The Galerie des Batailles runs 120 metres along the first floor of the south wing, added by King Louis-Philippe in 1837 when he converted the palace into a museum dedicated to "all the glories of France." Thirty-three enormous paintings line the walls, each depicting a French military victory from Tolbiac in 496 to Wagram in 1809 — a panoramic sweep through 1,300 years of French arms.
The paintings were commissioned specifically for this space from leading artists of the day, including Horace Vernet and Eugène Delacroix. They are not documentary but theatrical, presenting battles as heroic tableaux. Interspersed are bronze busts of marshals and commanders. The effect is overwhelming — intentionally so.
The gallery is usually quieter than the more famous rooms upstairs, which makes it a good place to catch your breath. It is also one of the places where the palace's 19th-century reinvention as a national monument is most visible: Louis-Philippe was doing something quite different from Louis XIV, creating a story of France rather than a stage for royal power.