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  • Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne) – the Carp Lake

    Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne) – the Carp Lake

    Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne) - the Carp Lake

    The Postcard

    A postally unused carte postale published by Lévy Fils & Co. of Paris bearing an early image of the Carp Lake at Fontainebleau.

    The Palace of Fontainebleau

    The Palace of Fontainebleau, or Château de Fontainebleau, is located 55 kilometers (34 miles) southeast of the centre of Paris.

    The castle and subsequent palace served as a residence for French monarchs from Louis VII to Napoleon III.

    Francis I and Napoleon were the monarchs who had the most influence on the Palace as it stands today.

    It became a national museum in 1927, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 for its unique architecture and historical importance.

    The Medieval Palace

    The earliest record of a fortified castle at Fontainebleau dates to 1137. It became a favorite residence and hunting lodge of the Kings of France because of the abundant game and many springs in the surrounding forest.

    Fontainebleau took its name from one of the springs, la Fontaine de Bliaud, located now in the English Garden, next to the wing of Louis XV.

    Fontainebleau was used by King Louis VII, for whom Thomas Becket consecrated the chapel in 1169; also by Philip II; by Louis IX (later canonised as Saint Louis), who built a hospital and a convent, the Couvent des Trinitaires, next to the castle; and by Philip IV, who was born and died in the castle.

    The Renaissance Château of Francis I (1528–1547)

    In the 15th. century some modifications and embellishments were made to the castle by Isabeau of Bavaria, the wife of King Charles VI, but the medieval structure remained essentially intact until the reign of Francis I (1494–1547).

    He commissioned the architect Gilles Le Breton to build a palace in the new Renaissance style, recently imported from Italy. Le Breton preserved the old medieval donjon, where the King’s apartments were located, but incorporated it into the new Renaissance-style Cour Ovale, built on the foundations of the old castle.

    It included the monumental Porte Dorée, as its southern entrance. as well as a monumental Renaissance stairway, the Portique de Serlio, to give access the royal apartments on the north side.

    Beginning in about 1528, Francis constructed the Galerie François I, which allowed him to pass directly from his apartments to the chapel of the Trinitaires. He brought the architect Sebastiano Serlio from Italy, and the Florentine painter Rosso Fiorentino, to decorate the new gallery.

    Between 1533 and 1539 Fiorentino filled the gallery with murals glorifying the King, framed in stucco ornament in high relief, and panelling sculpted by the furniture maker Francesco Scibec da Carpi.

    Another Italian painter, Francesco Primaticcio from Bologna, joined later in the decoration of the palace. Together their style of decoration became known as the first School of Fontainebleau. This was the first great decorated gallery built in France. Fontainebleau introduced the Renaissance to France.

    In about 1540, Francis began another major addition to the château. Using land on the east side of the Château purchased from the order of the Trinitaires, he began to build a new square of buildings around a large courtyard.

    The Château was surrounded by a new park in the style of the Italian Renaissance garden, with pavilions and the first grotto in France.

    The Château of Henry II and Catherine de’ Medici (1547–1570)

    Following the death of Francis I, King Henry II decided to continue and expand the Château. The King and his wife chose the architects Philibert de l’Orme and Jean Bullant to do the work.

    They extended the east wing of the lower court and decorated it with the first famous horseshoe-shaped staircase which was built between 1547 and 1559. The staircase was subsequently re-built for Louis XIII by Jean Androuet du Cerceau in about 1632-1634.

    In the Oval Court, they transformed the loggia planned by Francois into a Salle des Fêtes or grand ballroom with a coffered ceiling. Facing the courtyard of the fountain and the fish pond, they designed a new building, the Pavillon des Poeles (destroyed), to contain the new apartments of the King.

    The decoration of the new ballroom and the gallery of Ulysses with murals by Francesco Primaticcio and sculptured stucco continued.

    At Henri’s orders the Nymphe de Fontainebleau by Benvenuto Cellini was installed at the gateway entrance of Château d’Anet, the domain of Henri’s primary mistress Diane de Poitiers (the original bronze lunette is now in the Musée du Louvre, with a replica in place).

    Following the death of Henry II in a jousting accident, his widow, Catherine de’ Medici, continued the construction and decoration of the château. She named Primaticcio as the new superintendent of royal public works.

    He designed the section known today as the wing of the Belle Cheminée, noted for its elaborate chimneys and its two opposing stairways. In 1565, as a security measure due to the Wars of Religion, she also had moat dug around the château to protect it against attack.

    Château of Henry IV (1570–1610)

    King Henry IV made more additions to the château than any King since Francis I. He extended the oval court toward the west by building two pavilions, called Tiber and Luxembourg.

    Between 1601 and 1606, he remade all the façades around the courtyard, including that of the chapel of Saint-Saturnin, to give the architecture greater harmony. On the east side, he built a new monumental domed gateway, the Porte du Baptistère.

    Between 1606 and 1609, he built a new courtyard, the Cour des Offices or Quartier Henry IV, to provide a place for the kitchens as well as residences for court officials.

    Two new galleries, the Galerie de Diane de Poitiers and the Galerie des Cerfs, were built to enclose the old garden of Diane. He also added a large Jeu de Paume, or indoor tennis court, the largest such court in the world.

    A Second School of Fontainebleau painters and decorators went to work on the interiors. The architect Martin Fréminet created the ornate chapel of the Trinity, while the painters Ambroise Dubois and Toussaint Dubreuil created a series of heroic paintings for the salons. A new wing, named after its central building, La Belle Cheminée, was built next to the large carp pond.

    Henry IV also devoted great attention to the park and gardens around the Château. The garden of the Queen or garden of Diane, created by Catherine de’ Medici, with the fountain of Diane in the centre, was located on the north side of the palace.

    Henry IV’s gardener, Claude Mollet, who trained at Château d’Anet, created a large parterre of flower beds, decorated with ancient statues and separated by paths into large squares.

    The fountain of Diana and the grotto were made by Tommaso Francini, who may also have designed the Medici Fountain in the Luxembourg Garden for Marie de Medici.

    On the south side, Henry created a park, planted with pines, elms and fruit trees, and laid out a grand canal 1200 meters long, sixty years before Louis XIV built his own grand canal at Versailles.

    The Château from Louis XIII through Louis XVI

    King Louis XIII was born and baptized in the Château, and continued the works begun by his father. He completed the decoration of the chapel of the Trinity, and assigned the court architect Jean Androuet du Cerceau to re-construct the horseshoe stairway on the courtyard that had become known as the Cour de Cheval Blanc.

    After his death, his widow, Anne of Austria, re-decorated the apartments within the Wing of the Queen Mothers (Aile des Reines Mères) next to the Court of the Fountain, designed by Primatrice.

    King Louis XIV spent more days at Fontainebleau than any other monarch. He liked to hunt there every year at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.

    He made few changes to the exterior of the Château, but did build a new apartment for his companion Madame de Maintenon. He furnished it with major works of André-Charles Boulle. He also demolished the old apartments of the baths under the Gallery of Francis I to create new apartments for the royal princes.

    The architect Jules Hardouin-Mansard built a new wing alongside the Galerie des Cerfs and the Galerie de Diane in order to provide more living space for the Court.

    Louis XIV made major changes to the park and gardens; he commissioned André Le Nôtre and Louis Le Vau to redesign the large parterre into a French formal garden. He destroyed the hanging garden which Henry IV had built next to the large carp lake, and instead built a pavilion, designed by Le Vau, on a small island in the centre of the lake.

    Louis XIV signed the Edict of Fontainebleau at the Château on the 22nd. October 1685, revoking the policy of tolerance towards Protestants begun by Henry IV.

    Louis welcomed many foreign guests at the Château, including the former Queen Christina of Sweden, who had just abdicated her crown. While a guest in the Château on the 10th. November 1657, Christina suspected her Master of the Horse and reputed lover, the Marchese Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi, of betraying her secrets to her enemies.

    Her servants chased him through the halls of the Château and stabbed him to death. Louis XIV came to see her at the Château, did not mention the murder, and allowed her to continue her travels.

    On the 18th. and 20th. May 1717, following the death of Louis XIV, the Russian Czar Peter the Great was a guest at Fontainebleau. A hunt for stags was organized for him, along with a banquet.

    Although officially the visit was a great success, later memoires revealed that Peter disliked the French style of hunting, and that he found the Château too small, compared to the other royal French residences.

    The routine of Fontainebleau also did not suit his tastes; he preferred beer to wine (and brought his own supply with him) and he liked to get up early, unlike the French Court.

    The renovation projects of Louis XV were more ambitious than those of Louis XIV. To create more lodging for his enormous number of courtiers, in 1737–38 the King built a new courtyard, called the Cour de la Conciergerie or the Cour des Princes, to the east of the Galerie des Cerfs.

    On the Cour du Cheval Blanc, the wing of the Gallery of Ulysses was torn down and gradually replaced by a new brick and stone building, built in stages in 1738–1741 and 1773–74, extending west toward the Pavilion and grotto of the pines.

    Between 1750 and 1754, the King commissioned the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel to build a new wing along the Cour de la Fontaine and the carp lake.

    The old Pavilion des Poeles was demolished and replaced by the Gros Pavilion, built of cream-colored stone. Lavish new apartments were created inside this building for the King and Queen. The new meeting room for the Royal Council was decorated by the leading painters of the day, including François Boucher, Carle Vanloo, Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre and Alexis Peyrotte. A magnificent small theatre was created on the first floor of the wing of the Belle Cheminée.

    King Louis XVI also made additions to the Château in order to create more space for his courtiers. A new building was constructed alongside the Gallery of Francis I; it created a large new apartment on the first floor, and a number of small apartments on the ground floor, but also blocked the windows on the north side of the Gallery of Francis I.

    The apartments of Queen Marie-Antoinette were redone, a Turkish-style salon was created for her in 1777, a room for games in 1786–1787, and a boudoir in the arabesque style. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette made their last visit to Fontainebleau in 1786, on the eve of the French Revolution.

    The Château during the Revolution and the First Empire

    During the French Revolution the Château did not suffer any significant damage, but all the furniture was sold at auction. The buildings were occupied by the Central School of the Department of Seine-et-Marne until 1803, when Napoleon I installed a military school there.

    As he prepared to become Emperor, Napoleon wanted to preserve as much as possible of the palaces and protocol of the Old Regime. He chose Fontainebleau as the site of his historic 1804 meeting with Pope Pius VII, who had travelled from Rome to crown Napoleon Emperor.

    Napoleon had a suite of rooms decorated for the Pope, and had the entire Château refurnished and decorated. The bedroom of the Kings was transformed into a throne room for Napoleon. Apartments were refurnished and decorated for the Emperor and Empress in the new Empire style.

    The Cour du Cheval Blanc was re-named the Cour d’Honneur. One wing facing the courtyard, the Aile de Ferrare, was torn down and replaced with an ornamental iron fence and gate, making the façade of the Palace visible.

    The gardens of Diane and the gardens of the Pines were replanted and turned into an English landscape garden.

    Napoleon’s visits to Fontainebleau were not frequent, because he was occupied so much of the time with military campaigns. Between 1812 and 1814, the Château served as a very elegant prison for Pope Pius VII. On the 5th. November 1810, the chapel of the Château was used for the baptism of Napoleon’s nephew, the future Napoleon III, with Napoleon serving as his godfather, and the Empress Marie-Louise as his godmother.

    Napoleon spent the last days of his reign at Fontainebleau, before abdicating there on the 4th. April 1814. On the 20th. April, after failing in an attempt to commit suicide, he gave an emotional farewell to the soldiers of the Old Guard, assembled in the Court of Honor. Later, during the One Hundred Days, he stopped there on the 20th. March 1815.

    In his memoires, written while in exile on Saint Helena, he recalled his time at Fontainebleau:

    "The true residence of Kings, the house of
    the centuries. Perhaps it was not a rigorously
    architectural palace, but it was certainly a place
    of residence well thought out and perfectly
    suitable. It was certainly the most comfortable
    and happily situated palace in Europe.”

    The Château during the Restoration and the Reign of Louis-Philippe (1815–1848)

    Following the restoration of the Monarchy, Kings Louis XVIII and Charles X each stayed at Fontainebleau, but neither made any major changes to the palace. Louis-Philippe was more active, both restoring some rooms and redecorating others in the style of his period.

    The Hall of the Guards and Gallery of Plates were redecorated in a Neo-Renaissance style, while the Hall of Columns, under the ballroom, was remade in a neoclassical style. He added new stained glass windows, made by the royal manufactory of Sèvres.

    The Château During the Second Empire

    Emperor Napoleon III, who had been baptised at Fontainebleau, resumed the custom of long stays at the Château, particularly during the summer. Many of the historic rooms, such as the Galerie des Cerfs, were restored to something like their original appearance, while the private apartments were redecorated to suit the tastes of the Emperor and Empress.

    Numerous guest apartments were squeezed into unused spaces within the buildings. The old theatre of the palace, built in the 18th. century, was destroyed by a fire in the wing of the Belle Cheminée 1856. Between 1854 and 1857 the architect Hector Lefuel built a new theatre in the style of Louis XVI.

    On the ground floor of the Gros Pavilion, the Empress Eugénie built a small but well-stocked museum, containing gifts from the King of Siam in 1861, and works of art taken during the pillage of the Summer Palace in Beijing.

    The museum also featured paintings by contemporary artists, including Franz Xaver Winterhalter, and the sculptor Charles Henri Joseph Cordier. Close by, in the Louis XV wing, the Emperor established his office, and the Empress made her Salon of Lacquer.

