Marble Courtyard
1997 © Maxim Tabachnik
Petting Goats at the Hameau de la ReineMax with Gary at Court of HonourColumn of the Temple of GloryMarie Antoinette’s BedMax at the Orangerie TerraceMarble CourtyardThe Orangerie and Swiss LakeMarlborough Tower and DairyRustic RetreatRiver God with ChildMom at the Hall of MirrorsLouis XV in the Salon de Mercure

Marble Courtyard

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Red brick façades with classical pilasters and white stone sculptures frame the compact Marble Courtyard, the oldest part of the Palace of Versailles. Built for Louis XIII (1623–24) and later expanded by Louis XIV, it preserves the scale of a hunting lodge within an emerging royal palace. The checkerboard marble paving and gilded iron balconies already stage the controlled spectacle that would characterize absolutist monarchy.