Château de Chenonceau
The Château de Chenonceau, near the small village of Chenonceaux, in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France, was built on the site of an old mill on the River Cher, sometime before its first mention in writing in the 11th century.
History
The original manor was torched by Royal troops in 1411 to punish owner Jean Marques for an act of sedition. He rebuilt a castle and fortified mill on the site in the 1430s. Subsequently, his deeply indebted heir Pierre Marques sold the castle to Thomas Bohier, Chamberlain for King Charles VIII of France in 1513. Bohier destroyed the existing castle and built an entirely new residence between 1515 and 1521; the work was sometimes overseen by his wife Catherine Briçonnet, who delighted in hosting French nobility, including King François I on two occasions.
Eventually, the château was seized from Bohier's son by François I for unpaid debts to the Crown, and after François' death in 1547, Henry II offered the château as a gift to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers who became fervently attached to the château and its view along the river. She would have the arched bridge constructed, joining the château to its opposite bank. She then oversaw the planting of extensive flower and vegetable gardens along with a variety of fruit trees. Set along the banks of the river, but buttressed from flooding by stone terraces, the exquisite gardens were laid out in four triangles.
Diane de Poitiers was the unquestioned mistress of the castle, but ownership remained with the crown until 1555, when years of delicate legal maneuvers finally yielded possession to her. However, after King Henry II died in 1559, his strong-willed widow and regent Catherine de' Medici had Diane expelled. Because the estate no longer belonged to the crown, she could not seize it outright, but forced Diane to exchange it for the Château Chaumont. Queen Catherine then made Chenonceau her own favorite residence, adding her own series of gardens.
As Regent of France, Catherine would spend a fortune on the château and on spectacular nighttime parties. In 1560, the first ever fireworks display seen in France took place during the celebrations marking the ascension to the throne of Catherine's son François II. The grand gallery, which extended along the existing bridge to cross the entire river, was dedicated in 1577.
On Catherine's death in 1589 the château went to her daughter-in-law, Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont, wife of King Henri III. At Chenonceau Louise was told of her husband's assassination and she fell into a state of depression, spending the remainder of her days wandering aimlessly along the château's vast corridors dressed in mourning clothes amidst somber black tapestries stitched with skull and crossbones.
Another mistress took over in 1624, when Gabrielle d'Estrées, the favourite of King Henri IV, inhabited the castle. After that, it was owned by Louise's heir César of Vendôme and his wife, Françoise of Lorraine, Duchess of Vendôme, and passed quietly down the Valois line of inheritance, alternately inhabited and abandoned for more than a hundred years.
At last Château de Chenonceau was bought by the Duke of Bourbon in 1720. Little by little, he sold off all of the castle's contents. Many of the fine statues ended up at Versailles. The estate itself was finally sold to a squire named Claude Dupin.
Claude's wife (daughter of financier Samuel Bernard and grandmother of George Sand), Madame Louise Dupin, brought life back to the castle by entertaining the leaders of The Enlightenment: Voltaire, Montesquieu, Buffon, Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, Pierre de Marivaux, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. She saved the château from destruction during the French Revolution, preserving it from being destroyed by the Revolutionary Guard because it was essential to travel and commerce being the only bridge across the river for many miles. She is said to be the one who changed the spelling of the Château (from Chenonceaux to Chenonceau) to please the villagers during the French Revolution. She dropped the "x" at the end of the Château's name to differentiate what was a symbol of royalty from the Republic. Although no official sources have been found to support this legend, the Château has been since referred to and accepted as Chenonceau.
In 1864, Daniel Wilson, a Scotsman who had made a fortune installing gaslights throughout Paris, bought the château for his daughter. In the tradition of Catherine de' Medici, she would spend a fortune on elaborate parties to such an extent that her finances were depleted and the château was seized and sold to José-Emilio Terry, a Cuban millionaire, in 1891. Terry sold it in 1896 to a family member, Francisco Terry, and in 1913, the Menier family, famous for their chocolates, bought the château and still own it to this day.
During World War I the gallery was used as a hospital ward; during the Second War it was a means of escaping from the Nazi occupied zone on one side of the River Cher to the "free" Vichy zone on the opposite bank.
In 1951, the Menier family entrusted the château's restoration to Bernard Voisin, who brought the dilapidated structure and the gardens (ravaged in the Cher River flood in 1940) back to a reflection of its former glory.
An architectural mixture of late Gothic and early Renaissance, Château de Chenonceau and its gardens are open to the public. Other than the Royal Palace of Versailles, Chenonceau is the most visited château in France.