    These were the last rooms created by the royal residents of Fontainebleau. In 1870, during the Franco-German War, the Empire fell, and the Château was closed.

    The Château from the Third Republic to the Present Day

    During the Franco-Prussian War, the palace was occupied by the Prussians on the 17th. September 1870, and briefly used as an army headquarters by Frederic Charles of Prussia from March 1871.

    Following the war, two of the buildings became the home of the advanced school of artillery and engineering of the French Army, which had been forced to leave Alsace when the province was annexed by Germany.

    The Château was occasionally used as a residence by the Presidents of the Third Republic, and to welcome state guests including King Alexander I of Serbia (1891), King George I of Greece (1892) Leopold II of Belgium (1895) and King Alphonse XIII of Spain (1913).

    It also received a visit by the last survivor of its royal residents, the Empress Eugenie, on the 26th. June 1920.

    The façades the major buildings received their first protection by classification as historic monuments on the 20th. August 1913.

    In 1923, following the Great War, the Château became the home of the Écoles d’Art Américaines, schools of art and music, which still exist today. In 1927 it became a national museum. Between the wars the upper floors of the wing of the Belle Cheminée, burned in 1856, were rebuilt by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

    During World War II, Fontainebleau was occupied by the Germans on the 16th. June 1940, and occupied until the 10th. November 1940, and again from the 15th. May to the end of October 1941.

    Following the war, part of the Château became a headquarters of the Western Union and later NATO’s Allied Forces Central Europe/Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, until 1966.

    The general restoration of the Château took place between 1964 and 1968 under President Charles De Gaulle and his Minister of Culture, Andre Malraux. It was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. In 2006, the Ministry of Culture purchased the royal stables, and began their restoration.

    Beginning in 2007, restoration began of the theatre of the Château, created by Napoleon III during the Second Empire. The project was funded by the government of Abu-Dhabi, and in exchange the theater was renamed after Sheik Khalifa Bin Zayed al Nahyan. It was inaugurated on the 30th. April 2014.

    On the 1st. March 2015, the Chinese Museum of the Château was robbed by professional thieves. They broke in at about six in the morning, and, despite alarms and video cameras, in seven minutes stole about fifteen of the most valuable objects in the collection, including the replica of the crown of Siam given by the Siamese government to Napoleon III, a Tibetan mandala, and an enamel chimera from the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1736–1795).

    The Grand Apartments at Fontainebleau

    The Gallery of Francis I

    The Gallery of Francis I is one of the first and finest examples of Renaissance decoration in France. It was originally constructed in 1528 as a passageway between the apartments of the King with the oval courtyard and the great chapel of the convent Trinitaires, but in 1531 Francis I made it a part of his royal apartments, and between 1533 and 1539 it was decorated by artists and craftsmen from Italy, under the direction of the painter Rosso Fiorentino, in the new Renaissance style.

    The lower walls of the passage were the work of the master Italian furniture maker Francesco Scibec da Carpi; they are decorated with the coat of arms of France and the salamander, the emblem of the King. The upper walls are covered by frescoes framed in richly sculpted stucco. The frescoes used mythological scenes to illustrate the virtues of the King.

    On the side of the gallery with windows, the frescoes represent Ignorance Driven Out; The Unity of the State; Cliobis and Biton; Danae; The Death of Adonis; The Loss of Perpetual Youth; and The Battle of the Centaurs and the Lapithes.

    On the side of the gallery facing the windows, the frescoes represent: A Sacrifice; The Royal Elephant; The Burning of Catane; The Nymph of Fontainebleau (painted in 1860–61 by J. Alaux to cover a former entry to the gallery); The Sinking of Ajax; The Education of Achilles and The Frustration of Venus.

    The Ballroom

    The Ballroom was originally begun as an open passageway, or loggia, by Francis I. In about 1552 King Henry II closed it with high windows and an ornate coffered ceiling, and transformed it into a room for celebrations and balls.

    The ‘H’, the initial of the King, is prominent in the decor, as well as figures of the crescent moon, the symbol of Henry’s mistress Diane de Poitiers.

    At the western end is a monumental fireplace, decorated with bronze statues originally copied from classical statues in Rome. At the eastern end of the room is a gallery where musicians played during balls.

    The decor was restored many times over the years. The floor, which mirrors the design of the ceiling, was built by Louis-Philippe in the first half of the 19th. century.

    The frescoes on the walls and pillars were painted beginning in 1552 by Nicolo dell’Abate, following drawings by Primatice. On the garden side of the ballroom, they represent: The Harvest; Vulcan forging weapons for Love at the request of Venus; Phaeton begging the sun to let him drive his chariot; and Jupiter and Mercury at the home of Philemon and Baucis.

    The frescoes on the side of the Oval Courtyard represent: The feast of Bacchus; Apollo and the Muses on Mount Parnassus; The Three Graces dancing before the gods; and The wedding feast of Thetis and Peleus.

    St. Saturnin’s Chapel

    Behind the ballroom, there is St. Saturnin’s Chapel. The lower chapel was originally built in the 12th. century, but was destroyed and completely rebuilt under Francis I. The windows made in Sèvres were installed during Louis Philippe’s period, and were designed by his daughter Marie, an artist herself.

    The upper chapel was the royal chapel decorated by Philibert de l’Orme. The ceiling, made in the same style as the ballroom, ends with a dome.

    Room of the Guards

    A room for the guards was always located next to the royal bedchambers. The Salle des Gardes was built during the reign of Charles IX. Some traces of the original decor remain from the 1570’s, including the vaulted ceiling and a frieze of military trophies attributed to Ruggiero d’Ruggieri.

    In the 19th. century Louis Philippe turned the room into a salon, and redecorated it with a new parquet floor of exotic woods echoing the design of the ceiling, along with a monumental fireplace (1836), which incorporates pieces of ornament from demolished rooms that were built the 15th. and early 16th. century.

    The bust of Henry IV, attributed to Mathieu Jacquet, is from that period, as are the two figures on either side of the fireplace. The sculpted frame around the bust, by Pierre Bontemps, was originally in the bedchamber of Henry II.

    The decorations added by Louis Philippe include a large vase decorated with Renaissance themes, made by the Sèvres porcelain manufactory in 1832.

    During the reign of Napoleon III, the hall was used as a dining room.

    Stairway of the King

    The stairway of the King was installed in 1748 and 1749, in the space occupied during the reign of Francis I by the bedroom of Anne de Pisseleu, the Duchess of Étampes, a favorite of the King.

    It was designed by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, who used many decorative elements from the earlier room, which had originally been decorated by Primatice.

    The upper portion of the walls is divided into panels, oval and rectangular, with scenes representing the love life of Alexander the Great. The paintings are framed by large statues of women by Primatice. The eastern wall of the room was destroyed during the reconstruction, and was replaced during the reign of Louis Philippe in the 19th. century with paintings by Abel de Pujol.

    The Queen’s Bedroom

    All of the Queens and Empresses of France from Marie de Medici to the Empress Eugènie slept in the bedchamber of the Queen. The ornate ceiling over the bed was made in 1644 by the furniture-maker Guillaume Noyers for the Dowager Queen Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV, and bears her initials.

    The room was redecorated by Marie Leszczynska, the Queen of Louis XV in 1746–1747. The ceiling of the alcove, the decoration around the windows and the wood panelling were made by Jacques Vererckt and Antoine Magnonais in the rocaille style of the day. The decoration of the fireplace dates to the same period.

    The doors have an arabesque design, and were made for Marie-Antoinette, as were the sculpted panels over the doors, installed in 1787. The bed was also made especially for Marie Antoinette, but did not arrive until 1797, after the Revolution and her execution. it was used instead by Napoleon’s wives, the Empress Josephine and Marie-Louise of Austria.

    The walls received their ornamental textile covering, with a design of flowers and birds, in 1805. It was restored in 1968–1986 using the original fabric as a model.

    The furniture in the room all dates to the First Empire. The balustrade around the bed was originally made for the throne room of the Tuileries Palace in 1804. The armchairs with a sphinx pattern, the consoles and screen and the two chests of drawers were placed in the room in 1806.

    The Boudoir of Marie-Antoinette

    The boudoir next to the Queen’s bedroom was created for Queen Marie-Antoinette in 1786, and permitted the Queen to have a measure of privacy.

    The room is the best surviving example of the decorative style just before the French Revolution, inspired by ancient Roman models, with delicately painted arabesques, cameos, vases, antique figures and garlands of flowers against a silver background, framed by gilded and sculpted woodwork.

    The room was made for the Queen by the same team of artists and craftsmen who also made the game room; the design was by the architect Pierre Rousseau (1751-1829); the wood panelling was sculpted by Laplace, and painted by Michel-Hubert Bourgeois and Louis-François Touzé.

    Eight figures of the Muses were made in plaster by Roland; the ornate mantle of the fireplace was made by Jacques-François Dropsy, and decorated with glided bronze works by Claude-Jean Pitoin.

    The mahogany parquet floor, decorated with the emblems of the Queen, was made by Bernard Molitor, and finished in 1787. The painted ceiling, by Jean-Simon Berthélemy, shows Aurora with a group of angels.

    The furnishings were designed for the room by Jean-Henri Riesener, using the finest materials available; mother of pearl, gilded bronze, brass, satin and ebony. Some of the original furnishings remain, including the cylindrical desk and the table, which were made between 1784 and 1789.

    The two armchairs are copies of the originals made by Georges Jacob which are now in the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, while the footstool is the original.

    The Throne Room of Napoleon (former bedroom of the King)

    The Throne Room was the bedroom of the Kings of France from Henry IV to Louis XVI.

    In 1808 Napoleon decided to install his throne in the former bedroom of the Kings of France in the location where the royal bed had been. Under the Old Regime, the King’s bed was a symbol of royal authority in France and was saluted by courtiers who passed by it. Napoleon wanted to show the continuity of his Empire with the past monarchies of France.

    The majority of the carved wood ceiling, the lower part of the wood panelling, and the doors date to the reign of Louis XIII. The ceiling directly over the throne was made at the end of the reign of Louis XIV.

    Louis XV created the portion of the ceiling directly over the throne, a new chimney, sculpted wooden medallions near the fireplace, the designs over the doors, and the fine carved woodwork facing the throne (1752–54).

    He also had the ceiling painted white and gilded and decorated with mosaics, to match the ceiling of the bedroom of the Queen.

    Napoleon added the standards with his initial and the Imperial eagle. The decoration around the throne was originally designed in 1804 by Jacob-Desmalter for the Palace of Saint-Cloud, and the throne itself came from the Tuileries Palace.

    The chimney was originally decorated with a portrait of Louis XIII painted by Philippe de Champaigne, which was burned in 1793 during the French Revolution. Napoleon replaced it with a portrait of himself, by Robert Lefèvre. In 1834, King Louis-Philippe took down Napoleon’s picture and replaced with another of Louis XIII.

    The Council Chamber

    The Council Chamber, where the Kings and Emperors met their closest advisors, was close to the Throne Room. It was originally the office of Francis I, and was decorated with painted wooden panels showing following designs of Primatice, the virtues and the heroes of antiquity.

    The room was enlarged under Louis XIV, and the decorator, Claude Audran, followed the same theme.

    The room was entirely redecorated between 1751 and 1754 by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, with arcades and wooded panels showing the virtues, and allegories of the seasons and the elements, painted by Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre and Carle van Loo.

    The painter Alexis Peyrotte added another series of medallions to the upper walls depicting floral themes, the sciences and arts. The five paintings on the vaulted ceiling were the work of François Boucher, and show the seasons and the sun beginning its journey and chasing away the night.

    A half-rotonda on the garden side of the room was added by Louis XV in 1773, with a painted ceiling by Lagrenée depicting Glory surrounded by his children.

    The room was used as a council chamber by Napoleon I, and the furnishings are from that time. The armchairs at the table for the ministers are by Marcion (1806) and the folding chairs for advisors are by Jacob-Desmalter (1808).

    Apartment of the Pope and of the Queen-Mothers

    The apartment of the Pope, located on the first floor of the wing of the Queen Mothers and of the Gros Pavillon, takes its name from the 1804 visit of Pope Pius VII, who stayed there on his way to Paris to crown Napoleon I the Emperor of France.

    He stayed there again, involuntarily, under the close supervision of Napoleon from 1812 to 1814. Prior to that, beginning in the 17th. century it was the residence of the Queen Mothers Marie de’ Medici and Anne of Austria.

    It was also the home of the Grand Dauphin, the oldest son of Louis XIV. In the 18th. century it was used by the daughters of Louis XV, and then by the Count of Provence, the brother of Louis XVI.

    During the First Empire it was used by Louis, the brother of Napoleon, and his wife Queen Hortense, the daughter of the Empress Josephine. During the reign of Louis-Philippe, it was used by his eldest son, the Duke of Orleans.

    During the Second Empire, it was occupied by Stephanie de Bade, the adopted niece of Napoleon I. It was restored in 1859–1861, and used thereafter for guests of high rank. It was originally two apartments, which were divided or joined over the years depending upon its occupants.

    The Grand Salon, the Antechamber to the Bedroom of the Queen-Mother (Mid-17th. century)

    The Salon de Reception was the anteroom to the bedroom of Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII and mother of Louis XIV. It features a gilded and sculpted ceiling divided into seven compartments, representing the sun and the known planets, along with smaller compartments for military trophies.

    The room was created in 1558 by Ambroise Perret as the bedroom of Henry II in the pavilion des Poeles, a section of the Château that was later destroyed. Anne had it moved and decorated with her own emblems, including a pelican. The wood paneling in the room is probably from the same period.

