The stair hall at Versailles : In the late 18th century, Louis XV’s fist architect, Ange-Jacques Gabriel, had designed a monumental stair hall to give access to the enfilade of parade rooms on the first floor, replacing the Ambassadors’ Staircase which the king had ordered destroyed. The scheme went unrealized some two centuries and the Versailles’ architectes-fonctionnaires attempted to channel the spirit of Gabriel with CAD-drawn stereotomy, and built the design from computer-guided, precision-cut limestone blocks. Traditionally, the architect worked in concert with a team of master masons and sculptors to design and execute the program of ornamental detailing that would enliven the bare stonework, but in this case both architect and stonecarvers were deemed obsolete.
Versailles is so purty. So very purty.
(Source: a-l-ancien-regime)
