The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Paris. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château built around 1560 for

Anne de Montmorency Anne, Duke of Montmorency, Honorary Knight of the Garter (15 March 1493, Chantilly, Oise12 November 1567, Paris) was a French soldier, statesman and diplomat. He became Marshal of France and Constable of France and served five kings. Early lif ...

and the Grand Château, which was destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s. It is owned by the Institut de France, which received it from Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale. A historic monument since 1988, it is open to the public. The château's art gallery, the Musée Condé, houses one of the finest collections of paintings in France. It specialises in French paintings and book illuminations of the 15th and 16th centuries.

History

Original construction

The estate's connection with the

Montmorency family The House of Montmorency, pronounced , was one of the oldest and most distinguished noble families in France. Origins The family name Montmorency derived from their castle in the '' pays de France'', recorded in Latin as ''Mons Maurentiacus'', ...

began in 1484. The first mansion (no longer in existence, now replaced by the Grand Château) was built, between 1528 and 1531, for

by Pierre Chambiges. The Petit Château was also built for him, around 1560, probably by Jean Bullant. In 1632, after the death of Henri II de Montmorency, it passed to his nephew, the Grand Condé, who inherited it through his mother, Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency. Molière's play, '' Les Précieuses ridicules'', received its first performance here in 1659. Madame de Sévigné relates in her memoirs that when King Louis XIV of France visited there in 1671, François Vatel, the maître d'hôtel to the Grand Condé, committed suicide when he feared the fish would be served late. The collection includes important works of the cabinetmaker André-Charles Boulle.

Revolution and aftermath

The original mansion was destroyed during the French Revolution. It was repaired in a modest way by Louis Henri II, Prince of Condé, but the entire property was confiscated from the Orléans family, between 1853 and 1872, during which interval it was owned by Coutts, an English bank. Chantilly was entirely rebuilt, between 1875 and 1882, by

Henri d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mo ...

(1822–1897). The new château met with mixed reviews. Boni de Castellane summed up one line of thought: "What is today styled a marvel is one of the saddest specimens of the architecture of our era — one enters on the second floor and descends to the salons". In 1889, the Chateau was bequeathed to the Institut de France, as a price for the Duc d'Aumale's return from political exile.

21st century restoration

The World Monuments Fund included the site in the

1998 World Monuments Watch The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund (WMF) and American Express to call to action and challenge government authorities responsible for important cultura ...

to call attention to water infiltration and high humidity in the ''Galerie des Actions de Monsieur le Prince'' and again in the

2002 World Monuments Watch The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization, World Monuments Fund (WMF) that is dedicated to preserving and safeguarding the historic, artistic, and architectural heritage of huma ...

due to the precarious condition of the entire estate. Funding for restoration work was provided from various sources, including

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

and the

Generali Group Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. ( , ; meaning 'general insurances') or simply Generali Group is an Italian insurance company based in Trieste. As of 2019, it is the largest of its kind in Italy and among the top ten largest insurance companies in ...

. Subsequently, in response to an appeal for the restoration of the château, The Aga Khan donated €40 million, accounting for more than half of a €70 million needed by the Institut de France to complete the project. In 2008 the World Monuments Fund completed the restoration of the Grande Singerie, a salon with paintings on the walls of monkeys engaged in human activities, once a fashionable salon motif, but with few examples surviving today.

Musée Condé

Works in the art gallery (many of them are in the Tribune Room) include Sassetta's '' Mystic Marriage of St. Francis'',

Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, when he was rediscovered ...

's ''Autumn'', Piero di Cosimo's '' Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci'', Raphael's '' Three Graces'' and ''

Madonna of Loreto The ''Madonna of Loreto'' is an oil on panel painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael, executed ''c.'' 1511. It is housed in the Musée Condé of Chantilly, France. For centuries the painting kept company with Raphael's ''Portr ...

'', Guercino's ''Pietà'', Pierre Mignard's ''Portrait of Molière'' as well as four of Antoine Watteau's paintings and

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot ( , , ; July 16, 1796 – February 22, 1875), or simply Camille Corot, is a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching. He is a pivotal figure in landscape painting and his vast ...

's ''

Le concert champêtre ''Le Concert Champêtre'' ("Woodland Music-makers") is an 1857 painting by French artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, now in the Musée Condé of Chantilly, France. A reworking of a composition exhibited by Corot in the Salon of 1844, the paint ...

''. Other paintings in the collection include works by Fra Angelico, Filippino Lippi, Hans Memling, 260 paintings and drawings by

François François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King ...

and Jean Clouet,

Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, an Italian chees ...

, Barocci,

Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci (; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother and cousin, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of th ...