    The decor of the bedroom dates largely to the 1650’s; it includes grotesque paintings in compartments on the ceiling, attributed to Charles Errard; richly carved wood paneling featuring oak leaves and putti; and paintings over the doors of Anne of Austria costumed as Minerva and Marie-Therese of Austria costumed as Abundance, both painted by Gilbert de Sève.

    The bedroom was modified in the 18th. century by the addition of a new fireplace and sculptured borders of cascades of flowers around the mirrors added in 1784. During the Second Empire, painted panels imitating the style of the 17th. century were added above the mirrors and between the mirrors and the doors.

    The Gallery of Diana

    The Gallery of Diana, an eighty-metre (242 feet) long corridor now lined with bookcases, was created by Henry IV at the beginning of the 17th. century as a place for the Queen to promenade. The paintings on the vaulted ceiling, painted beginning in 1605 by Ambroise Dubois and his workshop, represented scenes from the myth of Diana, goddess of the Hunt.

    At the beginning of the 19th. century, the gallery was in ruins. In 1810 Napoleon decided to turn it into a gallery devoted to the achievements of his Empire. A few of the paintings still in good condition were removed and put in the Gallery of Plates.

    The architect Hurtault designed a new plan for the gallery, inspired by the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, featuring paintings on the ceiling illustrating the great events of Napoleon’s reign.

    By 1814 the corridor had been rebuilt and the decorative frames painted by Moench and Redouté, but the cycle of paintings on the Empire had not been started when Napoleon fell from power.

    Once the monarchy was restored, King Louis XVIII had the gallery completed in a neoclassical style. A new series of the goddess Diana was done by Merry-Joseph Blondel and Abel de Pujol, using the painted frames prepared for Napoleon’s cycle.

    Paintings were also added along the corridor, illustrating the history of the French monarchy, painted in the Troubador style of the 1820’s and 1830’s, painted by a team of the leading academic painters.

    Beginning in 1853, under Napoleon III, the corridor was turned into a library and most of the paintings were removed, with the exception of a large portrait of Henry IV on horseback by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse. The large globe near the entrance of the gallery, placed there in 1861, came from the office of Napoleon in the Tuileries Palace.

    The Apartments of Napoleon

    In 1804 Napoleon decided that he wanted his own private suite of apartments within the Palace, separate from the old state apartments. He took over a suite of six rooms which had been created in 1786 for Louis XVI, next to the Gallery of Francis I, and had them redecorated in the Empire style.

    The Emperor’s Bedroom

    Beginning in 1808, Napoleon had his bedroom in the former dressing room of the King. From this room, using a door hidden behind the drapery to the right of the bed, Napoleon could go directly to his private library or to the offices on the ground floor.

    Much of the original decor was unchanged from the time of Louis XVI; the fireplaces, the carved wooden panels sculpted by Pierre-Joseph LaPlace and the sculpture over the door by Sauvage remained as they were.

    The walls were painted with Imperial emblems in gold on white by Frederic-Simon Moench. The bed, made especially for the Emperor, was the summit of the Empire style; it was crowned with an imperial eagle and decorated with allegorical sculptures representing Glory, Justice, and Abundance.

    The Emperor had a special carpet made by Sallandrouze in the shape of the cross of the Legion of Honor; the branches of the cross alternate with symbols of military and civilian attributes.

    The chairs near the fireplace were specially designed, with one side higher than the other, to contain the heat from the fire while allowing the occupants to see the decorations of the fireplace.

    The painting on the ceiling of the room was added later, after the downfall of Napoleon, by Louis XVIII. Painted by Jean-Baptiste Regnault, it is an allegory representing The clemency of the King halting justice in its course.

    The study was a small room designated as Napoleon’s work room. In 1811 he added the camp bed, similar to the bed he used on his military campaigns, so he could rest briefly during a long night of work.

    The salon of the Emperor was simply furnished and decorated. It was in this room, on the small table on display, that the Emperor signed his abdication in 1814.

    The Theatre

    Concerts, plays and other theatrical productions were a regular part of court life at Fontainebleau. Prior to the reign of Louis XV these took place in different rooms of the palace, but during his reign, a theatre was built in the Belle-Cheminée wing. It was rebuilt by the architect Gabriel, but was destroyed by a fire in 1856.

    It had already been judged too small for the court of Napoleon III, and a new theatre was begun in 1854 at the far eastern end of the wing of Louis XIV. It was designed by architect Hector Lefuel in the style of Louis XVI, and was inspired by the opera theatre at the palace of Versailles and that of Marie-Antoinette at the Trianon Palace.

    The new theatre, with four hundred seats arranged in a parterre, two balconies and boxes in a horseshoe shape, was finished in 1856. It has the original stage machinery, and many of the original sets, including many transferred from the old theatre before the fire of 1856.

    The theatre was closed after the end of the Second Empire and was rarely used. A restoration began in 2007, funded with ten million Euros by the government of Abu-Dhabi. In exchange, the theatre was renamed after Sheik Khalifa Bin Zayed al Nahyan.

    It was inaugurated on the 30th. April 2014. The theatre can be visited, but it no longer can be used for plays because some working parts of the theater, including the stage, were not included in the restoration.

    The Chinese Museum

    The Chinese Museum, on the ground floor of the Gros Pavillon close to the lake, was among the last rooms decorated within the Chateau while it was still an imperial residence.

    In 1867, the Empress Eugenie had the rooms remade to display her personal collection of Asian art, which included gifts given to the Emperor by a delegation sent by the King of Siam in 1861, and other objects taken during the destruction and looting of the Old Summer Palace near Beijing by a joint British-French military expedition to China in 1860.

    The objects displayed in the antechamber include two royal palanquins given by the King of Siam, one designed for a King and the other (with curtains) for a Queen. Inside the two salons of the museum, some of the walls are covered with lacquered wood panels in black and gold, taken from 17th. century Chinese screens, along with specially designed cases to display antique porcelain vases.

    Other objects on display include a Tibetan stupa containing a Buddha taken from the Summer Palace in China; and a royal Siamese crown given to Napoleon III.

    The salons are lavishly decorated with both Asian and European furnishings and art objects, including silk-covered furnishings and Second Empire sculptures by Charles Cordier and Pierre-Alexandre Schoenewerk. The room also served as a place for games and entertainment; an old bagatelle game and a mechanical piano from that period are on display.

    In addition to the Chinese Museum, the Empress created a small office in 1868, the Salon of Lacquerware, which was also decorated with lacquered panels and Asian art objects, on the ground floor of the Louis XV wing. This was the last room decorated before the fall of the Empire, and the eventual transformation of the Chateau into a museum.

    The Chapel of the Trinity

    The Chapel of the Trinity was built at the end of the reign of Francis I to replace the old chapel of the convent of the Trinitaires. It was finished under Henry II, but was without decoration until 1608, when the painter Martin Freminet was commissioned to design frescoes for the ceiling and walls.

    The sculptor Barthèlemy Tremblay created the vaults of the ceiling out of stucco and sculpture. The paintings of Freminet in the central vaults depict the redemption of Man, from the appearance of God to Noah at the launching of the Ark (Over the tribune) to the Annunciation.

    They surrounded these with smaller paintings depicting the ancestors of the Virgin Mary, the Kings of Judah, the Patriarchs announcing the coming of Christ, and the Virtues.

    Between 1613 and 1619 Freminet and Tremblay added paintings in stucco frames between the windows on the sides of the chapel, depicting the life of Christ. Freminet died in 1619, and work did not resume until 1628.

    The Trinity chapel, like Sainte-Chapelle in Paris other royal chapels, had an upper section or tribune, where the King and his family sat, with a separate entrance; and a lower part, where the rest of the Court was placed.

    Beginning in 1628, the side chapels were decorated with iron gates and carved wood panelling, and the Florentine sculptor Francesco Bordoni began work on the marble altar. The figure to the left depicts Charlemagne, with the features of Henry II, while the figure on the right depicts Louis IX, or Saint Louis, with the features of Louis XIII, his patron.

    Bordoni also designed the multicolored marble pavement before the altar and on the walls of the nave. The painting of the Holy Trinity over the altar, by Jean Dubois the Elder, was added in 1642.

    In the mid-17th. century the craftsman Anthony Girault made the sculpted wooden doors of the nave. while Jean Gobert made the doors of the tribune where the Royal family worshipped.

    In 1741 the royal tribune was enlarged, while ornate balconies of wrought iron were added between the royal tribune and the simpler balconies used by the musicians and those who chanted the mass. In 1779, under Louis XVI, the frescoes of Freminet illustrating the life of Christ, which had deteriorated with time, were replaced by new paintings on the same theme. The paintings were done in the same style by about a dozen painters from the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture.

    Under Napoleon, the old tabernacle of the chapel, which had been removed during the Revolution, was replaced by a new one designed by the architect Maximilien Hurtault.

    Beginning in 1824, the chapel underwent a program of major renovation and restoration that lasted for six years. The twelve paintings of the life of Christ were removed, as well as the gates to the side chapels.

    During the Second Empire, the wood panelling of the side chapels was replaced. The restoration was not completed until the second half of the 20th. century, when the twelve paintings, which had been scattered to different museums, were brought together again and restored in their stucco frames. Between 1772 and 1774, a small organ made by François-Henri Cilquot was installed on the left side of the chapel, near the altar.

    On the 5th. September 1725, the chapel was the setting for the wedding of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska. Napoleon III was baptized there on 4 November 1810, and Ferdinand-Philippe d’Orleans, the son of King Louis-Philippe, was married there to Helene de Mecklembourg Schwerin on the 30th. May 1837.

    The Gardens and the Park at Fontainebleau

    From the time of Francis I, the palace was surrounded by formal gardens, representing the major landscaping styles of their periods; the French Renaissance garden, inspired by Italian Renaissance gardens; the French formal garden, the favorite style of Louis XIV; and, in the 18th. and 19th. century, the French landscape garden, inspired by the English landscape garden.

    The Garden of Diana

    The Garden of Diana was created during the reign of Henry IV; it was the private garden of the King and Queen, and was visible from the windows of their rooms.

    The fountain of Diana was originally in the centre of the garden, which at that time was enclosed by another wing, containing offices and later, under, Louis XIV, an orangery. That building, and another, the former chancellery, were demolished in the 19th. century, thereby doubling the size of the garden.

    From the 17th. until the end of the 18th. century, the garden was in the Italian and then the French formal style, divided by straight paths into rectangular flower beds centred on the fountains, and decorated with statues, ornamental plants and citrus trees in pots.

    It was transformed during the reign of Napoleon I into a landscape garden in the English style, with winding paths and trees grouped into picturesque landscapes, and it was enlarged during the reign of Louis-Philippe. it was opened to the public after the downfall of Napoleon III.

    The fountain in the centre was made by Tommaso Francini, the master Italian fountain-maker, whose work included the Medici Fountain in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.

    The bronze statue of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, with a young deer, was made by the Keller brothers in 1684 for another royal residence, at Marly. It is a copy of an antique Roman statue, Diana of Versailles, which was given by the Pope to King Henry IV, and which is now in the Louvre.

    The original statue of the fountain, made by Barthelemy Prieur in 1602, can be seen in the Gallery of the Cerfs inside the palace. The sculptures of hunting dogs and deer around the fountain were made by Pierre Biard.

    The Carp Lake, English Garden, Grotto and Spring

    The lake next to the palace, with an area of four hectares, was made during the reign of Henry IV, and was used for boating parties by members of the Court, and as a source of fish for the table and for amusement.

    Descriptions of the palace in the 17th. century tell of guests feeding the carp, some of which reached enormous size, and were said to be a hundred years old. The small octagonal house on an island in the center of the lake, Pavillon de l’Étang, was added during the reign of Louis XIV, then rebuilt under Napoleon I, and is decorated with his initial.

    The English garden also dates back to the reign of Henry IV. In one part of the garden, known as the garden of pines, against the wing of Louis XV, is an older structure dating to Francis I; the first Renaissance-style grotto to be built in a French garden, a rustic stone structure decorated with four statues of Atlas.

    Under Napoleon, his architect, Maximilien-Joseph Hurtault, turned this part of the garden into an English park, with winding paths and exotic trees, including catalpa, tulip trees, sophora, and cypress trees from Louisiana, and with a picturesque stream and boulders.

    The garden also features two 17th. century bronze copies of ancient Roman originals, the Borghese gladiator and the Dying Gladiator. A path leads from the garden through a curtain of trees to the spring which gave its name to the palace, next to a statue of Apollo.

    The Parterre and Canal

    On the other side of the Château, on the site of the garden of Francis I, Henry IV created a large formal garden, or parterre Along the axis of the parterre, he also built a grand canal 1200 metres long, similar to one at the nearby château of Fleury-en-Biere.

    Between 1660 and 1664 the chief gardener of Louis XIV, André Le Nôtre, and Louis Le Vau rebuilt the parterre on a grander scale, filling it with geometric designs and paths bordered with boxwood hedges and filled with colourful flowerbeds.

    They also added a basin, called Les Cascades, decorated with fountains, at the head of the canal. Le Nôtre planted shade trees along the length of the canal, and also laid out a wide path, lined with elm trees, parallel to the canal.

    The fountains of Louis XIV were removed after his reign. More recently, the Cascades were decorated with works of sculpture from the 19th. century. A large ornamental fountain was installed in the central basin in 1817.

