The Château de Montsoreau is a

Flamboyant Gothic Flamboyant (from ) is a form of late Gothic architecture that developed in Europe in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, from around 1375 to the mid-16th century. It is characterized by double curves forming flame-like shapes in the bar-tr ...

castle in the Loire Valley, directly built in the Loire riverbed. It is located in the small market town of Montsoreau, in the

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-et-L ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety- ...

'' of France, close to

Saumur Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur s ...

Chinon Chinon () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. The traditional province around Chinon, Touraine, became a favorite resort of French kings and their nobles beginning in the late 15th and early 16th centuri ...

Fontevraud-l'Abbaye Fontevraud-l'Abbaye () is a commune in the western French department of Maine-et-Loire. It is situated both in the Loire Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site between Chalonnes-sur-Loire and Sully-sur-Loire, and the Loire Anjou Touraine French r ...

and Candes-Saint-Martin. The Château de Montsoreau is situated at the confluence of two rivers, the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...

and the

Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vienn ...

. It is the only château of the Loire Valley built directly in the

riverbed. A

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish contex ...

origin has been verified for the settlement of Montsoreau but not confirmed for the castle, even though a fluted column made of stone from a Gallo-Roman temple or a public building was found in the moat during the restoration works of the end of the 20th century. The first written sources are from the 6th century with the domain of Restis, but it was only with the construction of a

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

at the end of the 10th century that the market town began to become prosperous. One part of this first castle was found during the same restoration works by the archaeologists. The castle was reconstructed in a Flamboyant Gothic style between 1450 and 1460 by Jean de Chambes, one of the kingdom's wealthiest men, a senior councillor and chamberlain to

King Charles VII Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (french: le Victorieux) or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, Charles VII inherited the throne of F ...

and

King Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

. The Château de Montsoreau was written about by

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

in his novel '' La Dame de Monsoreau'' (1845–1846). This novel is the second part of a trilogy on the Renaissance between ''La Reine Margot'' and ''The Forty-Five Guardsmen''. Parts of the Château de Montsoreau were listed as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual, ...

in 1862, 1930, and 1938. The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes has been inscribed as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

since 30 November 2000. In 2015, the French

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic c ...

collector Philippe Méaille signed with Christian Gillet, president of the French department of the

emphyteutic lease An emphyteutic lease is a type of real estate contract specifying that the lessee must improve the property with construction. The term is commonly used in Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acu ...

of 25 years of the real property of the Château de Montsoreau. The Château houses Méaille's collection of the conceptual art collective

Art & Language Art & Language is a conceptual artists' collaboration that has undergone many changes since it was created in the late 1960s. The group was founded by artists who shared a common desire to combine intellectual ideas and concerns with the creati ...

as a museum named

Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art The Château de Montsoreau-Museum Contemporary Art is a private museum open to the public in Montsoreau, France. It opened 8 April 2016. The permanent collection exhibited at Château de Montsoreau consists of Philippe Méaille's collection of ...

Etymology

Latin

The name Montsoreau first appeared in 1086 on a Latin map as ''Castrum Monte Sorello'' or ''Mons Sorello''. ''Mons'' or ''Monte'' refers to a rocky promontory. The origin and interpretation of the name ''Sorello'' remain unknown but may mean bald or red. Before the fortress was built, an administrative or cult building had already occupied the site since Gallo-Roman times.

Literary

In '' La Dame de Monsoreau'',

alludes to the origin of the name of the castle:

History

Middle Ages

The first written source describing the site under the name ''Restis'' dates back to the 6th century. It was transformed into a fortified castle by Eudes, the First count of Blois, in 990. In 1001, it was taken by the Anjou realm, and Foulques Nerra gave it to Gautier I of Montsoreau. Gautier I belonged to one of the most pre-eminent families of Anjou.. Thus, the ''Castrum Monsorelli'' became one of the forty fortified castles in Anjou and one of the few to be given the title of lordship at the turn of the year 1000. A town developed quickly near the castle, and in the ''narratio de commendatione Turonice provincie'', edited by Salmon in 1854, the site was mentioned as one of ''oppidis munitissimi et populosis'' by the second half of the 11th century Written sources from the 12th century attested to a right to raise taxes When the order of Fontevraud was settled in 1101,

Fontevraud Abbey The Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud or Fontevrault (in French: ''abbaye de Fontevraud'') was a monastery in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in the former French duchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preac ...

was supervised by Gautier de Montsoreau, who took direct orders from the Count of Anjou. Gautier's stepmother, Hersende de Champagne, was the first prior and co-founder of the Abbey with Robert d'Arbrissel. Guillaume IV de Montsoreau was on Geoffrey Plantagenet's side against his brother Henri II Plantagenet, the future King of England, and

Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...

