The construction of the Apollo Gallery began under the direction of architect Louis Le Vau and painter Charles Le Brun when Louis XIV came to power in 1661, and was completed two hundred years later in 1851 by architect Félix Duban, just before the coronation of Napoleon III. The gallery, which is 60 meters long and 15 meters high, was decorated by some twenty of the greatest French artists. This unique gallery, dedicated to the Sun King, is structured around the theme of the sun and its path through time and space. Jérôme Prieur spent two years filming the huge restoration project from 2002 to 2004; his film provides precious insight into the work of the restorers, and explores the gallery's history with visual archives and interviews with curators, academics, and writers. "The idea was to tell two stories at the same time, to position the viewer between past and present. The cleaning of the stucco, the replacement of the missing parts, and the removal of alterations takes viewers beyond the restorers' work to the very conception and creation of the decoration, to the original gallery as a place of experimentation with form. […] This two-year film project (in ten stages showing the progress of the restoration work) was the best way of demonstrating that the gallery's history, from Le Brun to Delacroix, is that of a long-lasting building project that began with Louis XIV and finished toward the late 19th century; it is therefore a journey through time that presents a striking cross-section of French history and its symbolic and political issues." (Jérôme Prieur)

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