NARRATOR: This large portrait shows King Louis XV at the age of five, draped in coronation robes. He succeeded to the French throne upon the death of his great- grandfather, Louis XIV, in 1715. But Philippe II, Duc d’Orléans, acted as Regent, governing until 1723, when Louis turned thirteen. The highly ornate French Rococo developed during Louis’s reign. And this room’s elaborate gold-and-white paneling shows this evolving decorative style. On the rounded corners are asymmetrical allegories of the seasons. Carved at the tops are faces, and beneath them are objects such as a basket and garden tools symbolizing Spring. Going counter clockwise, the youthful face of Spring eventually fades to Old Man Winter.