In Monicart’s highly idiosyncratic book—conceived while the author was a prisoner in the Bastille—the “marvels” of Versailles speak and express themselves in French and Latin verse. The poems are illustrated with numerous engravings, such as this striking view from the north, which highlights the new royal chapel rising above the palace. In the foreground is the Clagny pond, which was used to feed some of the fountains and would be drained in 1736. The north wing does not yet include the opera house completed in 1770, at the end of the reign of Louis XV (r. 1715–1774).