Let’s set the scene: It’s the late 1770s, and Versailles is buzzing with fashion trends, not just for clothes but also for gardens! Under the reign of Louis XVI, the talented Hubert Robert was asked to reinvent what was once the rather marshy Bosquet du Marais, and boy did he deliver. In true romantic style, he transformed it into a dreamy, leafy landscape with artificial grottos, tumbling cascades, sparkling pools, and that mysterious whiff of ancient myth. Of course, style was everything-so he threw in a pinch of the popular Anglo-Chinese taste, all the rage at the time.
But there’s more to these groves than just good landscaping. The statues here actually have a journey of their own! Way back in 1666, sculptors Girardon and Regnaudin crafted a dazzling marble group-Apollo himself, the sun god, being tended to by five nymphs. It was so impressive that it became one of Versailles’ first real masterpieces in marble, aiming to rival even the grandest ancient statues of Europe. Apollo here isn’t just a Greek god-he also hints at Louis XIV, the Sun King himself, with all his royal glow.
And if sun gods and nymphs weren’t dramatic enough, check out the side acts: two electrifying sculptures of the “Chevaux du Soleil,” or the Sun Horses. On one side, tritons calm thirsty horses; on the other, they try to stop some wild horseplay, literally-a scene with biting and rearing! All in all, this is Versailles’ version of a backstage pass to myth, marble, and a splash of 18th-century garden glamour. Don’t forget to wave at Apollo-he might just bring out the sun for you!
