3. Cours vitrée / Glass Courtyard

Until 1972, sculpture casts and architectural elements were displayed throughout the ground floor of the Palais des Etudes. Today they are held at the King's stables in Versailles, where they are make up a center for the study of Antiquity. This courtyard, finished in 1837, was long open at the roof. In 1863, it was fitted with the iron armature that holds the glass panes at a distance of 19 meters from the floor. An industrial architecture with a classical decorative theme, the covering is supported by iron beams and cast iron Doric and Corinthian pillars that act as gutters. The school's architect, Ernest-Georges Coquart, transformed the room into a museum from 1874 until 1968. The decorations were created by Charles Chauvin (deceased in 1889). Eight medallions adorn the courtyard, four of which are in colored and enameled volcanic rock, and four of which are in gilded marble.

The Glass Courtyard contained a collection of original antique sculptures brought back from Italy by Léon Dufourny (1754-1818), who gave them to the school in exchange for the title of professor and curator (1804). The casts that were shown there reproduced the most beautiful examples of Antique statuary. They too, since 1972, have been kept at the King's Stables in Versailles. On each side of the central arcade, two rooms, today transformed into studios, held classical ornament casts and casts after the marbles found at Olympia. The originals are in the Louvre.