More wall flourishes from the Galerie d’Apollon. In Greek mythology Apollo is leader of the various muses and, befittingly, the room is a celebration of the sun and light over which he presided. He was attributed with truth and prophecy; master of archery, medicinal healer, master of music, history, poetry, and the arts. The room is also an embodiment of the fruits of each of his muses. Each existed to inspire creativity; providing “the key to the good life”; bringing friendship and the inspiration to be and do wonderful things.
The word ‘muse’, from the Greek root hai moũsai, means ‘to think’. So Apollo, being leader of the muses, must therefore have been chief among thinkers. It is also the root of the word ‘museum’; a place to enjoy the ‘fruits’.
As mentioned earlier the names of these muses appear periodically on door panels and are embodied in the ceiling work by Le Brun. Set amongst musical instruments and gilded relief the name Terpsichore is emblazoned on the tracery on one such door; she was muse of the ‘delight of dancing’ and, purportedly, the mother of the sirens.
Beside one of the windows that overlooks the Seine is another panel in which a white mare and bold stag face each other entwined around a golden urn. Above them hovers an eagle with outstretched wings, crowned with a laurel wreath; the prize for winning a race, or for being victorious. Cornucopia sit under it’s wings and below it’s feet is a seeded pomegranate. The eagle has symbolic relevance in this room; it’s ability to fly into the sun is an obvious reference not only to Apollo but also to Louis XIV and his ‘sun god’ mantra.
Greek myths and legends drew on the human psyche and it’s powers of imagination and creativity to make sense of the world – for better or worse. It is interesting that the French Court practically gorged itself on the bacchanalian pleasures of mythology, over and above the Catholicism that was it’s chief religious directive; we know from history that Louis XIV was more interested in the mythological root of these emblems. In Christianity the eagle is a symbol of the prophetic and of soaring high on God’s strength; being built-up, encouraged, upheld and carried by a power that is both terrible and safe at the same time; omnipresent and omniscient. ‘They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isa 40:31.
In such a magnificent room one is overwhelmed by the wealth and extravagance that has, and does, play such a part in the governance of this world. The elements of nature and our own human abilities seem to be extricated from the everyday and transformed into idols; a grand illusion and an overwhelming expression of power and the thirst for it.