's husband. The latter besieged the ''castrum'' and took it at the end of August 1152, despite its fortification. He captured Guillaume and his defenders. Guillaume IV, however, was restored to the castle later. An order of King Henry II of England (about 1068) concerning the landscape project of the Loire was signed by Guillaume de Montsoreau and his son Guillaume. In 1171, Guillaume's son gave the Turpenay monks the right to build tax-free houses inside the ''castrum''. Gauthier, his eldest son, had no sons and so the lordship passed to the Savary de Montbazon family, on the marriage of his daughter Ferrie in 1213 to Pierre II Savary de Montbazon, lord of

Montbazon Montbazon () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, France. It is located on the river Indre between the towns of Veigné, Monts and Sorigny. The town is about 12 km from Tours. History In 991, friars of Cormery complained to the k ...

. After his victory at Bouvines, Philippe-Auguste chose him in 1214, with Guy Turpin, archdeacon of Tours, to negotiate peace with King John. The second house of Montsoreau disappeared in 1362, with the wedding of the only daughter of Renaud VII and Guillaume II de Craon. The fourth house, one of the Chabot family, lasted only a few decades. In 1450, to pay off debts, Louis II Chabot sold his domains of Montsoreau and Coutancière to his brother-in-law Jean II de Chambes, who undertook to rebuild the castle at Montsoreau. A descendant of Angoumois old noble family (near the city of Angoulême), Jean II de Chambes began in Charles VII service as an esquire in 1426, the years before the interview between the King and

Jeanne d'Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

in the Castle of Chinon. Baker in chief, Councillor and Chamberlain, he became in 1444 "first master of ostel" of the King; at the same time he associated with

Jacques Coeur Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are ove ...

. Jean II de Chambes received a considerable amount of money that was owed to him. He performed diplomatic missions as an ambassador to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

in 1459 to prepare a new crusade. His lordships of Montsoreau and Argenton, but also his governorship of La Rochelle and Lord Provost and Captain of Niort, Talmont-sur-Gironde and Aigues-Mortes assured him revenues.

Modern times

From 1450 to 1460, Jean II de Chambes played a role as ambassador, and was called out of Anjou, while the castle was being built. His political and financial influence rose during these years including his closeness to Charles VII. Closer to Charles VII than

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revo ...

, Jean II de Chambes gradually withdrew from politics from 1461. Jean III de Chambes succeeded his father, who died in 1473 and married Marie de Chateaubriant, who founded in 1519 the Holy Cross Collegiate Church across the moat surrounding the castle. In 1530, Philippe de Chambes, who lived in Montsoreau, married Anne de Laval-Montmorency. His eldest son, Jean VI de Chambes inherited the field of Coutancière and saw his lands made up into a barony in 1560. Montsoreau was sacked by the Protestants in 1568. The Holy Cross Collegiate and the fortifications of the city were destroyed. Four years later, Jean VI de Chambes acquitted himself in the organisation of the "

Saint Bartholomew Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

Angevine" in Saumur and Angers. His Barony was confirmed by Letters Patent in 1573 and 1575. After his death in 1575, his brother Charles de Chambes became Count of Montsoreau and the following year he married Françoise de Maridor, whose name was attached to the murder of Louis de Bussy d'Amboise. Garrisons of seventy warriors lived in the castle in the course of the last decade of the 16th century. This ceased to exist during the reign of

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

, and René de Chambes sought a garrison of royal troops but was refused by Richelieu. As a counterfeiter, he was sentenced to death and had to flee to England and was never able to return. After the death of his successor Bernard de Chambes, the castle of Montsoreau was rarely occupied by its various owners. The eldest daughter of Bernard de Chambes married Louis Francis Bouchet, who died in 1716, leaving 400,000 ''livres'' of debts. His eldest son Louis I de Bouchet, married Jeanne Pocholle Hamel who brought a 200,000 ''livres'' dowry.