    A bronze replica of an ancient Roman statue, "The Tiber", was placed in the round basin in 1988. It replaced an earlier statue from the 16th. century which earlier had decorated the basin.

    Two statues of sphinxes by Mathieu Lespagnandel, from 1664, are placed near the balustrade of the grand canal.

    Posted by pepandtim on 2013-01-03 03:28:27

    Tagged: , postcard , old , early , nostalgic , nostalgia , Fontainebleau , lake , Levy , Fils , Paris , étang , 48FTL88

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  • Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne) – La Cour des Adieux

    Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne) – La Cour des Adieux

    Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne) - La Cour des Adieux

    The Postcard

    A postally unused carte postale published by Lévy Fils et Cie of Paris.

    The Palace of Fontainebleau

    The Palace of Fontainebleau, or Château de Fontainebleau, is located 55 kilometers (34 miles) southeast of the centre of Paris.

    The castle and subsequent palace served as a residence for French monarchs from Louis VII to Napoleon III.

    Francis I and Napoleon were the monarchs who had the most influence on the Palace as it stands today.

    It became a national museum in 1927, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 for its unique architecture and historical importance.

    The Medieval Palace

    The earliest record of a fortified castle at Fontainebleau dates to 1137. It became a favorite residence and hunting lodge of the Kings of France because of the abundant game and many springs in the surrounding forest.

    Fontainebleau took its name from one of the springs, la Fontaine de Bliaud, located now in the English Garden, next to the wing of Louis XV.

    Fontainebleau was used by King Louis VII, for whom Thomas Becket consecrated the chapel in 1169; also by Philip II; by Louis IX (later canonised as Saint Louis), who built a hospital and a convent, the Couvent des Trinitaires, next to the castle; and by Philip IV, who was born and died in the castle.

    The Renaissance Château of Francis I (1528–1547)

    In the 15th. century some modifications and embellishments were made to the castle by Isabeau of Bavaria, the wife of King Charles VI, but the medieval structure remained essentially intact until the reign of Francis I (1494–1547).

    He commissioned the architect Gilles Le Breton to build a palace in the new Renaissance style, recently imported from Italy. Le Breton preserved the old medieval donjon, where the King’s apartments were located, but incorporated it into the new Renaissance-style Cour Ovale, built on the foundations of the old castle.

    It included the monumental Porte Dorée, as its southern entrance. as well as a monumental Renaissance stairway, the Portique de Serlio, to give access the royal apartments on the north side.

    Beginning in about 1528, Francis constructed the Galerie François I, which allowed him to pass directly from his apartments to the chapel of the Trinitaires. He brought the architect Sebastiano Serlio from Italy, and the Florentine painter Rosso Fiorentino, to decorate the new gallery.

    Between 1533 and 1539 Fiorentino filled the gallery with murals glorifying the King, framed in stucco ornament in high relief, and panelling sculpted by the furniture maker Francesco Scibec da Carpi.

    Another Italian painter, Francesco Primaticcio from Bologna, joined later in the decoration of the palace. Together their style of decoration became known as the first School of Fontainebleau. This was the first great decorated gallery built in France. Fontainebleau introduced the Renaissance to France.

    In about 1540, Francis began another major addition to the château. Using land on the east side of the Château purchased from the order of the Trinitaires, he began to build a new square of buildings around a large courtyard.

    The Château was surrounded by a new park in the style of the Italian Renaissance garden, with pavilions and the first grotto in France.

    The Château of Henry II and Catherine de’ Medici (1547–1570)

    Following the death of Francis I, King Henry II decided to continue and expand the Château. The King and his wife chose the architects Philibert de l’Orme and Jean Bullant to do the work.

    They extended the east wing of the lower court and decorated it with the first famous horseshoe-shaped staircase which was built between 1547 and 1559. The staircase was subsequently re-built for Louis XIII by Jean Androuet du Cerceau in about 1632-1634.

    In the Oval Court, they transformed the loggia planned by Francois into a Salle des Fêtes or grand ballroom with a coffered ceiling. Facing the courtyard of the fountain and the fish pond, they designed a new building, the Pavillon des Poeles (destroyed), to contain the new apartments of the King.

    The decoration of the new ballroom and the gallery of Ulysses with murals by Francesco Primaticcio and sculptured stucco continued.

    At Henri’s orders the Nymphe de Fontainebleau by Benvenuto Cellini was installed at the gateway entrance of Château d’Anet, the domain of Henri’s primary mistress Diane de Poitiers (the original bronze lunette is now in the Musée du Louvre, with a replica in place).

    Following the death of Henry II in a jousting accident, his widow, Catherine de’ Medici, continued the construction and decoration of the château. She named Primaticcio as the new superintendent of royal public works.

    He designed the section known today as the wing of the Belle Cheminée, noted for its elaborate chimneys and its two opposing stairways. In 1565, as a security measure due to the Wars of Religion, she also had moat dug around the château to protect it against attack.

    Château of Henry IV (1570–1610)

    King Henry IV made more additions to the château than any King since Francis I. He extended the oval court toward the west by building two pavilions, called Tiber and Luxembourg.

    Between 1601 and 1606, he remade all the façades around the courtyard, including that of the chapel of Saint-Saturnin, to give the architecture greater harmony. On the east side, he built a new monumental domed gateway, the Porte du Baptistère.

    Between 1606 and 1609, he built a new courtyard, the Cour des Offices or Quartier Henry IV, to provide a place for the kitchens as well as residences for court officials.

    Two new galleries, the Galerie de Diane de Poitiers and the Galerie des Cerfs, were built to enclose the old garden of Diane. He also added a large Jeu de Paume, or indoor tennis court, the largest such court in the world.

    A Second School of Fontainebleau painters and decorators went to work on the interiors. The architect Martin Fréminet created the ornate chapel of the Trinity, while the painters Ambroise Dubois and Toussaint Dubreuil created a series of heroic paintings for the salons. A new wing, named after its central building, La Belle Cheminée, was built next to the large carp pond.

    Henry IV also devoted great attention to the park and gardens around the Château. The garden of the Queen or garden of Diane, created by Catherine de’ Medici, with the fountain of Diane in the centre, was located on the north side of the palace.

    Henry IV’s gardener, Claude Mollet, who trained at Château d’Anet, created a large parterre of flower beds, decorated with ancient statues and separated by paths into large squares.

    The fountain of Diana and the grotto were made by Tommaso Francini, who may also have designed the Medici Fountain in the Luxembourg Garden for Marie de Medici.

    On the south side, Henry created a park, planted with pines, elms and fruit trees, and laid out a grand canal 1200 meters long, sixty years before Louis XIV built his own grand canal at Versailles.

    The Château from Louis XIII through Louis XVI

    King Louis XIII was born and baptized in the Château, and continued the works begun by his father. He completed the decoration of the chapel of the Trinity, and assigned the court architect Jean Androuet du Cerceau to re-construct the horseshoe stairway on the courtyard that had become known as the Cour de Cheval Blanc.

    After his death, his widow, Anne of Austria, re-decorated the apartments within the Wing of the Queen Mothers (Aile des Reines Mères) next to the Court of the Fountain, designed by Primatrice.

    King Louis XIV spent more days at Fontainebleau than any other monarch. He liked to hunt there every year at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.

    He made few changes to the exterior of the Château, but did build a new apartment for his companion Madame de Maintenon. He furnished it with major works of André-Charles Boulle. He also demolished the old apartments of the baths under the Gallery of Francis I to create new apartments for the royal princes.

    The architect Jules Hardouin-Mansard built a new wing alongside the Galerie des Cerfs and the Galerie de Diane in order to provide more living space for the Court.

    Louis XIV made major changes to the park and gardens; he commissioned André Le Nôtre and Louis Le Vau to redesign the large parterre into a French formal garden. He destroyed the hanging garden which Henry IV had built next to the large carp lake, and instead built a pavilion, designed by Le Vau, on a small island in the centre of the lake.

    Louis XIV signed the Edict of Fontainebleau at the Château on the 22nd. October 1685, revoking the policy of tolerance towards Protestants begun by Henry IV.

    Louis welcomed many foreign guests at the Château, including the former Queen Christina of Sweden, who had just abdicated her crown. While a guest in the Château on the 10th. November 1657, Christina suspected her Master of the Horse and reputed lover, the Marchese Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi, of betraying her secrets to her enemies.

    Her servants chased him through the halls of the Château and stabbed him to death. Louis XIV came to see her at the Château, did not mention the murder, and allowed her to continue her travels.

    On the 18th. and 20th. May 1717, following the death of Louis XIV, the Russian Czar Peter the Great was a guest at Fontainebleau. A hunt for stags was organized for him, along with a banquet.

    Although officially the visit was a great success, later memoires revealed that Peter disliked the French style of hunting, and that he found the Château too small, compared to the other royal French residences.

    The routine of Fontainebleau also did not suit his tastes; he preferred beer to wine (and brought his own supply with him) and he liked to get up early, unlike the French Court.

    The renovation projects of Louis XV were more ambitious than those of Louis XIV. To create more lodging for his enormous number of courtiers, in 1737–38 the King built a new courtyard, called the Cour de la Conciergerie or the Cour des Princes, to the east of the Galerie des Cerfs.

    On the Cour du Cheval Blanc, the wing of the Gallery of Ulysses was torn down and gradually replaced by a new brick and stone building, built in stages in 1738–1741 and 1773–74, extending west toward the Pavilion and grotto of the pines.

    Between 1750 and 1754, the King commissioned the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel to build a new wing along the Cour de la Fontaine and the carp lake.

    The old Pavilion des Poeles was demolished and replaced by the Gros Pavilion, built of cream-colored stone. Lavish new apartments were created inside this building for the King and Queen. The new meeting room for the Royal Council was decorated by the leading painters of the day, including François Boucher, Carle Vanloo, Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre and Alexis Peyrotte. A magnificent small theatre was created on the first floor of the wing of the Belle Cheminée.

    King Louis XVI also made additions to the Château in order to create more space for his courtiers. A new building was constructed alongside the Gallery of Francis I; it created a large new apartment on the first floor, and a number of small apartments on the ground floor, but also blocked the windows on the north side of the Gallery of Francis I.

    The apartments of Queen Marie-Antoinette were redone, a Turkish-style salon was created for her in 1777, a room for games in 1786–1787, and a boudoir in the arabesque style. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette made their last visit to Fontainebleau in 1786, on the eve of the French Revolution.

    The Château during the Revolution and the First Empire

    During the French Revolution the Château did not suffer any significant damage, but all the furniture was sold at auction. The buildings were occupied by the Central School of the Department of Seine-et-Marne until 1803, when Napoleon I installed a military school there.

    As he prepared to become Emperor, Napoleon wanted to preserve as much as possible of the palaces and protocol of the Old Regime. He chose Fontainebleau as the site of his historic 1804 meeting with Pope Pius VII, who had travelled from Rome to crown Napoleon Emperor.

    Napoleon had a suite of rooms decorated for the Pope, and had the entire Château refurnished and decorated. The bedroom of the Kings was transformed into a throne room for Napoleon. Apartments were refurnished and decorated for the Emperor and Empress in the new Empire style.

    The Cour du Cheval Blanc was re-named the Cour d’Honneur. One wing facing the courtyard, the Aile de Ferrare, was torn down and replaced with an ornamental iron fence and gate, making the façade of the Palace visible.

    The gardens of Diane and the gardens of the Pines were replanted and turned into an English landscape garden.

    Napoleon’s visits to Fontainebleau were not frequent, because he was occupied so much of the time with military campaigns. Between 1812 and 1814, the Château served as a very elegant prison for Pope Pius VII. On the 5th. November 1810, the chapel of the Château was used for the baptism of Napoleon’s nephew, the future Napoleon III, with Napoleon serving as his godfather, and the Empress Marie-Louise as his godmother.

    Napoleon spent the last days of his reign at Fontainebleau, before abdicating there on the 4th. April 1814. On the 20th. April, after failing in an attempt to commit suicide, he gave an emotional farewell to the soldiers of the Old Guard, assembled in the Court of Honor. Later, during the One Hundred Days, he stopped there on the 20th. March 1815.

    In his memoires, written while in exile on Saint Helena, he recalled his time at Fontainebleau:

    "The true residence of Kings, the house of
    the centuries. Perhaps it was not a rigorously
    architectural palace, but it was certainly a place
    of residence well thought out and perfectly
    suitable. It was certainly the most comfortable
    and happily situated palace in Europe.”

    The Château during the Restoration and the Reign of Louis-Philippe (1815–1848)

    Following the restoration of the Monarchy, Kings Louis XVIII and Charles X each stayed at Fontainebleau, but neither made any major changes to the palace. Louis-Philippe was more active, both restoring some rooms and redecorating others in the style of his period.

    The Hall of the Guards and Gallery of Plates were redecorated in a Neo-Renaissance style, while the Hall of Columns, under the ballroom, was remade in a neoclassical style. He added new stained glass windows, made by the royal manufactory of Sèvres.

    The Château During the Second Empire

    Emperor Napoleon III, who had been baptised at Fontainebleau, resumed the custom of long stays at the Château, particularly during the summer. Many of the historic rooms, such as the Galerie des Cerfs, were restored to something like their original appearance, while the private apartments were redecorated to suit the tastes of the Emperor and Empress.

    Numerous guest apartments were squeezed into unused spaces within the buildings. The old theatre of the palace, built in the 18th. century, was destroyed by a fire in the wing of the Belle Cheminée 1856. Between 1854 and 1857 the architect Hector Lefuel built a new theatre in the style of Louis XVI.

