Treat for the Eyes As Versaille's Hall of Mirrors Brightens Up

The Hall of Mirrors at the Chateau of Versailles reopened this week after the largest privately funded restoration project in French history.

The gilded gallery of 357 mirrors complete with vast chandeliers, glass doors and ceiling paintings symbolized the decadence of the rule of Louis XIV - the Sun King who commissioned it in 1678.

It was also the venue for the signing in 1919 of the Treaty of Versailles after the first world war.

Centuries of grime have been cleaned from the mirrors in a three-year refurbishment project that cost the equivalent of £8m. In a French record for private patronage, the work was paid for by the French construction company Vinci.

Traditionally in France such projects have been state-funded. But private sponsorship has become more common since a 2003 law gave companies more tax incentives to support cultural projects.

Vincent Guerre, in charge of renovating the gallery's mirrors, said not one broke during the work, but 48 were replaced with mirrors dating back to the same period.

"Personally, when I put in the last mirror and saw the work was finished, I was very moved," he said. "I told myself 'OK, this is done, but it also means you won't come here every day any more.'"

One of the main challenges was restoring Charles Le Brun's paintings on the hall's ceilings that mark important moments in the reign of Louis XIV, including his assumption of the throne at the age of four in 1643 and his victories in the Dutch wars in the 1860s.

During the restoration the hall was never completely shut to visitors - workers renovated part of it, then the other, so tourists could always get a sense of its grandeur.