Inside Chenonceau
The forecourt and the Marques tower
By building Chenonceau château on the river Cher in the 16th century, Thomas Bohier razed the castle-keep and the fortified mill of the Marques family only keeping the donjon: The marques tower, which he transformed in Renaissance style.
The forecourt reproduces the layout of the former medieval castle demarcated by the moats. Next to the tower, there is also the well decorated with a chimaera and an eagle - the emblem of the Marques family.
Walking towards the Château, Built on the piers of the former fortified mill, you will discover the monumental entrance.
Dating from the period of François I, made from sculpted and painted wood, it has: on the left, the coat of arms of Thomas Bohier, on the right those of his wife Katherine Briçonnet - the builders of Chenonceau - topped by the salamander of François I and the inscription "François, by the grace of God, King of France and Claude, Queen of the French".
The Guard's room
Originally this room was used by the armed men responsible for royal protection.
Thomas Bohier's arms decorate the 16th century chimney.
Here we find the 16th century oak door, beneath the figures of their patron saints (Saint Catherine and Saint Thomas), the motto of Thomas Bohier and Katherine Briçonnet the builders of Chenonceau: "S'il vient à point, me sowiendra) meaning: "If I manage to build Chenonceau, I will be remembered".
On the walls, a suite of 16th century flemish tapestries represents scenes from castle life, a request for marriage and a hunt.
The chests are Gothic and Renaissance. During the 16th century they contained silverware, crockery and tapestries with which the Court moved from one residence to another.
The ceiling, with exposed joists, has the two intertwining "C"s of Catherine de' Medici. On the floor are the remains of a 16th century majolica.
The Chapel
From the Guards' Room walk into the Chapel through the door topped with a Statue of the Virgin.
The leaves of this oak door represent Christ and Saint Thomas, and repeat the words of the Gospel according to Saint John "Lay your finger here" "You are my Lord and my God".
The modern Stained glass windows - 1954 - were made by the master glassworker Max Ingrand, the original windows were destroyed by a bombing in 1944.
In the Loggia on the right, a Virgin to the child made from carrara marble by Mino da Fiesole. Dominating the nave, the royal gallery from where the queens attended mass shows the date 1521.
To the right of the altar is a finely carved credence table which is decorated with the Bohier motto.
You can still read inscriptions on the walls left by Queen Mary Stuart's Scottish guards: On the right, as you enter, dated 1543 "Man's anger does not accomplish God's Justice" and 1546 "Do not let yourself be won over by Evil".
On the walls, paintings with religious subjects: The Virgin in a blue veil by Il Sassoferrato, Jesus preaching before Ferdinand and Isabelle by Alonso Cano and Saint Anthony of Padua by Murillo, Assumption by Jouvenet.
The chapel was saved during the French Revolution thanks to the idea of the owner at that time, Madame Dupin, of turning it into a wood store.
Diane de Poiters' bedroom
This room was used by Diane de Poitiers, mistress of the French King Henry II, to whom he gave Chenonceau. In 1559, when Henri II was killed in single combat during a tournament by the Captain of his Scots guards, Gabriel Montgomery, his widow, Catherine de' Medici, ordered Diane to give Chenonceau back to her, and gave Diane the château of Chaumont-sur-Loire in exchange.
Like the coffered ceiling, the fireplace by Jean Goujon, a French sculptor of the Fontainebleau school, bears the initials of Henri II and Catherine de' Medici: interlaced Hs and Cs that could be considered as forming the D of Diane de Poitiers.
The four-poster bed dates from the early 17th century and the Henry II armchairs are covered with cordovan leather.
On the fireplace, you can also see a 19th century portrait of Catherine de' Medici by Sauvage.
Two 16th century Flanders tapestries, of considerable size, portray :
- The triumph of Strength, riding on a chariot drawn by two lions, and surrounded by scenes from the Old Testament. The sentence in Latin running along the upper border can be translated as “He who loves the gifts of heaven with all his heart, does not shrink from deeds that Piety dictates”.
- The triumph of Charity, seen on a chariot, holding a heart in her hand and pointing to the sun ; she is surrounded by biblical episodes. The Latin inscription here can be translated as : "He who shows strength of heart in the face of danger, receives Salvation as a reward at his time of death".
To the left of the window, Virgin with child by Murillo.
To the right of the fireplace, there is a painting of the 18th century Italian school : Christ stripped of his clothes, by Ribalta, Ribera's master. Below this painting stands a bookcase holding the archives of Chenonceau ; one of the volumes, to be seen the showcase, bears the signatures of Thomas Bohier and Diane de Poitiers.
