Galerie des Batailles

The Galerie des Batailles (French: [ɡalʁi de bataj]; English: "Gallery of Battles") is a gallery occupying the first floor of the Aile du Midi of the Palace of Versailles, joining onto the grand and petit appartement de la reine.

It replaced apartments which had been occupied in the 17th and 18th centuries by The architects Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine[1] and Frédéric Nepveu created a solemn decorative scheme for it, with a wide cornice supporting a coffered painted ceiling with entablatures supported by Corinthian columns along the length of the gallery.

13 bronze tablets on the wall are inscribed with the names of princes, admirals, constables, marshals and warriors killed or wounded whilst fighting for France.

The main contents of the rooms, however, were envisaged as the vast paintings showing major military events in French history, some already in existence but mostly specially commissioned for the Galerie.

Having failed to plant one in the Hall of Mirrors, they moved to the galerie des Batailles, targeting Napoleon as a symbol of French colonialism.