A water feature already existed here in 1636, during the reign of Louis XIII, and was known as the Lake of the Swans. Louis XIV later added the spectacular and famous work in gilded lead of Apollo riding his chariot. This piece, built by Tuby on a design by Le Brun, is based on the legend of Apollo...
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A water feature already existed here in 1636, during the reign of Louis XIII, and was known as the Lake of the Swans. Louis XIV later added the spectacular and famous work in gilded lead of Apollo riding his chariot. This piece, built by Tuby on a design by Le Brun, is based on the legend of Apollo, the Sun god and the King's icon. It features the god bursting forth from the water in anticipation of his daily flight above the earth. Tuby made this monumental group in the Gobelins manufacture between 1668 and 1670, when it was transported to Versailles and put in place and gilded the following year.
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