanship
| that the original by the miniature painter,
upon which the stitches were worked, must
be less beautiful Above the prayer stool
there is tiny altar with copy of Raffaelo's
AnnunZiata, which, with the prayer book it
adorned, was sold by the Perugian family
| that had owned it since Raphael's time to
| the Empress of Russia, who in her turn lent
4 it to King Louis, one of her great favorites
| before her illness.
4
| love of solitude. In the center of the room
| a high armchair stands at a round table,
which upon the least sign from the King de-
I scentls to the ground floor of the castle and
| reappears with the next course, thus enabling
the King to dine without having seen hu-
| man form or having heard mortal voice. 1
must mention two small rooms, the jewels of
| the whole place, one being the ladies' bou-
doir, the other a smoking room for the King.
The former is small apartment with two
windows, the walls covered entirely with
mirrors, separated from each other and from
the ceiling by hundred thousand roses of
gilt china, which hang in garlands from the
ceiling, fill all the corners, form the chimney
piece and frame niche containing the only
seat in the room, a sofa of pale blue satin
with soft cushions, but no back. The can
delabra are of roses; the ceiling of white
china has exquisite miniature paintings,
from which men are excluded. There is At
alanta without Meeager, Diana without
Apollo. To imagine anything more exqui-
site is simply impossible.
The smoking room has window only,
the enbrasure filed by sofa of white satin,
upon which worked sylvan scenes of ex-
quisite beauty, the woods beloved by the
King, the lake which had such fatal attrac-
tion for him. The writing table is pale blue
velvet in the middle and porcelain painting
on either side. Two Sevres candlesticks and
several small porcelain groups of priceless
value give it an air as if it had been used but
yesterday. In this room the tables, the
| chimney piece, the frames of mirrors and
| tapestries are all of plated and seulptured
china; the folding doors have four china
panels, each framed by blue china, surround
| ed by golden arabesques. Into each panel ls
| painted delicate figure representing one of
| the seasons on one door, one of the elements
on the other. I firmly ~believe such doors
| have never opened such a room before.
The floor is of bois de violette and gives a
delicate perfume to this and the adjacent
| room. Another long gallery completes the
suit of nineteen rooms.