Green study
The study of Catherine de' Medici, who became Regent of the kingdom upon the death of her husband King Henri II. She ruled France from this room.
On the 16th century ceiling in its original state, you can make out two intertwining "C"s. The 16th century Brussels tapestry known as " To the birthwort", both Gothic and Renaissance, is exceptional with its original green colour which has turned blue and with its subject, inspired by the discovery of the Americas, their fauna and flora: Peruvian silver pheasants, pineapples, orchids, pomegranates, animals and vegetables which until then were unknown in Europe.
Surrounding the door, two 16th century Italian cabinets.
On the walls, a collection of paintings of which the most important are:
- Tintoretto The Queen of Sheba and «Portrait of a Doge
- Jordaens Ivory Catchfly
- Golsius Samson and the Lion
- Jouvenet Jesus chasing the merchants from the Temple
- Spranger Allegorical Scene painted on metal
- Veronese Study of a woman's head
- Poussin The flight to Egypt
- Van Dyck Child with Fruits
Library
From this small room which used to be Catherine de' Medici's library, we discover a magnificent view of the Cher River and Diane's Garden.
The Italian style, Oak coffer ceiling dating from 1525, with small hanging keys, is one of the first of this type known in France. It has the initials of the Château's builder's T.B.K. for Thomas Bohier and Katherine Briçonnet.
Above the door, Holy Family by Andrea Del Sarto. and on both sides:
Two medallions Hébé and Ganymède, the cupbearers of the Gods, relieved near Olympia 17th century French School.
The Gallery
From Diane de Poitiers' bedroom, we return to The gallery via a small passage.
In 1576, according to the plans of Philibert de l'Orme, Catherine de' Medici built a gallery on the bridge of Diane de Poitiers.
60 metres long, 6 metres wide, lit by 18 windows, with its sandy chalk tiled and slate floor and exposed joist ceiling, it is a magnificent ballroom.
It was inaugurated in 1577 during festivities hosted by Catherine de' Medici in honour of her son Henri III.
At each end, two very beautiful Renaissance chimneys, of which one is only decorative surrounding the Southern door which leads to the left bank of the Cher.
The medallions on the walls were added in the 18th century and represent famous people. During the First World War, Monsieur Gaston Menier, owner of Chenonceau, installed at his own expense, A hospital whose different services occupied all of the Château's rooms. During the Second World War, many people took advantage of the privileged location of the Gallery, whose Southern door provided access to the Free zone, whilst the Château's entrance was in the occupied zone.
The Hall
The hall is covered with a series of Rib vaults whose keystones, detached from each other, form a broken line. The baskets are decorated with foliage, roses, cherubs, chimeras, and cornucopia.
Made in 1515, it is one of the most beautiful examples of decorative sculpting from the French Renaissance period.
At the entrance, above the doors, two recesses house the statues : in one, Saint John the Baptist, patron saint of Chenonceau ; in the other, Italian Masdone in the style of Luca della Robbia. The Italian marble hunters' table is Renaissance.
Above the entrance door, a modern stained-glass window – 1954 – by the master-glassworker Max Ingrand, represents the legend of Saint Hubert.
Kitchens
Chenonceau's kitchens are located in the huge bases which form the first two piers sitting on the bed of the river Cher.
The pantry is a low room with two vaults the ribs' intersections. Its 16th century chimney is the Château's largest, next to the bread oven.
The pantry serves both :
The Dining room: reserved for Château staff.
The butchery: in which you can still see the hooks for hanging game and the blocks for cutting it up.
The Larder.
A Bridge: leading to the kitchen itself. By crossing from one pier to the other, we can see a platform where boats with supplies would draw alongside (according to the legend, it is called Diane's bath).
During the First World War however the Renaissance Kitchens were fitted with the modern equipment that was needed for the Château to be transformed into a hospital.
Francois I's bedroom
In this room is one of the most beautiful renaissance chimneys. On the mantelpiece you can see the motto of Thomas Bohier - "S'il vient à point, me souviendra" (If the building is finished, it will preserve the memory of the man who built it) - which echoes his coat of arms above the door.
The furniture consists of three 15th century French credence tables and a 16th century Italian cabinet, exceptional with its mother-of-pearl and fountain-pen engraved ivory incrustations, a wedding present offered to François II and Mary Stuart.
On the wall hangs a portrait of Diane de Poitiers as Diane the Huntress, by Primaticcio, a painter of the Fontainebleau School. The portrait was painted at Chenonceau in 1556; its frame bears the arms of Diane de Poitiers, duchess of Etampes.
