Sir William Orpen: The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 28th June 1919

Sir William Orpen: The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 28th June 1919
IWM ART 2856

The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 resulted in the Treaty of Versailles.

This painting shows the moment the treaty was signed.  The setting is the dazzling Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, built by Louis XIV as a symbol of his political power.  Above the delegates’ heads is the legend 'Le Roy Gouverne par lui même' (The King governs alone), an ironic reference to the conference's endless squabbling In William Orpen’s vision, the extravagance of the architecture sets the scene, dwarfing the statesmen.

Orpen was a leading society portraitist, appointed one of the first official war artists in 1917.  In 1919, he was employed to record the Peace Conference in three paintings. At £3,000, it was one of the most expensive commissions of the war.

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