Paris1972-Versailles2003

In Chantilly there is a must in France, a beautiful historical and architecturally stunning castle of which I am a proud member of the Friends of Chantilly Castle since 2009 !  I like to tell you more with older pictures not in my blog and they should be. Of course, one of my favorites in my belle France. Therefore, here is simply the Château de Chantilly, part III !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

This is a cinderalla castle ,wonderfully done and maintain, full of history and hunting stories of France.  Chantilly is ,also, the name of the town, in the department of Oise, No 60 ,in the region of Hauts de France , north of Paris, and right in the middle of the forest of Chantilly , Louis Philippe Ier,Henri d’Orléans, Duke of Aumale inherits the castle and adorned it with paintings and objects of arts.  He in turns donates all to the Institut de France (see post) ,and the collection is turn into the museum of Condé inside the Castle.

In the Grands Appartements there is the Salle des Gardes or guard’s room, is also, called the salle de la Mosaïques or mosaic room because it has above the fireplace a mosaic resulting from the excavations of a villa in Stabies, not far from Pompeii, representing the abduction of Europe by the god of the Olympus Jupiter who took the form of a bull. Since the opening of the Condé museum, the furniture from the beginning of the 19C has been reinstalled and notably includes two oak and marble consoles and catering . There are two portraits painted by Antoine Van Dyck and three portraits of the Grand Condé, one of which signed David Teniers le Jeune ,Two windows are devoted to military memories, which explains the name given to the room. One, devoted to the Condé, contains flags of 18C regiments, a drum of Swiss guards and equipment that belonged to the army of the emigrants of the Princes of Condé. The other, devoted to the Duke of Aumale, retains memories of the North African campaigns: cannons taken in Mascara in 1835, as well as other weapons, and drums.

The Salle ou rotonde de la Minerve or the room, or rotunda of the Minerva, housed in the tour du Connétable or constable tower, owes its name to a Gallo-Roman statuette in bronze representing the goddess and acquired on the sale of Putalès. It brings together portraits of the Orleans family of the 18C.

The ceiling is decorated with a painting by Diogenes Maillart, « L’Espérance tenant le drapeau français «  or hope holding the French flag painted in 1892. On the walls, we notice tiles of earthenware with fleur -de -lis, including two decorated panels which were made in 1542 and 1544 for the Château d’Écouen, where the constable Anne de Montmorency lived

The magnificent Chapelle Saint Louis was designed to accommodate the elements from the chapel of the Château d’Écouen: the altar, the woodwork and the stained glass. Two of them represent on the left side the sons of the constable Anne de Montmorency, and on the right side the daughters of the constable and his wife Madeleine of Savoy.

The Galerie des Cerfs or deer gallery, this room, inaugurated in 1880, is a dining room that has a balcony to house musicians. Decorated according to the style of the 16C, the caissons ceiling presents the weapons of the different lords of Chantilly who succeeded each other between the 12C and the 19C.

The galerie de Peintures or portraits gallery, showing the tastes and likes of the Duke of Aumale with paintings of military battles, Richelieu,Mazarin and Gabrielle d’Estrée In the portraits gallery we reached the centerpiece of the castle which brings together more than 800 masterpieces of French, Italian, Flemish, English paintings … The paintings are hung side by side and some above others without apparent order. On the right, a majority of paintings from the Italian school , and on the left of the French school paintings. The second picture below see at the end statue of Joan of Arc crying at the sight of an injured Englishman. 

The Tribune or gallery of the Château de Chantilly of hexagonal shape, this room is tense of red velvet and gold drains. The upper part is decorated with eight paintings representing the places where the Duke of Aumale lived: the Royal Palace where he was born, the castle of Villers-Cotterêts, the Château de Guise, the Château de Palerme, etc. The walls of the room each bring together an era. Two sides are devoted to the Italian Renaissance and the Flemish Renaissance (including the diptych of Jeanne de France).

One of the most famous pieces of the castle is “La Grande Singérie”. It has a set of decorations painted in 1737 representing monkeys imitating the actions of caricatured man and Chinese. In the small apartments there is “La Petite Singérie”. This is the only piece of small apartments that completely preserved its 18C decoration. The panels represent the distractions of the ladies of the castle, as well as monkeys playing cards and toilet.

The Galerie Duban or Duban gallery was built in 1846 as an extension on the facade of the small castle, to serve the small apartments in front of this gallery, a sculpture represents the young « Louis XIV terrassant la fronde » or Louis XIV terrifying the frond, which was previously on the Hôtel de Ville ​​of Paris. The presence of this statue at the Château de Chantilly is quite croquignolesque when you know that “Le Grand Condé” had gathered against the king!

The Galerie des Batailles or battle’s gallery offers eleven victorious war tables of the Prince of Condé. We find for example the Battle of Rocroi (1643) or the blockade of Paris (1649). The gallery is located in the small castle, the oldest wing of Chantilly. It was built in the 16C for the constable Anne de Montmorency , A series of eleven large paintings representing its main victories is there. A twelfth painting, entitled « Le repentir du Grand Condé « or the repentance of the Grand Condé was commanded in 1691 by the son of the Grand Condé, During the French revolution, the collections of the castle were confiscated by the State and the twelve canvases of the battles’s gallery of the Prince are sent to the Central Museum of Arts (the current Louvre museum). At the restoration, the canvases are given to the Prince of Condé and put back in place in the gallery. Henri of Orleans, Duke of Aumale, the latter will restore the Galerie des Batailles first between 1872 and 1876.

The Musée Condé ,the initial creation of Henri of Orleans, Duke of Aumale, son of King Louis-Philippe I. The whole of these collections is only visible in Chantilly because the legacy of the Duke of Aumale prohibits any loan from the collections and no modification of the exhibition rooms is also possible. The museography has therefore practically not changed since the opening in 1898, All the rooms constitute the museum, including the large apartments, This is a wonderful example , a large Japanese bronze vase bought by the Duke of Aumale on Saturday January 3, 1891 (Duke’s personal agenda); set up on January 20, 1891 at its current location,

There is also , a huge Bibliothèque or library (see post) that was the biggest of its time with almost 19000 works including 1500 manuscripts; it houses a cabinet of 2500 drawings (from Dürer, Raphaël, Poussin, Lorraine, etc.) , 200 of which are illuminated with the most famous of them being the « Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry » or the very rich hours of the Duke of Berry, created around 1411, which the Duke of Aumale bought in Italy in 1856.

With an area of 115 hectares, the Parc du Château de Chantilly brings together several creation eras: the French garden drawn by André Le Nôtre in the 17C, the Anglo-Chinese garden at the end of the 18C, and the English garden at the beginning of the 19C. Just sublime !!!

The official Château Chantilly castle: https://chateaudechantilly.fr/en/

The Chantilly-Senlis tourist office on the castle :  https://www.chantilly-senlis-tourisme.com/en/the-destination/le-chateau-de-chantilly/

The Friends of Chantilly Condé museum: https://www.amismuseecondechantilly.com/home

The Oise dept 60 tourist office on the castle : https://www.oisetourisme.com/visiter/les-incontournables/le-chateau-de-chantilly/

The managers/owners of the Château de Chantilly is the Institut de France : https://www.institutdefrance.fr/lepatrimoine/chateau-de-chantilly/

There you go folks, a must to visit while in France ! All worth it at magical Chantilly, and of course, the main sight, the castle,all of it !!!. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Château de Chantilly, part III as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!