The Apotheosis of Hercules by Francois Lemoyne, 1733-1736, Oil on canvas at the Hercules Salon, Grand Apartment in the Palace of Versailles, France. Image taken on location by Minerva Bloom. This recently restored ceiling of the Hercules Salon, some 480 square metres of surface area, is one of the largest paintings ever executed. Francois Lemoyne accomplished a veritable feat, for he painted it almost entirely alone during three long years. It earned him the coveted title of First Painter to the King, yet the exhausted artist committed suicide shortly afterwards. The ceiling is not a fresco, because the paint was applied to canvas rather than directly onto plaster. Some 140 figures, representing Olympus, attend the triumphant arrival of Hercules, a hero whose successful labours have raised him to the rank of god (an allusion to the merits of the French king).