The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Now ...

located in the town of

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department **US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missou ...

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...

, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency and the Grand Château, which was destroyed during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

and rebuilt in the 1870s. It is owned by the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute ...

, which received it from

Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale Henri Eugène Philippe Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale (16 January 1822 – 7 May 1897) was a leader of the Orleanists, a political faction in 19th-century France associated with constitutional monarchy. He was born in Paris, the fifth son of K ...

. A

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

since 1988, it is open to the public. The château's art gallery, the

Musée Condé The Musée Condé – in English, the Condé Museum – is a French museum located inside the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise, 40 km north of Paris. In 1897, Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of Louis Philippe I, bequeathed the ...

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

Pierre Chambiges Pierre Chambiges, (died 19 June 1544), was a French master mason (''maître des œuvres de maçonnerie et pavement de la Ville de Paris'') and architect to François I of France and his son Henri II. As surveyor and architect, Chambiges was inv ...

. The Petit Château was also built for him, around 1560, probably by

Jean Bullant Jean Bullant (1515 – 13 October 1578) was a French architect and sculptor who built the tombs of Anne de Montmorency, Grand Connétable of France, Henri II, and Catherine de' Medici. He also worked on the Tuileries, the Louvre, and th ...

. In 1632, after the death of

Henri II de Montmorency Henri II de Montmorency (1595 – 30 October 1632) was a French nobleman and military commander. Biography Born at Chantilly, Oise, Henri was the son of Henri I de Montmorency and Louise de Budos. He was the godson of Henri IV and was constant ...

, it passed to his nephew, the

Grand Condé Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and c ...

, who inherited it through his mother,

Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency (11 May 1594 – 2 December 1650) was an heiress of one of France's leading ducal families, and Princess de Condé by her marriage to Henri de Bourbon. She almost became a mistress of Henry IV of France, b ...

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...

's play, ''

Les Précieuses ridicules ''Les Précieuses ridicules'' (, ''The Absurd Précieuses'' or ''The Affected Ladies'') is a one-act satire by Molière in prose. It takes aim at the '' précieuses'', the ultra-witty ladies who indulged in lively conversations, word games and, i ...

'', received its first performance here in 1659.

Madame de Sévigné Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ...

relates in her memoirs that when King

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

visited there in 1671,

François Vatel François Vatel (; 1631 – 24 April 1671) was the majordomo (in French, ) of Nicolas Fouquet and prince Louis II de Bourbon-Condé. Vatel was born either in Switzerland or in Paris in 1625, 1631, or 1635. He is widely credited with creating ...

, 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 Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Coutts Coutts & Co. is a London-headquartered private bank and wealth manager. Founded in 1692, it is the eighth oldest bank in the world. Today, Coutts forms part of NatWest Group's wealth management division. In the Channel Islands and the Isle of ...

, an English bank. Chantilly was entirely rebuilt, between 1875 and 1882, by Henri d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale (1822–1897). The new château met with mixed reviews.

Boni de Castellane Marie Ernest Paul Boniface de Castellane, Marquis de Castellane (February 14, 1867 – October 20, 1932), known as Boni de Castellane, was a French nobleman and politician. He was known as a leading '' Belle Époque'' tastemaker and the first hus ...

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 World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

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 hu ...

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

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 ''For the village near Livorno, see Sassetta, Tuscany'' Stefano di Giovanni di Consolo, known as il Sassetta (ca.1392–1450 or 1451) was an Tuscan painter of the Renaissance, and a significant figure of the Sienese School.Judy Metro, ''Italia ...

's '' Mystic Marriage of St. Francis'', Botticelli's ''Autumn'',

Piero di Cosimo Piero di Cosimo (2 January 1462 – 12 April 1522), also known as Piero di Lorenzo, was an Italian painter of the Renaissance. He is most famous for the mythological and allegorical subjects he painted in the late Quattrocento; he is said to ...

's '' Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci'',

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

's '' Three Graces'' and '' Madonna of Loreto'',

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vi ...

