Hall of Mirrors at Versailles Renovated
Sometime in June the glittering, gilded gallery of 357 mirrors at Louis XIV's palace at Versailles will be unencumbered by scaffolding and restorers will pack up their brushes.
The June date will mark the end of a three-year, $15.6 million dollar renovation of Charles Le Brun's panoramic murals that adorn the vaulted ceilings in the hall. The condition of the paintings were typical of such art -- discolored varnish, obfuscation of details by well-meaning restorers of years past, ill-conceived repairs, muddy colors, etc. Now the hall's heights once more sport cerulean blue skies instead of glum, grotto-ey greens.