, Domenichino,

Salvator Rosa Salvator Rosa (1615 –1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticized landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the early 19th ...

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...

, Philippe de Champaigne, Van Dyck,

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious ...

, Jean-Baptiste Greuze,

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

, Eugène Delacroix,

Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( , ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...

, Géricault. The library of the Petit Château contains over 1,500 manuscripts and 17,500 printed volumes, that is part of the collection of over 700

incunabula In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...

, and some 300 medieval manuscripts, including one page of the '' Registrum Gregorii'' (c. 983), the '' Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry'', the

Ingeborg Psalter The Ingeborg Psalter is a late 12th century illuminated psalter now housed in the Musée Condé of Chantilly, France. It was created about 1195 in northern France for Ingeborg of Denmark, wife of King Philip II of France. It is unknown who com ...

and 40 miniatures from Jean Fouquet's ''Book of Hours of Etienne Chevalier''. Also in the museum's collection is the Chantilly codex (MS 564), the primary manuscript of music.

Selected collection highlights

Raphaël - La Madone de Lorette - Google Art Project.jpg, Raphaël Raphaël - Les Trois Grâces - Google Art Project.jpg, Raphaël Raphaël - La Madone de la maison d'Orléans - Google Art Project.jpg, Raphaël

Park and Chantilly racecourse

The main French formal garden, featuring extensive parterres and water features, was laid out principally by

André Le Nôtre André Le Nôtre (; 12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), originally rendered as André Le Nostre, was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France. He was the landscape architect who designed the gar ...

for the Grand Condé. The park also contains a French landscape garden with a cascade, pavilions, and a rustic ersatz village, the Hameau de Chantilly. The latter inspired the Hameau de la reine of

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

in the Gardens of Versailles. The estate overlooks the Chantilly Racecourse and the ''Grandes Écuries'' (Great Stables) which contains the Living Museum of the Horse. According to legend, Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon, Prince of Condé believed that he would be reincarnated as a horse after his death. In 1719, he asked the architect Jean Aubert to build stables suitable to his rank.

Modern uses

The Château has various modern uses: * The Molteni Campagnolo cycling team, including star rider Eddy Merckx, are seen riding past the chateau towards the beginning of Jorgen Leth's seminal documentary, ''A Sunday In Hell'', on the way to the start line of the 1976 Paris-Roubaix race. * The château and the Great Stables were featured in the 1985 James Bond film '' A View to a Kill'', as the home of villainous Max Zorin (played by

Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Prolific in film, television and on stage, Walken is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Awar ...

) which was being infiltrated by Bond (played for the last time by

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 19 ...

) in his quest to find out more about Zorin, who had already aroused suspicions of MI6 with various business activities, and ultimately eliminate him. *

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

performed, on two consecutive nights, at the château during their '' The Division Bell'' tour on 30–31 July 1994. * Every two years, in June, the "Nuits de Feu" international fireworks competition is held in the château's garden. * Ronaldo married model and former television host Daniela Cicarelli in the château in 2005. The ceremony reportedly cost €700,000. * Every May, a rowing regatta, the Trophee des Rois, is held in the grounds. French university crews compete in the 750m race for a trophy. * The château appeared on the finale of the French reality competition '' Amazing Race'' in 2012. *

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

, guitarist and singer of

, performed at the venue on 16 July 2016 as part of his '' Rattle That Lock'' world tour. * The video game ''

Battlefield 1 ''Battlefield 1'' is a first-person shooter game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It is the tenth installment in the ''Battlefield'' series and the first main entry in the series since '' Battlefield 4'' in 2013. It was rele ...

'' features a level that is based around the Château called "Ballroom Blitz". * The trailer for the finals of the ''

2019 League of Legends World Championship The 2019 ''League of Legends'' World Championship was an esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena video game ''League of Legends''. It was the ninth iteration of the ''League of Legends'' World Championship, an annual interna ...

'' was filmed inside and around the chateau. * The fifth leg of '' The Amazing Race 32'' had a Roadblock and a Speed Bump take place on the grounds of the château. * The castle is a location in the 2022 movie

The Gray Man Grey man, The Gray Man or The Grey Man may refer to: Concepts * Grey man theory, a concept in everyday carry that one should blend in with the environment so as not to raise suspicion People * The primary nickname of American serial killer Al ...

References

Sources

External links

Château de Chantilly official website (English language)Château de Chantilly
within

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau De Chantilly Chantilly Chantilly Museums in Oise Châteaux with formal gardens in France French landscape gardens Art museums and galleries in France House of Bourbon-Condé Houses completed in 1881 Monuments historiques of Hauts-de-France Renaissance architecture in France 1881 establishments in France