On both sides, paintings by Mirevelt, Ravenstein, a self-portrait by Van Dyck. Next to it, a large portrait of Gabrielle d'Estrées as the huntress Diana by Ambroise Dubois. Surrounding the window Archimedes by Zurbarán, Two Bishops 17th century German School. To the right of the chimney, The three graces by Van Loo represent Mesdemoiselles from Nesle. Three sisters, successive favourites of King Louis XV: Madame de Châteauroux, Vintimille, Mailly.
Louis XIV living room
In memory of the visit he made to Chenonceau on July 14th 1650 Louis XIV offered much later his uncle the duc de Vendôme his Portrait by Rigaud - with an extraordinary frame by Lepautre, made up of only four huge pieces of wood - as well as the furniture covered in Aubusson tapestries and a Boulle style console.
On the Renaissance chimney, the Salamander and the Stoat conjure up the memory of François I and Queen Claude of France.
Surrounding the ceiling with exposed joists, the cornice has the initials of the Boher family (T.B.K.). Above the console, "The child Jesus and Saint John the Baptist" by Rubens, purchased in 1889 at the sale of the King of Spain's Collection, Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother.
The living room also offers a beautiful series of 18th century French paintings:
- Van Loo Portrait of King Louis XV
- Nattier Princess of Rohan
- Netscher Portrait of Chamillard, Minister of Louis XIV and Portrait of Man
- Ranc Portrait of Philip V, King of Spain
Also, a large portrait of Samuel Bernard, Louis XIV's banker by Mignard.
Samuel Bernard, who was very rich, was also the father of Madame Dupin, whose grace and intelligence are underlined in her portrait by Nattier. Madame Dupin, grandmother by marriage to George Sand, was the owner of Chenonceau in the 18th century. A friend of the Encyclopaedists, she was host to Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Diderot, d'Alembert, Fontenelle and Bernardin de Saint-Pierre.
Her kindness and generosity saved Chenonceau from destruction during the French Revolution.
The staircase
From the hall, an 16th century oak door provides access to the staircase. Its sculpted leaves represent Old Law (under the figure of a blindfolded lady, with a book and a pilgrim's stick) and New Law (with an uncovered face and holding a palm and a chalice).
The staircase leading to the first floor is remarkable because it is one of the first straight staircases – or banister on banister – built in France based on the Italian model. It is covered with a pitch vault with ribs intersecting at right-angles, the joins are decorated with keystones, the coffers are decorated with human figures, fruits and flowers (certain designs were hammered during the Revolution).
The staircase with two banisters is intersected by a landing forming loggia with a balustrade from which you can discover a view over the Cher.
A very beautiful former Medallion decorates the beginning of the second ascent, it represents a woman's bust with scattered hair.
Catherine Briconnet's hall
The First Floor hall is tiled with small baked clay tiles stamped with a fleur de lis crossed by a dagger. The ceiling has exposed joists.
Above the doors, marble medallions, brought from Italy by Catherine de' Medici, show Roman emperors : Galba, Claude, Germanicus, Vitellius and Nero. The suite of six 17th century audernade tapesteries represents hunting scenes according to Van Der Meulen's sketches.
Five queen's bedroom
This bedroom is thus named in memory of Catherine de' Medici's two daughters and three daughters-in-law. Queen Margot (wife of Henri IV), Elisabeth of Valois (wife of Philip II of Spain), her daughters and Mary Stuart (wife of François II), Elisabeth of Austria (wife of Charles IX), Louise of Lorraine (wife of Henri III), her daughters-in-law.
The 16th century coffer ceiling displays the Five Queen's coats-of-arms. The chimney is from the Renaissance period.
The walls are covered with a 16th Century Flemish tapestry suite representing : the siege of Troy and the kidnapping of Hélène, Circus Games in the Coliseum and the crowning of King David. Another tapestry shows an episode from the life of Samson.
The furniture made up of a large four poster bed, two Gothic credence tables topped with the heads of two women in polychrome wood and a studded travel chest.
On the walls :
- Rubens Worshipping the Wise Men is a study for the large painting which today is in the Prado Museum
- Mignard Portrait of the Duchess of Olonne
- 17th century Italian school Apollo at the home of Admete the Argonaut
Catherine de' Medici's bedroom
This bedroom has beautiful 16th century sculpted furniture and is decorated with a series of 16th century Flemish tapesteries retracing Samson's life.
They are remarkable for their edges filled with animals symbolising proverbs and fables, for example the fable of The Crayfish and the Oyster or Skill is greater than Cunning.
