| Summary: | For two thousand years Belgium and the north of France have been operating regions for construction stone and renowned marble. During the baroque period hundreds of marble varieties were available, and it is not surprising that Louis XIV’s engineers turned to the northern part of the kingdom for their supply during peaceful interludes. We need to remember that all these marble are hard limestone, sedimentary with very low porosity. The colour palette is limited to black, red and grey. Most of these quarries have disappeared and the archives have not yet yielded any written traces. In contrast, a large amount of false and unverified information about what was used in Versailles exists: this must be explored with caution. The method used in this preliminary study is that of an informed geologist, visiting the château as a tourist, noticing in passing the marble that comes from his region and which he recognizes. He first finds red marble from Rance, used extensively as veneer, in the Hall of Mirrors for example, and in the monumental fireplaces. He can also observe in the wall claddings and the floor in Belgian Saint Anne marble, black marble from Dinant, an antique type from Barbençon, Breccia from Waulsort (or Dourlers), small granite (previously called Écaussinnes or Ligny marble). He sees marble from the Avesnois: some marble slabs from Cousolre, from Glageon, French black marble from Bavay and more. It is reasonable to think that with the last four, they were restorations under the July Monarchy or even later.
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