Contemporary period

Chateau de Montsoreau Museum of contemporary art

The widow of Louis Francois II de Bouchet Sourches, Marquis of Tourzel, sold the château and what remained of the domain of Montsoreau after 1804. Following the sale of the property, the building was occupied by 19 different homeowners who reshaped the site. The external condition of the main building is known through various representations and descriptions made in the second half of the nineteenth century, which reflect the disrepair of the property. By 1910, the château had deteriorated and this moved the members of the French Archaeological Society ( Société Française d'Archeologie). Senator Geoffre asked the Maine et Loire department General Council to intervene. The department gradually acquired each property after 1913, Restoration works were undertaken in 1923 and continued until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After a new programme of restoration between 1997 and 2001, the château opened to visitors on 6 July 2001 with a '' son-et-lumiere'' entitled "The Imaginaries of Loire" which attracted about 35,000 visitors a year. In June 2015, the Maine and Loire council leased the Château to Philippe Méaille, to create the

which opened to the public in April 2016. Its collection holds artworks by the

group, and organizes temporary shows, conferences and symposia.

Geography: the site and its natural environment

Situation

The Château de Montsoreau is located at the convergence of two rivers, the Loire and the Vienne, and the intersection of three historical political regions Anjou, Poitou and

. It is situated in a nationally protected region, the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Regional Nature Park. The castle was built into the bed of the Loire River, at the foot of the hillside, in

tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertine ...

– the local bedrock, still visible in many places. Many local properties are built from this stone and there are many local houses built into the hillsides, and in the local caves. Its topographic position is said to be militarily impregnable, as it is located between two small valleys on a plateau of some thirty hectares with steep slopes to the east and the west.

Architecture

Description

Jean II de Chambes built the Château de Montsoreau in 1455. The building marks the transition from military architecture to architecture for pleasure, as shown by the large windows, the numerous chimneys, and the attention paid to sanitation problems. The castle's central dwelling was built directly on the banks of the Loire. Unusually, two right-angled wings, looking like two square towers framing the main building, were built a few years later, at a time when round towers were usually built. This odd choice prefigures the corner pavilions of classical architecture. A spiral staircase probably existed before the current Renaissance staircase. The ground floor and courtyard side cellars permit control of navigation on the Loire. One of those rooms has direct access to the river. The main staircase on the left side leads to the ground floor dwelling and to the first floor salon. This very bright room, lit by five windows and with a length of seventeen metres, is heated by two monumental chimneys. Small rooms surround the dwelling and show the transition between public and private areas. In 1473, Jean III de Chambes succeeded his father. He built a Renaissance staircase tower with a polygonal shaft topped by a terrace. The steps lead to an eight-wedged palmtree-shaped vault, quite similar to those found in

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

’ Barrault dwelling and

’s town hall. The stairs are decorated by

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s bordering the windows; medallions, putti and candelabra carried by lion's paws. A central panel shows a helmet bearing the family's motto "''Chambe Crie''". The register above represents two monkeys holding the end of a chain. This chain is fixed around a loop belt under which is inscribed "''Je le feray''". At the other extreme of the chain, an ovoid object embellished by a leaf decoration is suspended through a hoop. A little monkey is crouching down the hoop's left side. The upper panel is carved with trees and branches representing a coppice in front of which stand a deer, the chief symbol of the hunt.

The Château de Montsoreau in the Arts

Literature

Alexandre Dumas

Although Alexandre Dumas' novel, '' La Dame de Monsoreau'', written between 1845 and 1846, does not depict the Château de Montsoreau, it has greatly contributed to its fame by putting the

Seigneurie In English law, seignory or seigniory, spelled ''signiory'' in Early Modern English (; french: seigneur, lit=lord; la, senior, lit=elder), is the lordship (authority) remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple. '' Nulle terr ...

