 Nine large and numerous smaller ceiling paintings are dedicated to the idolization of the Sun King and praise the successes of the first 20 years of his reign.Charles Le Brun, "the greatest French artist of all time" according to king Louis XIV, was, unsurprisingly, the artist of choice for the ceiling paintings.The most prestigious scenes were painted on strengthened canvas and glued to the vault by Le Brun himself, aged 60 at the start of the work.