In 1668, Louis XIV commissioned 92 carpets to cover the entire length of the Grande Galerie of the Louvre—six times the length of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. The weaving took 20 years and required the establishment of massive workshops staffed largely by orphans and adolescents, chosen for their sharp eyesight and nimble fingers. The carpets were never laid down in the space that they were made for. By the time they were finished, the Sun King had lost interest in the Louvre; he was entirely focused on Versailles. During the French Revolution, many of the carpets were stripped of their royal emblems or sold off, and the set was scattered across Europe and America. The Met owns three of these pieces. In the first U.S. exhibition devoted to the Savonnerie—the royal manufactory that was commissioned by the King—the Met is presenting four complete carpets along with fragments and archival material, meanwhile tracing the full history of this extraordinary, unrealized project. —Elena Clavarino