Jeu de paume was originally a French precursor of tennis played without racquets. The players hit the ball with their hands, as in volleyball or the hand-played varieties of pelota.
The term is used in France today to denote real tennis or a court in which the ancient or modern game might be played.
Some important buildings in France are known by the name jeu de paume, in general because of their proximity to tennis courts or to sites on which courts once stood. Several works of art also bear this name, including the famous serment du jeu de paume ('the Tennis Court Oath') in the Palace of Versailles. It depicts the formal announcement of the French revolution made in the Royal Tennis Court there on 20 June, 1789.
The Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume is a Paris museum of contemporary art located in the building previously occupied by the Musée du Jeu de Paume.
Le Jeu de Paume is a moral ode published in 1791 by the French revolutionary poet André Chénier (see also [1])
