Versailles – La grotte de Thétis

<p>Versailles – La grotte de Thétis. Circa 1690. Adam and Gabriel PERELLE. Copper engraving. Impression on laid paper, published by Nicolas Langlois in Paris. Very light central vertical fold mark, barely visible. Three small stains, faint. Platemark size: 18.8 x 28.4 cm. Sheet size: 20.7 x 31 cm. The Grotto of Thetis was built in 1666 and belongs to the first rocaille and baroque Versailles. The central grille was adorned with a sun and seven reliefs decorated its attic storey. The grotto was celebrated by Quinault and Lully in 1668 in an opera featuring shepherds going there "to hold a rustic feast" (« pour y faire une Feste rustique »). La Fontaine devoted a poem to it. Madelaine de Scudéry considered it "the most beautiful spot in Versailles", while Félibien saw in it "a place where art works alone and which nature seems to have abandoned". The building was destroyed in 1684 during the construction of the north wing.</p>