View of the Château of Marly

Martin’s painting represents a view of the chateau of Marly as seen from the Watering Trough.

The royal château was the third element in the royal lifestyle: Versailles for business, the Trianon for pleasure, and Marly for a privacy that did not exclude privileged guests. In each case architecture eloquently reflected function. Marly constituted two rows of six pavilions flanking parterres, an ornamental lake, and gently sloping groves. The large central pavilion was the home of the king.

Marly was destroyed during the Revolution, the building materials were sold to merchants during the reign of Napoleon I.