Restoration of the Royal Chapel at Versailles

Ateliers Saint-Jacques, along with the Coubertin Foundation, recently restored the metal frames of the glass windows of the Royal Chapel of Versailles. This three-year restoration project is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Palace of Versailles and the workshops at Ateliers Saint-Jacques. Their highly skilled artisans have been a part of the detailed restoration of this great French heritage site.

To date, they have restored the basin of the Three-Fountains Grove, the lead sculptures of the Latona Fountain, the ironworks of the Grand Commun and the gates of the royal court. And now with the restoration of the metal frames of the glass windows of the Royal Chapel, the workshop and its artisans have continued to display their unique French know-how.

The Royal Chapel of Versailles has not undergone any notable transformation since 1710. Its imposing glass windows and metal frames were the height of innovative design at the time of construction around 1687. The degree of difficulty in manufacturing these metal frames at the time were reserved for luxury craftsmen working on armory, watchmaking and scientific instruments. In fact, the metal carpentry of the Royal Chapel was one of the most exceptional works at that time and it wasn’t until the second half of the 19^th century and the advent of the Industrial Revolution that such sophisticated metal carpentry was found. The restoration of this 40-bay complex was a challenge both in the scale of the project and its technical complexity as well as the difficulty in understanding such an extraordinary monument.

A feat this big took 500 hours of study and technical management of the project, 5,000 hours of metal work in the workshop and 12,000 construction hours to bring this restoration to the highest level of craftsmanship and preservation. The workshops at Ateliers Saint-Jacques and the Palace of Versailles are just over 12 miles apart. They are not so much linked by geographical proximity as by the attention paid to the preservation of architectural heritage and to the know-how transmitted in the spirit of the craftsmen and their attention to detail and high-level skills that passed from generation to generation to ensure the enduring architectural legacy of Versailles.