View of the Chateau of Versailles Showing the Chapel

The chapel at Versailles was begun toward the end of Louis XIV's massive construction effort and completed in 1710, just five years before the king's death. Jacques Rigaud, an accomplished illustrator and engraver of city and palace views, animated his architectural prints by populating the foregrounds with images of polite society. Here in the plaza in front of the chateau he depicts fashionable ladies and gentleman promenading and conversing, dogs running about, and two high-ranking visitors arriving in sedan chairs, carried by servants. Such bustling activity at the palace was quite common, as an estimated 1, 000 courtiers kept rooms-pied-à-terres-in the chateau, accompanied by some 4, 000 attendants. In addition, the staterooms and gardens at Versailles were open to the public, accessible to anyone in proper attire.