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The Garden of Apollo

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Charles Mauricheau-Beaupré, who was one of the curators of the Château de Versailles, described the Château's garden as a "vast mythological poem in honor of Apollo". This is an exaggeration. There are around three hundred statues, sculptural groups, herms, and sculpted vases in the petit park of Versailles. Only a small percentage of these depict Apollo or even myths which are connected with him.

The gardens of Versailles were designed to display the power of Louis XIV and like most displays of power, this was rooted in insecurity. Louis XIV became King of France when he was 5 years old. The Bourbon dynasty was still quite young, having been established by Henri de Bourbon, King of Navarre, who became King of France in 1589. Henri was assassinated by a religious fanatic in 1610. His son, Louis XIII, was the father of Louis XIV.

Louis XIV became king in 1643 when he was five years old. During his minority (1643-51) France was ruled by his mother, Anne of Austria. From 1648 to 1653 a number of French nobles had rebelled; this rebellion was known as the Fronde. The rebellion was finally crushed and Louis XIV spent the rest of his long reign trying to make sure that something like the Fronde never happened again.

Before the reign of Louis XIV, the nobility of France had spent much of their time on their vast estates. Louis XIV was determined to keep the nobility near him so that he could keep an eye on them. The vast Palace of Versailles was designed to house this throng of courtiers and the garden was designed to be filled with people. The lavishly dressed courtiers were at least as important to the design of the garden as the flowers were.

It is a mistake to think of the garden of Versailles as the private playground of Louis XIV and his court; it was always open to the public. The garden was designed to impress the public and the sculptures were intended to be a form of propaganda.

Louis XIV cared more about his public image than he did about anything else and his image as "The Sun King" was an important part of how he showed himself to his people.

There are four major sculptural groups in the garden which depict Apollo.

The photograph shown above is of the fountain of Apollo. It is based upon a drawing by Charles LeBrun. LeBrun's design was inspired Guido Reni's Aurora in Rome's Rospigliosi Palace. The sculptural group was executed in gilded lead by Jean/Baptiste Tuby. Tuby received his first payment for the Apollo group in 1668 and the fountain was installed in 1670.

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