's ''Pietà'',

Pierre Mignard Pierre Mignard or Pierre Mignard I (17 November 1612 – 30 May 1695), called "Mignard le Romain" to distinguish him from his brother Nicolas Mignard, was a French painter known for his religious and mythological scenes and portraits. He was ...

's ''Portrait of Molière'' as well as four of

Antoine Watteau Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, a ...

's paintings and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot's '' Le concert champêtre''. Other paintings in the collection include works by

Fra Angelico Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro; February 18, 1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Vasari in his '' Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".Giorgio Vasari, ''Lives of the Artists''. Pengu ...

Filippino Lippi Filippino Lippi (April 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. Biography Filippino Lippi was born in Prato, Tusc ...

Hans Memling Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; c. 1430 – 11 August 1494) was a painter active in Flanders, who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. He was born in the Middle Rhine region and probably spent his childhood in Mainz. He ...

, 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, Kin ...

and

Jean Clouet Jean (or Janet) Clouet (1480–1541) was a miniaturist and painter who worked in France during the High Renaissance. He was the father of François Clouet. Biography The authentic presence of this artist at the French court is first mentione ...

, Veronese,

Barocci Federico Barocci (also written ''Barozzi'')(c. 1535 in Urbino – 1612 in Urbino) was an Italian Renaissance painter and printmaker. His original name was Federico Fiori, and he was nicknamed Il Baroccio. His work was highly esteemed and i ...

, Annibale Carracci,

Domenichino Domenico Zampieri (, ; October 21, 1581 – April 6, 1641), known by the diminutive Domenichino (, ) after his shortness, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School of painters. Life Domenichino was born in Bologna, son of a sho ...

, Salvator Rosa, Nicolas Poussin,

Philippe de Champaigne Philippe de Champaigne (; 26 May 1602 – 12 August 1674) was a Brabançon-born French Baroque era painter, a major exponent of the French school. He was a founding member of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture in Paris, the premier art ...

Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh ...

, Guido Reni,

Jean-Baptiste Greuze Jean-Baptiste Greuze (, 21 August 1725 – 4 March 1805) was a French painter of portraits, genre scenes, and history painting. Biography Early life Greuze was born at Tournus, a market town in Burgundy. He is generally said to have formed h ...

, Joshua Reynolds,

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

, Ingres, Géricault. The library of the Petit Château contains over 1,500

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

s and 17,500 printed volumes, that is part of the collection of over 700 incunabula, and some 300 medieval manuscripts, including one page of the ''

Registrum Gregorii {{italictitle The ''Registrum Gregorii'' is a collection of letters by pope Gregory the Great. It was commissioned by Egbert of Trier from the anonymous Italian artist known as the " master of the Registrum Gregorii" (fl. c. 980-996), probably a ...

'' (c. 983), the ''

Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (; en, The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry) or Très Riches Heures, is the most famous and possibly the best surviving example of manuscript illumination in the late phase of the International Goth ...

'', the Ingeborg Psalter and 40 miniatures from

Jean Fouquet Jean (or Jehan) Fouquet (ca.1420–1481) was a French painter and miniaturist. A master of panel painting and manuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of the portrait miniature, he is considered one of the most important painters from ...

's ''Book of Hours of Etienne Chevalier''. Also in the museum's collection is the

Chantilly codex The Chantilly Codex (''Chantilly, Musée Condé MS 564'') is a manuscript of medieval music containing pieces from the style known as the ''Ars subtilior''. It is held in the museum at the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise. Most of the co ...

(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 The French formal garden, also called the (), is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. Its epitome is generally considered to be the Gardens of Versailles designed during the 17th century by the ...

