Organ of the Royal Chapel

3D model of the organ of the Royal Chapel.
For the fifth chapel, the last building of Louis XIV at Versailles, an organ was commissioned whose casing was sculpted by Philippe Bertrand on the basis of drawings by the architect Robert de Cotte, who succeeded Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1708. The instrument itself was made by organ specialists Julien Tribuot and Robert Cliquot. Cliquot was considered to be the greatest organ maker between 1700 and 1720 and took the title of “Royal Organ Maker”. On 5 June 1710 the chapel was consecrated and the organ inaugurated by François Couperin. Exceptionally, the instrument is placed above the altar, opposite the gallery where the king and the royal family attended mass. The organ casing was listed as a historic monument in 1882. After various restoration works that contributed to the degradation of the original instrument, the organ was completely dismantled in 1989. In 1994, organ makers Jean-Loup Boisseau and Bertrand Cattiaux carried out a meticulous reconstitution of Cliquot’s original design, aiming to get the organ back to its 1710 condition. The restored organ was inaugurated on 18 November 1995 by Michel Chapuis.