of Montsoreau in the foreground of its history. More broadly, this novel is part of a trilogy about the wars of religion in France with the other two novels, '' La Reine Margot'' and '' The Forty-Five Guardsmen''. Alexandre Dumas, as usual, develops the history of France in a free and romantic way. Montsoreau, written Monsoreau for the purposes of the story, does not appear in ''La Reine Margot'', but is present in the other two parts of the saga. This trilogy on European wars of religion (french: link=no, Trilogie des Valois) allows Dumas to bring together a love story and history by introducing, starting with ''La Dame de Monsoreau'', important figures from the French court, Louis de Bussy d'Amboise, Françoise de Maridor (Diane de Méridor, the Lady of Monsoreau), King Henri III, François de France, Duke of Alençon, the Duke of Anjou, and Charles de Chambes (the Count of Monsoreau), thus recalling the importance of the Seigneurie of Montsoreau in the middle of the 16th century and the central role that Jean IV de Chambes played in the execution of the Saint Bartholomew Day massacre in Anjou. Indeed, this historical character is depicted in a terrifying way by Dumas. The love story between his wife Diane de Méridor and Bussy is an opportunity for Dumas to exhume this historical figure who was responsible for the massacre of Protestants in Angers and Saumur. His zeal, moreover, allowed the Seigneurie of Montsoreau, until then a barony, to be elevated by the King Henri III to the rank of County. He thus executed his wife's lover in an expeditious manner. The novel takes place mainly in Paris and Anjou. ''La Dame de Monsoreau'' is an historic novel mixing two intrigues : * A love story between Louis de Clermont, lordship of Bussy d'Amboise and Diane de Méridor, the Count of Montsoreau's wife. * A politic intrigue setting politics and religious troubles under the King Henri III, including the rivalry with his brother, François de France, Duke of Alençon and then Duke of Anjou, a fascinating character without honour.

Gustave Flaubert

In their novel ''Par les champs et par les grèves'',

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

and

Maxime Du Camp Maxime Du Camp (8 February 1822 – 9 February 1894) was a French writer and photographer. Biography Born in Paris, Du Camp was the son of a successful surgeon. After finishing college, he indulged in his strong desire for travel, thanks to ...

recount their trip to Montsoreau on 8 May 1847: "Anjou smells of Italy. Is it a memory? remains of influence? or the effect of the gentle Loire, the most sensual of rivers? ..In Montsoreau, we turn left and take the road (french: link=no, levée) that stretches all the way to Saumur between the Loire and the hillsides. ..So we go like this, walking joyfully and carefree, talkative and silent, singing and smoking; it was for us one of those days that make you love life, one of those days when the fog spreads a little to let you see a bright corner of the horizon ". -Rabelais, François- CIPB0098

François Rabelais

Montsoreau appears several times in

François Rabelais François Rabelais ( , , ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French Renaissance writer, physician, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He is primarily known as a writer of satire, of the grotesque, and of bawdy jokes an ...

' masterpiece,

Gargantua ''The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel'' (french: La vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel) is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais, telling the adventures of two giants, Gargantua ( , ) and his son Pantagrue ...

. It is at the Montsoreau Audit Office that the registers of Gargantua's measurements are kept, and it is also at Montsoreau that he learns to swim across the

River. After his victory over

Picrochole Picrochole is a fictional character created by François Rabelais, who attacks the Kingdom of Grandgousier in the novel Gargantua and Pantagruel. His gives his name to the war he fights: . Picrochole is a stereotypical bad king, whom Rabelais seek ...

, the king who attacked the kingdom of

Grandgousier Grandgousier (french: grand gosier, "Big Throat") is a fictional character in the story of Gargantua ''The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel'' (french: La vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel) is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th centur ...

, Gargantua rewards Ithybole with Montsoreau.

Cinema and audiovisual

* 1909: ''La Dame de Monsoreau'' (''La signora di Monsoreau''), movie produced by

Mario Caserini Mario Caserini (26 February 1874 – 17 November 1920) was an Italian film director, as well as an actor, screenwriter, and early pioneer of film making in the early portion of the 20th century. Caserini was born in Rome, Italy, and was marrie ...

*1913: ''La Dame de Monsoreau'', French silent movie by

Emile Chautard Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

* 1923: ''La Dame de Monsoreau'', French silent movie by René Le Somptier * 1971: ''La Dame de Monsoreau'', TV broadcast by Yannick Andréi, with Nicolas Silberg (Bussy d'Amboise), Karin Petersen (Diane de Méridor),

François Maistre François Maistre (14 May 1925 – 16 May 2016) was a French film, television and theatre actor. Born in Demigny, Saône-et-Loire, France, he appeared in nearly 100 films between 1960 and 2003. His father was singer and actor A.-M. Julien. Se ...

(Count Brian de Montsoreau), Michel Cetron (Chicot) Gérard Berner (Duke of Anjou) and Denis Manuel (King Henri III). * 2009: ''La Dame de Monsoreau'', TV broadcast made in 2006 by Michel Hassan, with Esther Nubiola (Diane de Méridor), Thomas Jouannet (Bussy d'Amboise), Anne Caillon (Dutchesse of Guise). Broadcast on TV on

France 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on 7 A ...

on 26 August 2009.