, featuring extensive parterres and water features, was laid out principally by André Le Nôtre for the Grand Condé. The park also contains a

French landscape garden The French landscape garden (french: jardin anglais, jardin à l'anglaise, jardin paysager, jardin pittoresque, jardin anglo-chinois) is a style of garden inspired by idealized romantic landscapes and the paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrai ...

with a cascade, pavilions, and a rustic ersatz village, the

Hameau de Chantilly The Hameau de Chantilly ('hamlet of Chantilly') is a folly in the park of the Château de Chantilly built in 1774 and consisting of seven rustic thatched cottages with luxurious interiors set in a garden. Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé had his a ...

. The latter inspired the

Hameau de la reine The Hameau de la Reine (, ''The Queen's Hamlet'') is a rustic retreat in the park of the Château de Versailles built for Marie Antoinette in 1783 near the Petit Trianon in Yvelines, France. It served as a private meeting place for the Queen and ...

of Marie Antoinette in the

Gardens of Versailles The Gardens of Versailles (french: Jardins du château de Versailles ) occupy part of what was once the ''Domaine royal de Versailles'', the royal demesne of the château of Versailles. Situated to the west of the palace, the gardens cover so ...

. The estate overlooks the

Chantilly Racecourse Chantilly Racecourse (In French: "Hippodrome de Chantilly") is a Thoroughbred turf racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris. Chantilly Racecourse is located in the country's main ...

and the ''Grandes Écuries'' (Great Stables) which contains the

Living Museum of the Horse The Living Museum of the Horse (french: Musée Vivant du Cheval) is a museum in Chantilly, France dedicated to equine art and culture. It is housed in the Great Stables (''Grandes Écuries'') of the Château de Chantilly, about 40 km (25&nbs ...

. According to legend,

Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon (Louis Henri Joseph; 18 August 1692 – 27 January 1740), was a French nobleman and politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1723 to 1726. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a '' ...

Prince of Condé A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

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 Molteni was an Italian professional road bicycle racing team from 1958 until the end of 1976. It won 663 races, many of them earned by its most famous rider, Eddy Merckx. Other riders included Gianni Motta and Marino Basso, who contributed 48 a ...

Campagnolo cycling team, including star rider

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

, 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 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

race. * The château and the Great Stables were featured in the 1985

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film ''

A View to a Kill ''A View to a Kill'' is a 1985 spy film and the fourteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and is the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted ...

'', as the home of villainous

Max Zorin Maximillian Zorin is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1985 James Bond film '' A View to a Kill''. He is portrayed by Christopher Walken. Biography Zorin was born in Dresden around the end of World War II, after which Dresden be ...

(played by Christopher Walken) which was being infiltrated by Bond (played for the last time by Roger Moore) in his quest to find out more about Zorin, who had already aroused suspicions of

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

with various business activities, and ultimately eliminate him. * Pink Floyd performed, on two consecutive nights, at the château during their ''

The Division Bell ''The Division Bell'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 4 April by Columbia Records in the United States. The second Pink Flo ...

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

on 30–31 July 1994. * Every two years, in June, the "Nuits de Feu" international

fireworks Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...

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 ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

'' in 2012. * David Gilmour, guitarist and singer of Pink Floyd, performed at the venue on 16 July 2016 as part of his ''

Rattle That Lock ''Rattle That Lock'' is the fourth solo studio album by former Pink Floyd singer and guitarist David Gilmour. It was released on 18 September 2015 via Columbia Records. The artwork for the album was created by Dave Stansbie from The Creative Cor ...

'' world tour. * The video game '' Battlefield 1'' 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 intern ...

'' was filmed inside and around the chateau. * The fifth leg of '' The Amazing Race 32'' had a

Roadblock A roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or block traffic along a road. The reasons for one could be: *Roadworks *Temporary road closure during special events *Police chase *Robbery * Sobriety checkpoint In peaceful circumstances ...

and a

Speed Bump Speed bumps (also called traffic thresholds, speed breakers or sleeping policemen) are the common name for a class of traffic calming devices that use vertical deflection to slow motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve safety conditions. Varia ...

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 A ...

References

Sources

External links

Château de Chantilly official website (English language)Château de Chantilly
within Google Arts & Culture * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau De 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