The Princess’s apartments above consisted likewise of a bedroom, _Salon oval_, and an antechamber. The bedroom was lighted by two windows that looked upon an interior court. In the cornices and in the centre of the panels were groups of figures inspired by the stories of Greek mythology. On the piers, a skillful carver related the amorous adventures of Venus and Adonis, Semele and Jupiter, Europa and the Bull, and Argus and Mercury. In the four corners of the ceilings, the gilded medallions represented Diana, Leda, Ganymede and Hebe; and, finally, in the cornice, stucco figures of almost natural size stood out boldly. They formed four groups. Between the windows, Bacchus and Ariadne were represented; in the depth of the alcove, Diana and Endymion, and at the side of the _Salon Oval_, Pallas and Mercury,—opposite to Venus and Adonis. Innumerable little Cupids, bearing attributes of sciences, arts and letters were everywhere. Over each door was a painted panel: one, by Boucher represented the _Graces presiding at Cupid’s Education_, the other, signed Trémolières and dated 1737, _Minerva teaching a Young Girl the Art of Making Tapestry_. In the back of the room, standing out from the red damask of the alcove, were two pastorals by Boucher, with shepherds in satin garments, and shepherdesses in panier-skirts, and beribboned sheep. All the frames, so graceful in sweeping curves, were in delightful harmony with this subject, adding as Jules Guiffrey says, “a fantastic piquancy to these mythological gallantries.” “The Oval room,” says the same art critic, “will always remain one of the most artistic models of the Eighteenth Century; and everybody knows that the period of Louis XV. carried the science of decoration to its last limit.” The chief paintings were done by Charles Natoire in 1737–1739, and describe the story of Cupid and Psyche in the most charming colours; but, still quoting from M. Guiffrey, “the details of the ornaments of the _salon oval_ defy all description. You must study in detail the entwinings of the _rosace_, the little cupids clothed in a beautiful coating of gold, all different in gesture, attitude and expression, to gain an idea of the infinite resources of the designers and sculptors of the time.” The original chimney-piece was removed to the Tuileries, where it was burned. The floor originally was incrusted in the style of Boulle’s furniture, in branches of copper and pewter. [Illustration: PLATE XXXIII]