    On the ground floor of the Gros Pavilion, the Empress Eugénie built a small but well-stocked museum, containing gifts from the King of Siam in 1861, and works of art taken during the pillage of the Summer Palace in Beijing.

    The museum also featured paintings by contemporary artists, including Franz Xaver Winterhalter, and the sculptor Charles Henri Joseph Cordier. Close by, in the Louis XV wing, the Emperor established his office, and the Empress made her Salon of Lacquer.

    These were the last rooms created by the royal residents of Fontainebleau. In 1870, during the Franco-German War, the Empire fell, and the Château was closed.

    The Château from the Third Republic to the Present Day

    During the Franco-Prussian War, the palace was occupied by the Prussians on the 17th. September 1870, and briefly used as an army headquarters by Frederic Charles of Prussia from March 1871.

    Following the war, two of the buildings became the home of the advanced school of artillery and engineering of the French Army, which had been forced to leave Alsace when the province was annexed by Germany.

    The Château was occasionally used as a residence by the Presidents of the Third Republic, and to welcome state guests including King Alexander I of Serbia (1891), King George I of Greece (1892) Leopold II of Belgium (1895) and King Alphonse XIII of Spain (1913).

    It also received a visit by the last survivor of its royal residents, the Empress Eugenie, on the 26th. June 1920.

    The façades the major buildings received their first protection by classification as historic monuments on the 20th. August 1913.

    In 1923, following the Great War, the Château became the home of the Écoles d’Art Américaines, schools of art and music, which still exist today. In 1927 it became a national museum. Between the wars the upper floors of the wing of the Belle Cheminée, burned in 1856, were rebuilt by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

    During World War II, Fontainebleau was occupied by the Germans on the 16th. June 1940, and occupied until the 10th. November 1940, and again from the 15th. May to the end of October 1941.

    Following the war, part of the Château became a headquarters of the Western Union and later NATO’s Allied Forces Central Europe/Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, until 1966.

    The general restoration of the Château took place between 1964 and 1968 under President Charles De Gaulle and his Minister of Culture, Andre Malraux. It was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. In 2006, the Ministry of Culture purchased the royal stables, and began their restoration.

    Beginning in 2007, restoration began of the theatre of the Château, created by Napoleon III during the Second Empire. The project was funded by the government of Abu-Dhabi, and in exchange the theater was renamed after Sheik Khalifa Bin Zayed al Nahyan. It was inaugurated on the 30th. April 2014.

    On the 1st. March 2015, the Chinese Museum of the Château was robbed by professional thieves. They broke in at about six in the morning, and, despite alarms and video cameras, in seven minutes stole about fifteen of the most valuable objects in the collection, including the replica of the crown of Siam given by the Siamese government to Napoleon III, a Tibetan mandala, and an enamel chimera from the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1736–1795).

    The Grand Apartments at Fontainebleau

    The Gallery of Francis I

    The Gallery of Francis I is one of the first and finest examples of Renaissance decoration in France. It was originally constructed in 1528 as a passageway between the apartments of the King with the oval courtyard and the great chapel of the convent Trinitaires, but in 1531 Francis I made it a part of his royal apartments, and between 1533 and 1539 it was decorated by artists and craftsmen from Italy, under the direction of the painter Rosso Fiorentino, in the new Renaissance style.

    The lower walls of the passage were the work of the master Italian furniture maker Francesco Scibec da Carpi; they are decorated with the coat of arms of France and the salamander, the emblem of the King. The upper walls are covered by frescoes framed in richly sculpted stucco. The frescoes used mythological scenes to illustrate the virtues of the King.

    On the side of the gallery with windows, the frescoes represent Ignorance Driven Out; The Unity of the State; Cliobis and Biton; Danae; The Death of Adonis; The Loss of Perpetual Youth; and The Battle of the Centaurs and the Lapithes.

    On the side of the gallery facing the windows, the frescoes represent: A Sacrifice; The Royal Elephant; The Burning of Catane; The Nymph of Fontainebleau (painted in 1860–61 by J. Alaux to cover a former entry to the gallery); The Sinking of Ajax; The Education of Achilles and The Frustration of Venus.

    The Ballroom

    The Ballroom was originally begun as an open passageway, or loggia, by Francis I. In about 1552 King Henry II closed it with high windows and an ornate coffered ceiling, and transformed it into a room for celebrations and balls.

    The ‘H’, the initial of the King, is prominent in the decor, as well as figures of the crescent moon, the symbol of Henry’s mistress Diane de Poitiers.

    At the western end is a monumental fireplace, decorated with bronze statues originally copied from classical statues in Rome. At the eastern end of the room is a gallery where musicians played during balls.

    The decor was restored many times over the years. The floor, which mirrors the design of the ceiling, was built by Louis-Philippe in the first half of the 19th. century.

    The frescoes on the walls and pillars were painted beginning in 1552 by Nicolo dell’Abate, following drawings by Primatice. On the garden side of the ballroom, they represent: The Harvest; Vulcan forging weapons for Love at the request of Venus; Phaeton begging the sun to let him drive his chariot; and Jupiter and Mercury at the home of Philemon and Baucis.

    The frescoes on the side of the Oval Courtyard represent: The feast of Bacchus; Apollo and the Muses on Mount Parnassus; The Three Graces dancing before the gods; and The wedding feast of Thetis and Peleus.

    St. Saturnin’s Chapel

    Behind the ballroom, there is St. Saturnin’s Chapel. The lower chapel was originally built in the 12th. century, but was destroyed and completely rebuilt under Francis I. The windows made in Sèvres were installed during Louis Philippe’s period, and were designed by his daughter Marie, an artist herself.

    The upper chapel was the royal chapel decorated by Philibert de l’Orme. The ceiling, made in the same style as the ballroom, ends with a dome.

    Room of the Guards

    A room for the guards was always located next to the royal bedchambers. The Salle des Gardes was built during the reign of Charles IX. Some traces of the original decor remain from the 1570’s, including the vaulted ceiling and a frieze of military trophies attributed to Ruggiero d’Ruggieri.

    In the 19th. century Louis Philippe turned the room into a salon, and redecorated it with a new parquet floor of exotic woods echoing the design of the ceiling, along with a monumental fireplace (1836), which incorporates pieces of ornament from demolished rooms that were built the 15th. and early 16th. century.

    The bust of Henry IV, attributed to Mathieu Jacquet, is from that period, as are the two figures on either side of the fireplace. The sculpted frame around the bust, by Pierre Bontemps, was originally in the bedchamber of Henry II.

    The decorations added by Louis Philippe include a large vase decorated with Renaissance themes, made by the Sèvres porcelain manufactory in 1832.

    During the reign of Napoleon III, the hall was used as a dining room.

    Stairway of the King

    The stairway of the King was installed in 1748 and 1749, in the space occupied during the reign of Francis I by the bedroom of Anne de Pisseleu, the Duchess of Étampes, a favorite of the King.

    It was designed by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, who used many decorative elements from the earlier room, which had originally been decorated by Primatice.

    The upper portion of the walls is divided into panels, oval and rectangular, with scenes representing the love life of Alexander the Great. The paintings are framed by large statues of women by Primatice. The eastern wall of the room was destroyed during the reconstruction, and was replaced during the reign of Louis Philippe in the 19th. century with paintings by Abel de Pujol.

    The Queen’s Bedroom

    All of the Queens and Empresses of France from Marie de Medici to the Empress Eugènie slept in the bedchamber of the Queen. The ornate ceiling over the bed was made in 1644 by the furniture-maker Guillaume Noyers for the Dowager Queen Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV, and bears her initials.

    The room was redecorated by Marie Leszczynska, the Queen of Louis XV in 1746–1747. The ceiling of the alcove, the decoration around the windows and the wood panelling were made by Jacques Vererckt and Antoine Magnonais in the rocaille style of the day. The decoration of the fireplace dates to the same period.

    The doors have an arabesque design, and were made for Marie-Antoinette, as were the sculpted panels over the doors, installed in 1787. The bed was also made especially for Marie Antoinette, but did not arrive until 1797, after the Revolution and her execution. it was used instead by Napoleon’s wives, the Empress Josephine and Marie-Louise of Austria.

    The walls received their ornamental textile covering, with a design of flowers and birds, in 1805. It was restored in 1968–1986 using the original fabric as a model.

    The furniture in the room all dates to the First Empire. The balustrade around the bed was originally made for the throne room of the Tuileries Palace in 1804. The armchairs with a sphinx pattern, the consoles and screen and the two chests of drawers were placed in the room in 1806.

    The Boudoir of Marie-Antoinette

    The boudoir next to the Queen’s bedroom was created for Queen Marie-Antoinette in 1786, and permitted the Queen to have a measure of privacy.

    The room is the best surviving example of the decorative style just before the French Revolution, inspired by ancient Roman models, with delicately painted arabesques, cameos, vases, antique figures and garlands of flowers against a silver background, framed by gilded and sculpted woodwork.

    The room was made for the Queen by the same team of artists and craftsmen who also made the game room; the design was by the architect Pierre Rousseau (1751-1829); the wood panelling was sculpted by Laplace, and painted by Michel-Hubert Bourgeois and Louis-François Touzé.

    Eight figures of the Muses were made in plaster by Roland; the ornate mantle of the fireplace was made by Jacques-François Dropsy, and decorated with glided bronze works by Claude-Jean Pitoin.

    The mahogany parquet floor, decorated with the emblems of the Queen, was made by Bernard Molitor, and finished in 1787. The painted ceiling, by Jean-Simon Berthélemy, shows Aurora with a group of angels.

    The furnishings were designed for the room by Jean-Henri Riesener, using the finest materials available; mother of pearl, gilded bronze, brass, satin and ebony. Some of the original furnishings remain, including the cylindrical desk and the table, which were made between 1784 and 1789.

    The two armchairs are copies of the originals made by Georges Jacob which are now in the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, while the footstool is the original.

    The Throne Room of Napoleon (former bedroom of the King)

    The Throne Room was the bedroom of the Kings of France from Henry IV to Louis XVI.

    In 1808 Napoleon decided to install his throne in the former bedroom of the Kings of France in the location where the royal bed had been. Under the Old Regime, the King’s bed was a symbol of royal authority in France and was saluted by courtiers who passed by it. Napoleon wanted to show the continuity of his Empire with the past monarchies of France.

    The majority of the carved wood ceiling, the lower part of the wood panelling, and the doors date to the reign of Louis XIII. The ceiling directly over the throne was made at the end of the reign of Louis XIV.

    Louis XV created the portion of the ceiling directly over the throne, a new chimney, sculpted wooden medallions near the fireplace, the designs over the doors, and the fine carved woodwork facing the throne (1752–54).

    He also had the ceiling painted white and gilded and decorated with mosaics, to match the ceiling of the bedroom of the Queen.

    Napoleon added the standards with his initial and the Imperial eagle. The decoration around the throne was originally designed in 1804 by Jacob-Desmalter for the Palace of Saint-Cloud, and the throne itself came from the Tuileries Palace.

    The chimney was originally decorated with a portrait of Louis XIII painted by Philippe de Champaigne, which was burned in 1793 during the French Revolution. Napoleon replaced it with a portrait of himself, by Robert Lefèvre. In 1834, King Louis-Philippe took down Napoleon’s picture and replaced with another of Louis XIII.

    The Council Chamber

    The Council Chamber, where the Kings and Emperors met their closest advisors, was close to the Throne Room. It was originally the office of Francis I, and was decorated with painted wooden panels showing following designs of Primatice, the virtues and the heroes of antiquity.

    The room was enlarged under Louis XIV, and the decorator, Claude Audran, followed the same theme.

    The room was entirely redecorated between 1751 and 1754 by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, with arcades and wooded panels showing the virtues, and allegories of the seasons and the elements, painted by Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre and Carle van Loo.

    The painter Alexis Peyrotte added another series of medallions to the upper walls depicting floral themes, the sciences and arts. The five paintings on the vaulted ceiling were the work of François Boucher, and show the seasons and the sun beginning its journey and chasing away the night.

    A half-rotonda on the garden side of the room was added by Louis XV in 1773, with a painted ceiling by Lagrenée depicting Glory surrounded by his children.

    The room was used as a council chamber by Napoleon I, and the furnishings are from that time. The armchairs at the table for the ministers are by Marcion (1806) and the folding chairs for advisors are by Jacob-Desmalter (1808).

    Apartment of the Pope and of the Queen-Mothers

    The apartment of the Pope, located on the first floor of the wing of the Queen Mothers and of the Gros Pavillon, takes its name from the 1804 visit of Pope Pius VII, who stayed there on his way to Paris to crown Napoleon I the Emperor of France.

    He stayed there again, involuntarily, under the close supervision of Napoleon from 1812 to 1814. Prior to that, beginning in the 17th. century it was the residence of the Queen Mothers Marie de’ Medici and Anne of Austria.

    It was also the home of the Grand Dauphin, the oldest son of Louis XIV. In the 18th. century it was used by the daughters of Louis XV, and then by the Count of Provence, the brother of Louis XVI.

    During the First Empire it was used by Louis, the brother of Napoleon, and his wife Queen Hortense, the daughter of the Empress Josephine. During the reign of Louis-Philippe, it was used by his eldest son, the Duke of Orleans.

    During the Second Empire, it was occupied by Stephanie de Bade, the adopted niece of Napoleon I. It was restored in 1859–1861, and used thereafter for guests of high rank. It was originally two apartments, which were divided or joined over the years depending upon its occupants.

