The Main Dining
The Grande salle à manger lies at right angles to the other rooms and projects into the garden with nine doors opening onto it. It connects with both the Galerie de la Paix and the Salon de l’Horloge.
The great ceiling cove was painted by Séchan with an arrangement of arabesques in gold and blue monochrome embellished with gold, interlaced with masks, garlands of flowers and medallions.
The ornamental carvings on the ceiling, in the centre of which winged cherubs bear a crown, were the work of Combettes. The cartouches in the four corners of the ceiling still have the imperial symbol. The artist decorated the cornice with modillions, rosettes, pilasters and small pediments. Above each door, he carved two children holding a medallion crowned with acanthus leaves and fleurons.
The frames of the five mirrors were carved by Liénard. They all have similar decoration except for the one facing the garden, which is more richly ornamented: a woman’s head supports a pediment decorated with a vase. The flanking pilasters are surmounted by a deer’s head and decorated with cascades of fruit and flowers.