ABSTRACT
During the small hours of 6 February 1661, fire broke out in the gallery off the king’s pavilion in the Louvre where workmen had been decorating walls and hanging pictures. The flames spread rapidly through the draughty rooms and threatened to engulf the palace. While servants and soldiers toiled with chains of buckets, Anne sent for the sacrament. By the time the priests arrived the wind was shifting and the fire was being brought under control: the enterprise of an Augustinian lay brother who was lifted by a makeshift crane to the burning roof timbers so that he could lever them out with a crowbar probably did most to avert catastrophe. Anne and Louis went to Saint-Germain, leaving the building to be cleaned and repaired. The incident may have served to strengthen them in the belief that they enjoyed divine protection, but for Mazarin it was a turning point in his struggle against grave ailments. He was carried out from his chambers next to the gallery, through dense smoke, shocked and gasping for breath. Twelve doctors examined him before one of their number, Guénard, delivered their opinion: he could hope for two months of life. The ordeal would be seen only to have hastened his demise.