    The Grand Salon, the Antechamber to the Bedroom of the Queen-Mother (Mid-17th. century)

    The Salon de Reception was the anteroom to the bedroom of Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII and mother of Louis XIV. It features a gilded and sculpted ceiling divided into seven compartments, representing the sun and the known planets, along with smaller compartments for military trophies.

    The room was created in 1558 by Ambroise Perret as the bedroom of Henry II in the pavilion des Poeles, a section of the Château that was later destroyed. Anne had it moved and decorated with her own emblems, including a pelican. The wood paneling in the room is probably from the same period.

    The decor of the bedroom dates largely to the 1650’s; it includes grotesque paintings in compartments on the ceiling, attributed to Charles Errard; richly carved wood paneling featuring oak leaves and putti; and paintings over the doors of Anne of Austria costumed as Minerva and Marie-Therese of Austria costumed as Abundance, both painted by Gilbert de Sève.

    The bedroom was modified in the 18th. century by the addition of a new fireplace and sculptured borders of cascades of flowers around the mirrors added in 1784. During the Second Empire, painted panels imitating the style of the 17th. century were added above the mirrors and between the mirrors and the doors.

    The Gallery of Diana

    The Gallery of Diana, an eighty-metre (242 feet) long corridor now lined with bookcases, was created by Henry IV at the beginning of the 17th. century as a place for the Queen to promenade. The paintings on the vaulted ceiling, painted beginning in 1605 by Ambroise Dubois and his workshop, represented scenes from the myth of Diana, goddess of the Hunt.

    At the beginning of the 19th. century, the gallery was in ruins. In 1810 Napoleon decided to turn it into a gallery devoted to the achievements of his Empire. A few of the paintings still in good condition were removed and put in the Gallery of Plates.

    The architect Hurtault designed a new plan for the gallery, inspired by the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, featuring paintings on the ceiling illustrating the great events of Napoleon’s reign.

    By 1814 the corridor had been rebuilt and the decorative frames painted by Moench and Redouté, but the cycle of paintings on the Empire had not been started when Napoleon fell from power.

    Once the monarchy was restored, King Louis XVIII had the gallery completed in a neoclassical style. A new series of the goddess Diana was done by Merry-Joseph Blondel and Abel de Pujol, using the painted frames prepared for Napoleon’s cycle.

    Paintings were also added along the corridor, illustrating the history of the French monarchy, painted in the Troubador style of the 1820’s and 1830’s, painted by a team of the leading academic painters.

    Beginning in 1853, under Napoleon III, the corridor was turned into a library and most of the paintings were removed, with the exception of a large portrait of Henry IV on horseback by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse. The large globe near the entrance of the gallery, placed there in 1861, came from the office of Napoleon in the Tuileries Palace.

    The Apartments of Napoleon

    In 1804 Napoleon decided that he wanted his own private suite of apartments within the Palace, separate from the old state apartments. He took over a suite of six rooms which had been created in 1786 for Louis XVI, next to the Gallery of Francis I, and had them redecorated in the Empire style.

    The Emperor’s Bedroom

    Beginning in 1808, Napoleon had his bedroom in the former dressing room of the King. From this room, using a door hidden behind the drapery to the right of the bed, Napoleon could go directly to his private library or to the offices on the ground floor.

    Much of the original decor was unchanged from the time of Louis XVI; the fireplaces, the carved wooden panels sculpted by Pierre-Joseph LaPlace and the sculpture over the door by Sauvage remained as they were.

    The walls were painted with Imperial emblems in gold on white by Frederic-Simon Moench. The bed, made especially for the Emperor, was the summit of the Empire style; it was crowned with an imperial eagle and decorated with allegorical sculptures representing Glory, Justice, and Abundance.

    The Emperor had a special carpet made by Sallandrouze in the shape of the cross of the Legion of Honor; the branches of the cross alternate with symbols of military and civilian attributes.

    The chairs near the fireplace were specially designed, with one side higher than the other, to contain the heat from the fire while allowing the occupants to see the decorations of the fireplace.

    The painting on the ceiling of the room was added later, after the downfall of Napoleon, by Louis XVIII. Painted by Jean-Baptiste Regnault, it is an allegory representing The clemency of the King halting justice in its course.

    The study was a small room designated as Napoleon’s work room. In 1811 he added the camp bed, similar to the bed he used on his military campaigns, so he could rest briefly during a long night of work.

    The salon of the Emperor was simply furnished and decorated. It was in this room, on the small table on display, that the Emperor signed his abdication in 1814.

    The Theatre

    Concerts, plays and other theatrical productions were a regular part of court life at Fontainebleau. Prior to the reign of Louis XV these took place in different rooms of the palace, but during his reign, a theatre was built in the Belle-Cheminée wing. It was rebuilt by the architect Gabriel, but was destroyed by a fire in 1856.

    It had already been judged too small for the court of Napoleon III, and a new theatre was begun in 1854 at the far eastern end of the wing of Louis XIV. It was designed by architect Hector Lefuel in the style of Louis XVI, and was inspired by the opera theatre at the palace of Versailles and that of Marie-Antoinette at the Trianon Palace.

    The new theatre, with four hundred seats arranged in a parterre, two balconies and boxes in a horseshoe shape, was finished in 1856. It has the original stage machinery, and many of the original sets, including many transferred from the old theatre before the fire of 1856.

    The theatre was closed after the end of the Second Empire and was rarely used. A restoration began in 2007, funded with ten million Euros by the government of Abu-Dhabi. In exchange, the theatre was renamed after Sheik Khalifa Bin Zayed al Nahyan.

    It was inaugurated on the 30th. April 2014. The theatre can be visited, but it no longer can be used for plays because some working parts of the theater, including the stage, were not included in the restoration.

    The Chinese Museum

    The Chinese Museum, on the ground floor of the Gros Pavillon close to the lake, was among the last rooms decorated within the Chateau while it was still an imperial residence.

    In 1867, the Empress Eugenie had the rooms remade to display her personal collection of Asian art, which included gifts given to the Emperor by a delegation sent by the King of Siam in 1861, and other objects taken during the destruction and looting of the Old Summer Palace near Beijing by a joint British-French military expedition to China in 1860.

    The objects displayed in the antechamber include two royal palanquins given by the King of Siam, one designed for a King and the other (with curtains) for a Queen. Inside the two salons of the museum, some of the walls are covered with lacquered wood panels in black and gold, taken from 17th. century Chinese screens, along with specially designed cases to display antique porcelain vases.

    Other objects on display include a Tibetan stupa containing a Buddha taken from the Summer Palace in China; and a royal Siamese crown given to Napoleon III.

    The salons are lavishly decorated with both Asian and European furnishings and art objects, including silk-covered furnishings and Second Empire sculptures by Charles Cordier and Pierre-Alexandre Schoenewerk. The room also served as a place for games and entertainment; an old bagatelle game and a mechanical piano from that period are on display.

    In addition to the Chinese Museum, the Empress created a small office in 1868, the Salon of Lacquerware, which was also decorated with lacquered panels and Asian art objects, on the ground floor of the Louis XV wing. This was the last room decorated before the fall of the Empire, and the eventual transformation of the Chateau into a museum.

    The Chapel of the Trinity

    The Chapel of the Trinity was built at the end of the reign of Francis I to replace the old chapel of the convent of the Trinitaires. It was finished under Henry II, but was without decoration until 1608, when the painter Martin Freminet was commissioned to design frescoes for the ceiling and walls.

    The sculptor Barthèlemy Tremblay created the vaults of the ceiling out of stucco and sculpture. The paintings of Freminet in the central vaults depict the redemption of Man, from the appearance of God to Noah at the launching of the Ark (Over the tribune) to the Annunciation.

    They surrounded these with smaller paintings depicting the ancestors of the Virgin Mary, the Kings of Judah, the Patriarchs announcing the coming of Christ, and the Virtues.

    Between 1613 and 1619 Freminet and Tremblay added paintings in stucco frames between the windows on the sides of the chapel, depicting the life of Christ. Freminet died in 1619, and work did not resume until 1628.

    The Trinity chapel, like Sainte-Chapelle in Paris other royal chapels, had an upper section or tribune, where the King and his family sat, with a separate entrance; and a lower part, where the rest of the Court was placed.

    Beginning in 1628, the side chapels were decorated with iron gates and carved wood panelling, and the Florentine sculptor Francesco Bordoni began work on the marble altar. The figure to the left depicts Charlemagne, with the features of Henry II, while the figure on the right depicts Louis IX, or Saint Louis, with the features of Louis XIII, his patron.

    Bordoni also designed the multicolored marble pavement before the altar and on the walls of the nave. The painting of the Holy Trinity over the altar, by Jean Dubois the Elder, was added in 1642.

    In the mid-17th. century the craftsman Anthony Girault made the sculpted wooden doors of the nave. while Jean Gobert made the doors of the tribune where the Royal family worshipped.

    In 1741 the royal tribune was enlarged, while ornate balconies of wrought iron were added between the royal tribune and the simpler balconies used by the musicians and those who chanted the mass. In 1779, under Louis XVI, the frescoes of Freminet illustrating the life of Christ, which had deteriorated with time, were replaced by new paintings on the same theme. The paintings were done in the same style by about a dozen painters from the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture.

    Under Napoleon, the old tabernacle of the chapel, which had been removed during the Revolution, was replaced by a new one designed by the architect Maximilien Hurtault.

    Beginning in 1824, the chapel underwent a program of major renovation and restoration that lasted for six years. The twelve paintings of the life of Christ were removed, as well as the gates to the side chapels.

    During the Second Empire, the wood panelling of the side chapels was replaced. The restoration was not completed until the second half of the 20th. century, when the twelve paintings, which had been scattered to different museums, were brought together again and restored in their stucco frames. Between 1772 and 1774, a small organ made by François-Henri Cilquot was installed on the left side of the chapel, near the altar.

    On the 5th. September 1725, the chapel was the setting for the wedding of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska. Napoleon III was baptized there on 4 November 1810, and Ferdinand-Philippe d’Orleans, the son of King Louis-Philippe, was married there to Helene de Mecklembourg Schwerin on the 30th. May 1837.

    The Gardens and the Park at Fontainebleau

    From the time of Francis I, the palace was surrounded by formal gardens, representing the major landscaping styles of their periods; the French Renaissance garden, inspired by Italian Renaissance gardens; the French formal garden, the favorite style of Louis XIV; and, in the 18th. and 19th. century, the French landscape garden, inspired by the English landscape garden.

    The Garden of Diana

    The Garden of Diana was created during the reign of Henry IV; it was the private garden of the King and Queen, and was visible from the windows of their rooms.

    The fountain of Diana was originally in the centre of the garden, which at that time was enclosed by another wing, containing offices and later, under, Louis XIV, an orangery. That building, and another, the former chancellery, were demolished in the 19th. century, thereby doubling the size of the garden.

    From the 17th. until the end of the 18th. century, the garden was in the Italian and then the French formal style, divided by straight paths into rectangular flower beds centred on the fountains, and decorated with statues, ornamental plants and citrus trees in pots.

    It was transformed during the reign of Napoleon I into a landscape garden in the English style, with winding paths and trees grouped into picturesque landscapes, and it was enlarged during the reign of Louis-Philippe. it was opened to the public after the downfall of Napoleon III.

    The fountain in the centre was made by Tommaso Francini, the master Italian fountain-maker, whose work included the Medici Fountain in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.

    The bronze statue of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, with a young deer, was made by the Keller brothers in 1684 for another royal residence, at Marly. It is a copy of an antique Roman statue, Diana of Versailles, which was given by the Pope to King Henry IV, and which is now in the Louvre.

    The original statue of the fountain, made by Barthelemy Prieur in 1602, can be seen in the Gallery of the Cerfs inside the palace. The sculptures of hunting dogs and deer around the fountain were made by Pierre Biard.

    The Carp Lake, English Garden, Grotto and Spring

    The lake next to the palace, with an area of four hectares, was made during the reign of Henry IV, and was used for boating parties by members of the Court, and as a source of fish for the table and for amusement.

    Descriptions of the palace in the 17th. century tell of guests feeding the carp, some of which reached enormous size, and were said to be a hundred years old. The small octagonal house on an island in the center of the lake, Pavillon de l’Étang, was added during the reign of Louis XIV, then rebuilt under Napoleon I, and is decorated with his initial.

    The English garden also dates back to the reign of Henry IV. In one part of the garden, known as the garden of pines, against the wing of Louis XV, is an older structure dating to Francis I; the first Renaissance-style grotto to be built in a French garden, a rustic stone structure decorated with four statues of Atlas.

    Under Napoleon, his architect, Maximilien-Joseph Hurtault, turned this part of the garden into an English park, with winding paths and exotic trees, including catalpa, tulip trees, sophora, and cypress trees from Louisiana, and with a picturesque stream and boulders.

    The garden also features two 17th. century bronze copies of ancient Roman originals, the Borghese gladiator and the Dying Gladiator. A path leads from the garden through a curtain of trees to the spring which gave its name to the palace, next to a statue of Apollo.

    The Parterre and Canal

    On the other side of the Château, on the site of the garden of Francis I, Henry IV created a large formal garden, or parterre Along the axis of the parterre, he also built a grand canal 1200 metres long, similar to one at the nearby château of Fleury-en-Biere.

    Between 1660 and 1664 the chief gardener of Louis XIV, André Le Nôtre, and Louis Le Vau rebuilt the parterre on a grander scale, filling it with geometric designs and paths bordered with boxwood hedges and filled with colourful flowerbeds.

