From 1679 to 1686, Charles Le Brun oversaw the decoration of the Grande Galerie, later named Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors), along with the adjacent salons of War and of Peace. His ceiling paintings, in which Louis XIV is surrounded by a host of allegorical figures, depict episodes from the Franco-Dutch War as well as smaller diplomatic successes and domestic reforms. In 1723, the artist Jean-Baptiste Massé was given royal permission to reproduce Le Brun’s work in print. He assembled a large team of talented draftsmen and engravers, who took 30 years to complete this monumental task. Seven of the fifty-two plates are presented on the wall above.

When Massé issued these engravings, he supplemented them with an explanation of the paintings, adapting a text first published in 1687. It was printed both in folio format and as a modest brochure, shown here.