Restoration of the painted ceiling in the Diana Room

The Diana Room occupies a central position in the King’s State Apartment and is one of the jewels in the Palace of Versailles’ crown. In October 2024, the Palace launched a major restoration project in this room. It will focus on the painted and sculpted decoration on the ceiling, and will last for fourteen months.

The diana room

The King’s State Apartment, which was decorated between 1671 and 1680, in the reign of Louis XIV, is made up of seven interconnected rooms which were used as state rooms. Diana’s Room is one of these seven spaces and features a solar myth theme. The painted ceiling pays tribute to Diana, goddess of the night and hunting. This richly decorated room boasts several masterpieces, including a bust of Louis XIV created in 1665 by Lorenzo Bernini.

The Diana Room is situated between the Venus Room and the Mars Room, and was an antechamber to the State Apartment. It was the ultimate entertainment space and was used as a billiards room during the reign of Louis XIV. Three times a week, the King, the royal family, and the whole court would gather there to play and to enjoy themselves. Two sets of tiered seating were installed so that audiences could watch billiards games at which the King excelled.

A complex structure and rich iconography

The ceilings of the Palace of Versailles are structurally complex, featuring a combination of arched panels, mounted canvases, paintings on plaster, and stucco. This means that they are extremely fragile and require periodic restoration. The Diana Room boasts a central tondo, four arched panels painted on canvas, and platband borders painted on plaster.

At the request of Louis XIV, Charles Le Brun, Court Painter to the King, produced the outline for the project. He enlisted the finest painters of the era to create the decorative scheme:

• Louis Gabriel Blanchard (1630-1704) for the central section
• Charles de La Fosse (1636-1716) for the north and west arched panels
• Claude Audran the Younger (1639-1684) for the east and south arched panels

Essential restoration work

The Diana Room, and its painted decorative scheme in particular, has been restored several times since the 19^th century. The paintings in the Diana Room were included in the recent restoration work on the painted schemes in the State Apartments, such as those in Mercury Room in 2011, and in the Room of Abundance in 2013.

The restoration of the Diana Room began in October 2024, focusing on the painted and sculpted decoration of the ceiling and arched panels, as well as the four overdoors. The canvases of the paintings on this ceiling are coming unstuck and are torn in some places, causing blistering and significant cracking of the paint layer. The layers of varnish are also oxidized, grimy, and opaque.

After an initial preparatory study, a condition report was produced on the painted decorative scheme, diagnosing the damage and proposing a restoration protocol. Teams of restorers then began work on the ceiling, focusing on the paint layer and support. The East and South arched panels painted by Claude Audran the Younger are the most damaged areas. Many different specialisms and skills will be showcased during the fourteen-month restoration of the Diana Room.

This largescale restoration forms part of the Palace’s commitment to preserve and show off to best advantage painted decorative schemes which offer a remarkable insight into the reign of Louis XIV.

Patrons

The restoration of the Diana Room has been possible thanks to the generosity of our patrons Dior, and The American Friends of Versailles, with assistance from the Société des Amis de Versailles.