    They also added a basin, called Les Cascades, decorated with fountains, at the head of the canal. Le Nôtre planted shade trees along the length of the canal, and also laid out a wide path, lined with elm trees, parallel to the canal.

    The fountains of Louis XIV were removed after his reign. More recently, the Cascades were decorated with works of sculpture from the 19th. century. A large ornamental fountain was installed in the central basin in 1817.

    A bronze replica of an ancient Roman statue, "The Tiber", was placed in the round basin in 1988. It replaced an earlier statue from the 16th. century which earlier had decorated the basin.

    Two statues of sphinxes by Mathieu Lespagnandel, from 1664, are placed near the balustrade of the grand canal.

    Posted by pepandtim on 2016-12-10 10:09:10

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  • France – Paris – St Gervais et  St Protais

    France – Paris – St Gervais et St Protais

    France - Paris - St Gervais et  St Protais

    Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais

    Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais is a Roman Catholic parish church found in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, on Position Saint-Gervais in the Marais district, east of Metropolis Corridor (Hôtel de Ville). The existing church was built amongst 1494 and 1657, on the site of two earlier church buildings the facade, accomplished past, was the initially example of the French baroque design in Paris. The organists of the church incorporated Louis Couperin and his nephew François Couperin, two of the most celebrated composers and musicians of the Baroque time period the organ they made use of can nonetheless be witnessed these days. The church includes remarkable examples of medieval carved choir stalls, stained glass from the 16th century, 17th century sculpture, and present day stained glass by Sylvie Gaudin and Claude Courageux. Saint-Gervais was a parish church until 1975, when it grew to become the headquarters of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem.

    Historical past

    A church committed to Saints Gervasius and Protasius, two Christian martyrs from Milan, is recorded as present on the web-site in the 7th century, making it a single of the very first parish churches on the correct bank in Paris. It was attended mostly by boatmen and fishermen, for the reason that it was near to the river port at the Location de Grève. It was designed on a slight hill, the Monceau Saint-Gervais, to be protected from the floods of the Seine. After the completion of the wall of Philippe-Auguste, developed in between 1190 and 1209, the community was protected towards assault and the population commenced to grow. The church had arrive beneath the sponsorship of numerous of the vital confreries or guilds of Paris, which include the wine-merchants. With their economic enable, a bigger church was constructed on the web site in the early 13th century. .[1]

    Building of the existing church began in 1494, but was delayed by the Wars of religion and by a scarcity of funds. It was begun in the Gothic type the chapels of the apse have been finished in 1530 and the transept in 1578.[2] Even though the inside of the church was largely Gothic, the facade was created in an initial new model, the French Baroque, on a prepare by architect Salomon de Brosse (1571–1626). The to start with stone of the facade was put by the younger King Louis XIII in 1616. Concerning 1600 and 1628, a next row of chapels was created on the north aspect such as the golden chapel ornamented with painted woodwork.[3]

    For the duration of the 17th and 18th century the church was attended by a lot of customers of the aristocratic households who lived in the Marais, like Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, and the Chancellor of Louis XIV, Michel Le Tellier, whose funeral monument is discovered in the church.

    Beginning in 1653, the church used and sheltered the Couperin household, 1 of the most famed dynasties of French musicians, for more than two generations. On a single aspect of the church, the dwelling of the celebrated harpsichordists, organists, and composers even now stands, with a plaque commemorating the Couperins’ tenure. The organ applied by Louis and François Couperin continue to exists today inside of the church it was crafted by the most popular organ builders of the time, François-Henri Clicquot, Louis-Alexandre Clicquot, and Robert Clicquot.

    In the 18th century, the facade of the church was significantly admired, although it was approximately blocked from look at by a row of homes. Voltaire wrote, “It is a masterpiece which is lacking practically nothing besides a area from which to see it.” The houses blocking the look at had been finally demolished in 1854, opening up the watch of the facade. .[4]

    All through the French Revolution, the church was emptied of many of its treasures and turned into a Temple of Explanation and Youth, right before getting returned to the Church in 1802.

    On 29 March 1918, a German shell, fired by the prolonged-assortment “Paris Gun”, fell on the church, killing 91 people and wounding 68 other individuals the explosion collapsed the roof when a Great Friday support was in development. This was the worst single incident involving a decline of civilian lives in the course of the German bombardment of Paris in 1918.[5] Among individuals killed was Rose-Marie Ormond Andre-Michel, the niece and a favorite model of John Singer Sargent.[6]

    In 1975 the church grew to become the headquarters of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem, launched in that identical 12 months by Père Pierre-Marie Delfieu with the authorisation of the then Archbishop of Paris, François Marty. The buy is devoted to carrying on monastic lifestyle in an urban context most of its members get the job done portion-time in civil occupations. The church is identified for its unique and ecumenical liturgy for example, adopting Lutheran hymn songs and Orthodox troparia. The purchase has founded many other communities in France, at Mont St. Michel, Vezelay, and Magdala Sologne and elsewhere in Europe, in Florence, Brussels, Cologne, Warsaw, and Montreal.

    Five new stained glass home windows by Sylvie Gaudin were being additional to the southwest chevet of the church in 1993–95. Yet another collection of six home windows by Claude Courageux was included in the early 2000s in the higher degree of the church, in the south nave, the transept and the choir, replacing those destroyed in excess of the generations.[7]

    Facade

    The facade of the church was started in 1616, well soon after the nave of the church, with the cornerstone laid by Louis XIII. The structure was by Salomon de Brosse (1571–1626), whose other major Paris operate was the Luxembourg Palace. While the nave of the church was late or flamboyant gothic, the facade introduced an totally new classical style, which opened the way for the French Baroque. The facade positioned the 3 classical orders of architecture a single atop the other. The floor flooring showcased three bays with pairs of columns with capitals of the easiest Doric buy, with a classical pediment. Above this is a stage of 3 bays with columns of the ionic buy, and previously mentioned that is a solitary bay with paired columns of the Corinthian order, keeping up a curved pediment. In purchase to connect the new facade to the gothic portion of the church, de Brosse created a traverse and two semicircular chapels on both facet of the facade. The facade served as design for other churches in France and Europe, most notably the church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, the church of the Jesuits, not significantly away in the Marais, which was the first church in Paris built entirely in the new type. [8]

    Since the Center Ages, an elm tree has been planted in front of the church it served as a assembly area, and a put wherever disputes were sometimes settled by judges. The trees were replanted often about the hundreds of years. Carvings of the trees from earlier generations are observed on the partitions of some of the neighboring buildings.

    Nave

    The nave of the church (1600–1620) is noteworthy for its dramatic peak and the simplicity and purity of its traces. Though the lower level of the nave is late gothic, the higher stage of the nave displays the impact of the Renaissance, with massive semi-round arches containing a series of big stained glass windows, filling the church with light. The upper windows are 21st-century, by Claude Courageux, illustrating the tale of Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark, and the patriarchs and their spouses. The ceiling of the nave, where by the arches of the walls occur jointly in an elaborate embroidery, symbolizes the vaults of heaven.

    Choir stalls

    The wooden choir stalls (16th–17th century), from the reigns of François I and Henri II, are richly carved with scenes of each day life, the diverse professions, and grotesque animals. Out of sight from all those attending mass, they ended up intended as a place where by the Canons of the church could take it easy all through the services. Some of the figures were being as well intimate for a lot more puritanical later hundreds of years, and had to be censored, including a carved image of a person and lady bathing together.[8]

    Chapel of the Virgin

    The chapel of the Virgin, at the again of the church, has a spectacular late gothic vaulted ceiling, showcasing a hanging crown of stone 2.5 meters in diameter, and abstract designs resembling flames. The space is typically utilised for silent meditation by church site visitors. The chapel has some of the oldest stained glass windows in the flamboyant gothic design, designed by Jean Chastellain in 1517, illustrating the daily life of the Virgin Mary. [8] Yet another impressive window by Chastellain, “The Judgement of Solomon”, built in 1533 in the colourful Renaissance fashion, is uncovered in a aspect chapel.

    Portray and sculpture

    The church has a selection of notable functions of art.

    – A painting by the Venetian artist Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734), Saint Gregory the Great and Saint Critical intercede for the souls in Pugatory, positioned in the Chapel of Saint Philomene. This was brought from Venice to Paris by Napoleon following his Italian campaign.

    – The paintings The Beheading of John the Baptist and The Adoration of the Magi by Claude Vignon (1593–1670), located in the Chapel of the Virgin.

    – A statue of Christ carved in oak by Antoine-Augustin Préault (1809-1879) in the Chapel of the Virgin.

    – Statues from the funeral monument of Michel Tellier (1603–1685) the Chancellor of Louis XIV, by Pierre Mazeline (1632–1685) and Simon Hurtelle (1648–1724). The figures consist of the Chancellor, in prayer a weeping ‘genie’ praying at his toes and two draped figures symbolizing Religion and Faith. Two other figures from the group, Justice and Prudence, are found in the Louvre.

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St-Gervais-et-St-Protais

    —————————————

    St Gervais et St Protais has 21 mid 16th century misericords and 21 early 17th century misericords.

    Much more information can be discovered listed here:-

    www.misericords.co.united kingdom/stgervaisandstprotais.html

    ————————————

    Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church – Paris

    A church devoted to the twin martyrs Gervais and Protais

    Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church is positioned on the japanese aspect of the Hôtel-de-Ville.

    It stands on a hillock identified as Monceau Saint-Gervais and replaced the Chapelle Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais.

    This chapel served the fishing village that formulated on the small mound during the 5th century. This community was one of the few on the Rive Droite, which then was a wide marsh these days known as Marais.

    The chapel was devoted to the twin Roman officers who had been martyred under the reign of Nero (1st century Advert).

    Location Saint-Gervais, the church square was originally identified as Carrefour de l’Orme. It was named immediately after the large elm that marked its centre and was felled at the French Revolution.

    It was enlarged and renamed for the duration of Haussmann’s renovation of Paris of the mid 19th century.

    The cemetery was decommissioned in 1765 to give way to Put Baudoyer, the square that serves the town corridor of the 4th district.

    Sarcophagi and burial artifacts courting back again to the 1st century Advertisement were being learned through design will work.

    Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church ,is a great illustration of French architecture.

    The Hôtel-de-Ville district made in the 13th century and gave increase to a thriving group. The minimal Saint Gervais Saint Protais Chapel turned obsolete, a greater church was a lot required!

    Even so, the building of the new church dragged on from 1494 to 1660 thanks to the absence of money.

    Astonishingly, this slow development turned Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church into a excellent illustration of the evolution of French architecture.

    Salomon de Brosse built the French Baroque (Jesuit Type) facade with the a few classical orders, the very first of its design and style in Paris.

    The 25m large Gothic Flamboyant nave and the 16th and 17th century stained glass windows are equally impressive.

    Francois-Henri Clicquot constructed the organ in 1601. The wind-chests, reeds and two-thirds of its stops are unique and change the instrument into one of the oldest organs in Paris.

    The composer François Couperin is among the the prestigious organists who performed in Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church, which is to this working day a big centre of Sacred Tunes.

    The church has two other, but scaled-down, organs which are located in the side chapels

    www.travelfranceonline.com/saint-gervais-saint-protais-ch…

    See also:-

    www.spottinghistory.com/check out/4397/st-gervais-et-st-protai…

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St-Gervais-et-St-Protais

    Posted by Glass Angel on 2021-05-08 12:11:59

    Tagged: , France , Paris , St Gervais et St Protais , Europe

    #home furniture #Diy #woodwork #woodworking #freedownload#woodworkingprojects #woodsmith ,wood craft, wooden planer, fantastic woodworking, wood chairs, wood operating equipment, common woodworking, woodworking books, woodworking workbench designs

  • France – Paris – St Gervais et  St Protais

    France – Paris – St Gervais et St Protais

    France - Paris - St Gervais et  St Protais

    Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais

    Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais is a Roman Catholic parish church found in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, on Spot Saint-Gervais in the Marais district, east of City Hall (Hôtel de Ville). The latest church was built in between 1494 and 1657, on the web page of two previously churches the facade, finished last, was the to start with case in point of the French baroque fashion in Paris. The organists of the church bundled Louis Couperin and his nephew François Couperin, two of the most celebrated composers and musicians of the Baroque period the organ they utilised can continue to be observed today. The church consists of amazing illustrations of medieval carved choir stalls, stained glass from the 16th century, 17th century sculpture, and present day stained glass by Sylvie Gaudin and Claude Courageux. Saint-Gervais was a parish church till 1975, when it turned the headquarters of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem.

    History

    A church focused to Saints Gervasius and Protasius, two Christian martyrs from Milan, is recorded as present on the internet site in the 7th century, building it a person of the 1st parish church buildings on the correct bank in Paris. It was attended mainly by boatmen and fishermen, due to the fact it was shut to the river port at the Location de Grève. It was designed on a slight hill, the Monceau Saint-Gervais, to be harmless from the floods of the Seine. After the completion of the wall of Philippe-Auguste, constructed involving 1190 and 1209, the neighborhood was guarded versus attack and the population began to mature. The church had appear less than the sponsorship of several of the essential confreries or guilds of Paris, including the wine-retailers. With their fiscal assist, a larger church was constructed on the website in the early 13th century. .[1]

    Building of the present church started in 1494, but was delayed by the Wars of faith and by a shortage of funds. It was begun in the Gothic design and style the chapels of the apse ended up finished in 1530 and the transept in 1578.[2] Though the inside of the church was mainly Gothic, the facade was developed in an initial new design, the French Baroque, on a plan by architect Salomon de Brosse (1571–1626). The initially stone of the facade was placed by the young King Louis XIII in 1616. Amongst 1600 and 1628, a second row of chapels was crafted on the north aspect which includes the golden chapel ornamented with painted woodwork.[3]

    Through the 17th and 18th century the church was attended by a lot of users of the aristocratic households who lived in the Marais, which include Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, and the Chancellor of Louis XIV, Michel Le Tellier, whose funeral monument is found in the church.

