The end of Louis XIV's reign was marked by the creation, in the shady valley of Marly, of a residence of exceptional pleasure. Around the retirement pavilions for the king and his close friends, a large park in perpetual redevelopment offers its groves and fountains. The king likes to remodel nature and place a statuary of marble, bronze and lead in the basins, which animates the pools, underlines the perspectives and evokes ancient history.
This catalogue retraces the history of the sculptures preserved in French public collections, from their creation to the present day, following all the stages of their conservation. For each of these works, we will find all the sources concerning it, an exhaustive bibliography, the history of its condition and restorations, the list of its replicas.
