| Versailles palace : list of building materials |
| |
|
| |
> Slate tiles from Angers
This was the roofing material most commonly used in Versailles.
Angers slate is more refined than tiles. More prestigious,
it was used in Royal buildings since the XVIth century. |
|
List of materials |
> Silver
No longer exist in Versailles since the silver furniture was melted
down in 1689. The money obtained went towards financing war cost. Silver
was not a fashionable metal in XVIIth century France,
and was only rarely used in decoration. |
|
List of materials |
> Wood
Used in very large quantities for the basic structure. The beams in certain
buildings, as in the Hall of Mirrors are extremely thick and very long - up to 60
cms in diameter and 10 metres long. |
|
List of materials |
> Bricks
Bricks are provided by the brickyards situated in the proximity of the site.
The clay used came from the south of the Ile de France. |
|
List of materials |
> Bronze
Used in many of the statues both in the buildings and the gardens,
it was also frequently used in the manufacturing of pipes and dials
regulating the flow from the foutains. The Gobelins founderies also provided door handles, casement bolts,
and decorative elements for gates. |
|
List of materials |
> Iron
Heavy building iron
: from the outset of the building of Versailles, square irons bars 5cms thick
were used in the framework and for tie bolts to reinforce the stone construction.
these were often in the form of dowels, anchors or clips coated whith tar, wax,
animals fat or pitch to avoid erosion. |
|
List of materials |
> Marble
All varieties of marble can be found in Versailles. It is the king of building material and was
the King's favourite. Most of the marble came from the Pyrenees and only the
white marble was imported from Carrara, in Italy, the quality of
which could not be matched by any French. |
|
List of materials |
> Gold
Des
Vast quantities of goldleaf were applied in decoration throughout
Versailles, in the apartments, on all the interior and exterior
decorations (stucco, woodwork, bronze statues, wrought iron balconies,
lead work on roofs). Only the table services were of solid gold and in
1700, the Versailles court tableware represented 170kg of pure metal. |
|
List of materials |
> Stone
The most common stone used in the Palace of Versailles is
Parisian limestone (calcaire lutécien).
The hardest layers of rock were used for the foundations.
Saint Leu stone is also helly stone, it is soft when extracted but hardens on
drying and is very hard-wearing. It must, however, be worked in summer
as it is apt to freeze and crack at very low temperatures.
It is Saint Leu stone that give Versailles its characteristical pale honey colour.
All exterior paving are in Ile-de-France sansdtone,
as are the Encaladous basin, the ballroom grobes
and the three fountains, on which the natural accretions of sandstone
called "kidneys" confer a baroque style decoration. |
|
List of materials |
> Lead
Lead was one of the major materials used for roofing as the King wanted
an Italian-style palace whith flat roofs. The other metal frequently
used was laminated copper, more resistant than lead. Through lack of
maintenances, the roof was removed at the beginning of the XVIIIth century |
|
List of materials |
