Versailles is a codified built environment. If you stand in the center of the hall of mirrors and look out to the garden, you will see a straight line, the Royal Path, that leads to a first fountain, the Latona fountain.

In Ancient Mythology, Latona is one of Jupiter’s mistresses, with whom she’s had two children : Apollo and Diana.

The legend says that Latona was forced to go into exile because of Jupiter’s wife, the jealous Juno. One day, while Latona was wandering the earth with her children, she attempted to drink water from a pond in Lycia (present-day Turkey).
But local peasants refused to allow her to do so by stirring the mud at the bottom of the pond. In her fury Latona laid a curse on them, and turned the nasty peasants into frogs.

This legend refers to an event that occurred during the Louis XIV King’s childhood, when the royal family was forced to flee Paris because of the Fronde, a rebellion of princes and lords who attempted to take power in 1649. The message to the courtiers is clear : Don’t mess with the Sun King, or you’ll be forever doomed to live in darkness and to swim in murky waters, just like frogs…