3. - Schlösser-Magazin

2.
View of the bathhouse from the
wild boar basin.
20
Bathhouse, bathroom.
2. Description
Flights of steps lead up on both sides of the
waterfall, but the temple can only be reached
via a complex network of irregular steps or
via the grotto-like passageways built into
the artificial rock on which it stands. From
the theatre side, then, the temple appears to
stand upon a large rock; but on the east side
the base is revealed as a multi-level platform,
with the temple on the top level. The temple,
with its twelve Corinthian columns and
coffered ceiling, is named after the marble
statue of Apollo which it houses (Peter Anton
von Verschaffelt, before 1773). The elaborate
lattice designs adorning the platform take up
the theme of the sun god, with golden reliefs
depicting a face surrounded by rays.
Bathhouse
To the north of the Temple of Apollo is the
bathhouse complex, with a grotto containing
the sculpture of a wild boar (sculpture
attributed to Barthélemy Guibal, first half
of the 18th-centuries, probably from the
gardens of Lunéville Palace), the bathhouse
itself, an oval pool with water-spouting
birds, and a pavilion housing a diorama, a
trompe-l’oeil feature creating the illusion of
a vista through an artificial grotto out into
the open countryside. The various elements
of the complex, which are all aligned along
a longitudinal axis, come together to create
an overall work of art, with architecture,
sculpture, landscape gardening and painting
complementing each other to perfection.
The ingenious layout of the bathhouse and
its elaborate décor obscure the boundaries
between exterior and interior: the semicircular
anterooms connecting each side of the
building with the central oval reception
room reduce the time taken to walk through
the bathhouse to the briefest of sojourns
along the length of the otherwise open-air
complex; and the oval painting entitled
‘Aurora banishes the night’ which covers the
ceiling (artist: Nicolas Guibal, between 1768
and 1775) creates the illusion of a space open
to the sky. Only by deviating from the linear
layout of the complex does one gain access to