A must-see
article | Reading time3 min
Discover the king's apartment and its sumptuous mirrored cabinet at the château de Maisons !
A majestic reception room
On the noble floor , is the king's apartment. It opens onto a large reception room with painted decorations, whose windows flood the room with light reflected by a vast panel of mirrors. Any resemblance to the Hall of Mirrors at the Château de Versailles was intended by Louis XIV himself!
The majesty of this room is amplified by its ceiling, a 3-domed white vault over 7 meters high. A discreet musicians' tribune recalls the use of the space as a music hall, dance hall and reception hall!
© Pascal Lemaître / Centre des monuments nationaux
The mirror cabinet
The highlight of the visit to the Royal Apartment is a small, precious space designed for intimate poetic or musical evenings. This room is circular, with walls encircled by more than 160 mirrors, originally from Venice as only the Italians held the secret to their manufacture.
The panelling is engraved with the initials of the Marquis and his late wife: the R for René de Longueil and the M for Madeleine Boulenc de Crevecoeur.
Topped by a painted dome, the cabinet boasts one of the rare examples of inlaid parquet still visible in a French "château" : compartmentalized with floral or geometric motifs, it is composed of around a hundred types of wood, blended with pewter, mother-of-pearl, bone and malachite.
© Philippe Berthé / Centre des monuments nationaux
© Philippe Berthé / Centre des monuments nationaux
© Caroline Rose / Centre des monuments nationaux
© Philippe Berthé / Centre des monuments nationaux