The chimney and the floor tiles are Renaissance.
To the right of the bed The teaching of Love by Correggio painted on wood, of which the London National Gallery has a version painted on canvas
Estampes exhibition room
These small apartments decorated with a ceiling and chimney dating from the 18th century in one part and from the 16th century in the second, bring together a collection of drawings and engravings of Chenonceau of which the oldest dates back to 1560 and the most recent to the 19th century.
Cesar of Vendome's bedroom
This room reminds us of Cesar of Vendôme, son of King Henri IV and Gabrielle d'Estrées, who became owner of Chenonceau in 1624.
The following are worth noting :
A most beautiful ceiling with exposed joists which support a cornice decorated with canons.
The renaissance chimney was painted in the 19th century with Thomas Bohier's coat-of-arms.
The window opening to the West is surrounded by two 17th century wooden caryatids.
The walls are hung with a suite of three 17th century Brussels tapestries illustrating the ancient myth of Demeter and Persephone. The journey of Demeter and Persephone to Hell gives its fruits to Mankind, Persephone returns to spend six months on Earth : a mythological symbol for the alternating seasons.
The most beautiful edges, typical of Brussels, represent the garlands of fruits and flowers coming from the cornucopia. The four-poster bed and the furniture in this room are from the 16th century. To the left of the window :
Murillo Portrait of Saint Joseph.
Gabrielle d'Estrées' bedroom
This bedroom evokes the memory of Gabrielle d'Estrées, King Henri IV's favourite, and mother to his legitimate son César of Vendôme.
The ceiling with visible joists, the ground, the chimney and the furniture are Renaissance. Near to the four-poster bed, a 16th century flemmish tapestry.
Hanging on the three other walls is a very rare suite of tapestries known as The Lucas months:
- June - Cancer.
- The shearing of sheep.
- July - Leo.
- Falcon hunting.
- August - Virgo.
- Paying the Harvesters.
Their sketches are by Lucas van Leyden or Lucas Van Nevele. Above the cabinet, a 17th century Florence school canvas represents Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians. Above the door, Francisco Ribalta Child to the Lamb.
Second floor hall
This hall has kept intact the restoration work carried out during the 19th century by the architect Roguet, one of Viollet-le-Duc's disciples. Note the 19th century Neuilly tapestry symbolizing the Cher, on which a Venetian gondola is portrayed; the gondola was actually brought to Chenonceau in the 19th century, with its gondolier, by Madame Pelouze, the owner at that time. The two credence tables as well as the floor stones are Renaissance
Louise of Lorraine's bedroom
Following the assassination of her husband King Henri III by the monk Jacques Clément on August 1st 1589, Louise of Lorraine retired to Chenonceau in meditation and prayer.
Surrounded by nuns who lived in the château as in a convent, and always dressed in white in compliance with the etiquette of royal mourning, she was known as "the White Queen". Her bedroom has been reconstructed around the original ceiling. It is decorated with mourning objects : silver tears, widows' cordons, crowns of thorns and the Greek letter - l - lambda, Louise's initial, intertwined with the H of Henri III.
The devout and mournful atmosphere of this room is highlighted by Christ with a crown of thorns and the religious scene – a 16th century painting on wood – which decorates the chimney. The furniture is from the 16th century.
The gardens
As you leave the Château, you will discover the gardens which surround it.
On the right, Diane de Poitiers' garden, the entrance to which is overlooked by the Steward's house: La Chancellerie, built in the 16th century. In the centre of the garden, there is a fountain described by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau in his book entitled Les plus Excellents Bâtiments de France (The most Excellent Buildings in France - 1576).
This garden is protected from flooding by the Cher by elevated terraces from which there are beautiful views over the borders and over the Château. On the left, The more intimate garden of Catherine de' Medici, with a central pool and from which we discover the West façade.
The Gardens' floral decoration changes in the spring and in the summer needs 130,000 bedding plants grown on the Estate to be planted. Lining the Court of Honour, the domes buildin, from the 16th century, formerly housed the Royal Stables and the silk worm farm introduced into France by Catherine de' Medici. Also, the 16th century farm and the 70 hectare park can also be visited.
Alongside the Grand Avenue of Plane trees, in the centre of the arbour and facing the caryatides, a maze with two thousand yews has been planted in the spirit of Catherine de' Medici's time, according to an Italian plan dating from 1720.
External links
- Official site (English version)
- Architecture of Château de Chenonceau
- Visiting the Castle of Chenonceau - in English
47°19′30″N 1°04′14″E / 47.3250°N 1.0706°E