Visual arts

Portrait of Hyacinthe Rigaud MET DP837530

18th century

When the château de Montsoreau passed to the Sourches family, the then Montsoreau family was immortalized several times by distinguished artists of the 18th century. The

catalogue raisonné A ''catalogue raisonné'' (or critical catalogue) is a comprehensive, annotated listing of all the known artworks by an artist either in a particular medium or all media. The works are described in such a way that they may be reliably identified ...

of the painter

Hyacinthe Rigaud Jacint Rigau-Ros i Serra (; 18 July 1659 – 29 December 1743), known in French as Hyacinthe Rigaud (), was a Catalan-French baroque painter most famous for his portraits of Louis XIV and other members of the French nobility. Biography Rigaud ...

contains four portraits of members of the Montsoreau family, two of Louis I du Bouchet de Sourches, one of his sister Marie-Louise, and one of Jeanne-Agnès-Thérèse Pocholle du Hamel. There is also a painting by Nicolas de Largillierre, ''The Countess of Montsoreau'' (1714), conserved in the

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Ar ...

and a painting by

François-Hubert Drouais François-Hubert Drouais (Paris, 14 December 1727 – Paris, 21 October 1775) was a leading French portrait painter during the latter years of Louis XV's reign.For a history of the Drouais family, see Prosper Dorbec (1904, 1905) and Camille Gabill ...

, ''The Marquis de Sourches with his family'' (1756), kept in the Château de Versailles.

19th century

In the 19th century, the massive structure of the Château de Montsoreau rising directly on the banks of the Loire, the state of the building which was beginning to decline, as well as the dramatic setting of the confluence of the two major rivers, the

Vienne Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...

, inspired the romantic and pre-impressionist artists undertaking their journey along the Loire.

Joseph Mallord William Turner

In October 1826, William Turner spent a short stay on the banks of the Loire and took twenty-one views of the river. He immortalized the château de Montsoreau, taking as a setting the immensity of the scenery of the confluence of the Vienne and the Loire rivers. This watercolour conserved at the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University o ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

was nevertheless engraved in 1832; one copy is kept at the Château de Montsoreau – Museum of Contemporary Art. Auguste Rodin 1893 Nadar

Auguste Rodin

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

, a great lover of classical architecture, did not hesitate to have the pavilion of the Exposition Universelle (to which he added a portico recovered from the

Château d'Issy The Château d'Issy, at Issy-les-Moulineaux, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of France, was a small French Baroque château on the outskirts of Paris. It was destroyed during the Paris Commune of 1871. History The small plot of land was bought ...

) reinstalled on the heights of

Meudon Meudon () is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located from the center of Paris. The city is known for many historic monuments and some extraordinary trees. One of t ...

in 1895. Two years later, around 1897, fascinated by the architecture of the château Montsoreau, he drew an idealized view of its north facade, which was already practically in ruins.

Paul-Désiré Trouillebert

Paul-Désiré Trouillebert, a painter of the school of Barbizon, worked in Paris and Candes-Saint-Martin where he had a studio and also a boat-studio. His boat-studio allowed him to navigate on the Vienne and the Loire and to paint the landscape from the river. He realised a large number views of these Loire landscapes on which the château de Montsoreau appears regularly.

Opera

An opera was created based on ''La Dame de Montsoreau''. The libretto was written by

Auguste Maquet Auguste Maquet (; 13 September 1813 – 8 January 1888) was a French author, best known as the chief collaborator of French novelist Alexandre Dumas, père, co-writing such works as ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' and ''The Three Musketeers''. ...

, a faithful collaborator of Dumas and the music was written by Gaston Salvayre. This opera was commissioned from Gaston Salvayre by the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

and its first public performance was given at the

Opéra Garnier The Palais Garnier (, Garnier Palace), also known as Opéra Garnier (, Garnier Opera), is a 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from ...

on 30 January 1888. This opera was not as successful as expected and was only performed eight times.

Popular culture

In 2019, the English magazine All About History (

Future plc Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that span magazines, newsletters, websites, and events in fields such as video games, technology, films, music, photogr ...

) publishes its ''101 World's Greatest castles'' list and ranks the château de Montsoreau with the number 53.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{Authority control Castles in Pays de la Loire Historic house museums in Pays de la Loire Museums in Maine-et-Loire Monuments historiques of Pays de la Loire Châteaux of the Loire Valley Houses completed in 1452 Palaces in France Stairways Loire Valley Tourist attractions in France Tourist attractions in Montsoreau Museums in Montsoreau