    Beginning in 1653, the church used and sheltered the Couperin spouse and children, a person of the most famed dynasties of French musicians, for more than two centuries. On one particular facet of the church, the residence of the celebrated harpsichordists, organists, and composers nonetheless stands, with a plaque commemorating the Couperins’ tenure. The organ applied by Louis and François Couperin nonetheless exists today within the church it was constructed by the most famous organ builders of the time, François-Henri Clicquot, Louis-Alexandre Clicquot, and Robert Clicquot.

    In the 18th century, the facade of the church was significantly admired, nevertheless it was nearly blocked from perspective by a row of properties. Voltaire wrote, “It is a masterpiece which is lacking practically nothing besides a spot from which to see it.” The homes blocking the see ended up finally demolished in 1854, opening up the view of the facade. .[4]

    In the course of the French Revolution, the church was emptied of numerous of its treasures and turned into a Temple of Rationale and Youth, in advance of remaining returned to the Church in 1802.

    On 29 March 1918, a German shell, fired by the long-vary “Paris Gun”, fell on the church, killing 91 men and women and wounding 68 many others the explosion collapsed the roof when a Very good Friday company was in development. This was the worst one incident involving a reduction of civilian life for the duration of the German bombardment of Paris in 1918.[5] Amid all those killed was Rose-Marie Ormond Andre-Michel, the niece and a most loved product of John Singer Sargent.[6]

    In 1975 the church grew to become the headquarters of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem, started in that identical 12 months by Père Pierre-Marie Delfieu with the authorisation of the then Archbishop of Paris, François Marty. The get is devoted to carrying on monastic daily life in an urban context most of its customers perform component-time in civil occupations. The church is recognized for its distinctive and ecumenical liturgy for instance, adopting Lutheran hymn audio and Orthodox troparia. The buy has started many other communities in France, at Mont St. Michel, Vezelay, and Magdala Sologne and in other places in Europe, in Florence, Brussels, Cologne, Warsaw, and Montreal.

    Five new stained glass home windows by Sylvie Gaudin had been extra to the southwest chevet of the church in 1993–95. Yet another series of 6 windows by Claude Courageux was additional in the early 2000s in the higher degree of the church, in the south nave, the transept and the choir, changing those ruined over the generations.[7]

    Facade

    The facade of the church was started in 1616, properly following the nave of the church, with the cornerstone laid by Louis XIII. The style and design was by Salomon de Brosse (1571–1626), whose other key Paris perform was the Luxembourg Palace. Even though the nave of the church was late or flamboyant gothic, the facade launched an fully new classical type, which opened the way for the French Baroque. The facade positioned the a few classical orders of architecture a single atop the other. The ground flooring featured 3 bays with pairs of columns with capitals of the simplest Doric order, with a classical pediment. Higher than this is a level of a few bays with columns of the ionic buy, and earlier mentioned that is a one bay with paired columns of the Corinthian buy, holding up a curved pediment. In buy to attach the new facade to the gothic part of the church, de Brosse built a traverse and two semicircular chapels on both aspect of the facade. The facade served as product for other church buildings in France and Europe, most notably the church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, the church of the Jesuits, not far absent in the Marais, which was the initially church in Paris designed entirely in the new design. [8]

    Because the Center Ages, an elm tree has been planted in entrance of the church it served as a meeting area, and a spot the place disputes had been often settled by judges. The trees had been replanted routinely more than the centuries. Carvings of the trees from previously centuries are observed on the partitions of some of the neighboring buildings.

    Nave

    The nave of the church (1600–1620) is noteworthy for its spectacular top and the simplicity and purity of its lines. Although the reduced level of the nave is late gothic, the upper amount of the nave exhibits the affect of the Renaissance, with significant semi-round arches containing a collection of large stained glass windows, filling the church with gentle. The upper windows are 21st-century, by Claude Courageux, illustrating the tale of Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark, and the patriarchs and their spouses. The ceiling of the nave, where the arches of the walls appear jointly in an elaborate embroidery, symbolizes the vaults of heaven.

    Choir stalls

    The picket choir stalls (16th–17th century), from the reigns of François I and Henri II, are richly carved with scenes of everyday daily life, the distinct professions, and grotesque animals. Out of sight from those attending mass, they were being designed as a location wherever the Canons of the church could relax in the course of the company. Some of the figures have been far too intimate for additional puritanical afterwards centuries, and experienced to be censored, which include a carved graphic of a man and girl bathing collectively.[8]

    Chapel of the Virgin

    The chapel of the Virgin, at the back again of the church, has a extraordinary late gothic vaulted ceiling, featuring a hanging crown of stone 2.5 meters in diameter, and summary designs resembling flames. The space is typically utilized for silent meditation by church visitors. The chapel has some of the oldest stained glass home windows in the flamboyant gothic type, manufactured by Jean Chastellain in 1517, illustrating the daily life of the Virgin Mary. [8] A different amazing window by Chastellain, “The Judgement of Solomon”, made in 1533 in the colorful Renaissance design, is observed in a aspect chapel.

    Painting and sculpture

    The church is made up of a quantity of noteworthy performs of artwork.

    – A painting by the Venetian artist Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734), Saint Gregory the Terrific and Saint Vital intercede for the souls in Pugatory, found in the Chapel of Saint Philomene. This was introduced from Venice to Paris by Napoleon right after his Italian campaign.

    – The paintings The Beheading of John the Baptist and The Adoration of the Magi by Claude Vignon (1593–1670), positioned in the Chapel of the Virgin.

    – A statue of Christ carved in oak by Antoine-Augustin Préault (1809-1879) in the Chapel of the Virgin.

    – Statues from the funeral monument of Michel Tellier (1603–1685) the Chancellor of Louis XIV, by Pierre Mazeline (1632–1685) and Simon Hurtelle (1648–1724). The figures include the Chancellor, in prayer a weeping ‘genie’ praying at his ft and two draped figures symbolizing Religion and Religion. Two other figures from the group, Justice and Prudence, are uncovered in the Louvre.

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St-Gervais-et-St-Protais

    —————————————

    St Gervais et St Protais has 21 mid 16th century misericords and 21 early 17th century misericords.

    Additional data can be found in this article:-

    www.misericords.co.united kingdom/stgervaisandstprotais.html

    ————————————

    Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church – Paris

    A church focused to the twin martyrs Gervais and Protais

    Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church is positioned on the japanese aspect of the Hôtel-de-Ville.

    It stands on a hillock recognized as Monceau Saint-Gervais and changed the Chapelle Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais.

    This chapel served the fishing village that created on the compact mound all through the 5th century. This community was a person of the handful of on the Rive Droite, which then was a broad marsh today recognized as Marais.

    The chapel was focused to the twin Roman officers who had been martyred beneath the reign of Nero (1st century Ad).

    Spot Saint-Gervais, the church sq. was at first identified as Carrefour de l’Orme. It was named right after the large elm that marked its centre and was felled at the French Revolution.

    It was enlarged and renamed during Haussmann’s renovation of Paris of the mid 19th century.

    The cemetery was decommissioned in 1765 to give way to Put Baudoyer, the sq. that serves the town hall of the 4th district.

    Sarcophagi and burial artifacts relationship back again to the 1st century Advert ended up learned for the duration of development will work.

    Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church ,is a high-quality illustration of French architecture.

    The Hôtel-de-Ville district designed in the 13th century and gave increase to a flourishing group. The very little Saint Gervais Saint Protais Chapel turned out of date, a more substantial church was a great deal desired!

    Nonetheless, the building of the new church dragged on from 1494 to 1660 due to the absence of cash.

    Amazingly, this sluggish development turned Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church into a perfect illustration of the evolution of French architecture.

    Salomon de Brosse made the French Baroque (Jesuit Design) facade with the 3 classical orders, the very first of its design in Paris.

    The 25m large Gothic Flamboyant nave and the 16th and 17th century stained glass windows are similarly outstanding.

    Francois-Henri Clicquot constructed the organ in 1601. The wind-chests, reeds and two-thirds of its stops are initial and change the instrument into one particular of the oldest organs in Paris.

    The composer François Couperin is among the the prestigious organists who performed in Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church, which is to this working day a significant centre of Sacred Tunes.

    The church has two other, but lesser, organs which are situated in the side chapels

    www.travelfranceonline.com/saint-gervais-saint-protais-ch…

    See also:-

    www.spottinghistory.com/perspective/4397/st-gervais-et-st-protai…

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St-Gervais-et-St-Protais

    Posted by Glass Angel on 2021-05-08 12:12:01

    Tagged: , France , Paris , St Gervais et St Protais , Europe

    #furnishings #Do it yourself #woodwork #woodworking #freedownload#woodworkingprojects #woodsmith ,wood craft, wood planer, wonderful woodworking, wood chairs, wooden doing work applications, well-known woodworking, woodworking guides, woodworking workbench ideas

  • France – Paris – St Gervais et  St Protais

    France – Paris – St Gervais et St Protais

    France - Paris - St Gervais et  St Protais

    Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais

    Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais is a Roman Catholic parish church positioned in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, on Location Saint-Gervais in the Marais district, east of Town Hall (Hôtel de Ville). The latest church was crafted between 1494 and 1657, on the web site of two previously church buildings the facade, completed last, was the first case in point of the French baroque design in Paris. The organists of the church involved Louis Couperin and his nephew François Couperin, two of the most celebrated composers and musicians of the Baroque interval the organ they made use of can however be found currently. The church is made up of exceptional illustrations of medieval carved choir stalls, stained glass from the 16th century, 17th century sculpture, and modern stained glass by Sylvie Gaudin and Claude Courageux. Saint-Gervais was a parish church right up until 1975, when it grew to become the headquarters of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem.

    Background

    A church devoted to Saints Gervasius and Protasius, two Christian martyrs from Milan, is recorded as current on the internet site in the 7th century, earning it one particular of the first parish churches on the correct financial institution in Paris. It was attended largely by boatmen and fishermen, mainly because it was shut to the river port at the Put de Grève. It was developed on a slight hill, the Monceau Saint-Gervais, to be safe and sound from the floods of the Seine. Just after the completion of the wall of Philippe-Auguste, constructed concerning 1190 and 1209, the neighborhood was shielded from attack and the inhabitants began to increase. The church had appear below the sponsorship of numerous of the essential confreries or guilds of Paris, such as the wine-retailers. With their financial enable, a more substantial church was built on the web page in the early 13th century. .[1]

    Building of the existing church began in 1494, but was delayed by the Wars of faith and by a scarcity of resources. It was begun in the Gothic fashion the chapels of the apse were being finished in 1530 and the transept in 1578.[2] While the interior of the church was mainly Gothic, the facade was constructed in an authentic new type, the French Baroque, on a approach by architect Salomon de Brosse (1571–1626). The to start with stone of the facade was positioned by the young King Louis XIII in 1616. Among 1600 and 1628, a 2nd row of chapels was constructed on the north facet such as the golden chapel ornamented with painted woodwork.[3]

    Through the 17th and 18th century the church was attended by several customers of the aristocratic households who lived in the Marais, like Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, and the Chancellor of Louis XIV, Michel Le Tellier, whose funeral monument is discovered in the church.

    Commencing in 1653, the church used and sheltered the Couperin loved ones, 1 of the most well-known dynasties of French musicians, for extra than two centuries. On one particular side of the church, the household of the celebrated harpsichordists, organists, and composers however stands, with a plaque commemorating the Couperins’ tenure. The organ utilized by Louis and François Couperin continue to exists these days inside of the church it was constructed by the most well-known organ builders of the time, François-Henri Clicquot, Louis-Alexandre Clicquot, and Robert Clicquot.

    In the 18th century, the facade of the church was considerably admired, however it was nearly blocked from perspective by a row of properties. Voltaire wrote, “It is a masterpiece which is lacking practically nothing apart from a put from which to see it.” The homes blocking the view were being at last demolished in 1854, opening up the perspective of the facade. .[4]

    During the French Revolution, the church was emptied of lots of of its treasures and turned into a Temple of Purpose and Youth, ahead of being returned to the Church in 1802.

    On 29 March 1918, a German shell, fired by the lengthy-array “Paris Gun”, fell on the church, killing 91 men and women and wounding 68 many others the explosion collapsed the roof when a Great Friday provider was in development. This was the worst single incident involving a loss of civilian lives all through the German bombardment of Paris in 1918.[5] Among those people killed was Rose-Marie Ormond Andre-Michel, the niece and a favourite product of John Singer Sargent.[6]

    In 1975 the church became the headquarters of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem, founded in that same calendar year by Père Pierre-Marie Delfieu with the authorisation of the then Archbishop of Paris, François Marty. The order is devoted to carrying on monastic lifetime in an urban context most of its associates perform element-time in civil occupations. The church is known for its distinctive and ecumenical liturgy for instance, adopting Lutheran hymn tunes and Orthodox troparia. The purchase has launched a number of other communities in France, at Mont St. Michel, Vezelay, and Magdala Sologne and in other places in Europe, in Florence, Brussels, Cologne, Warsaw, and Montreal.

    5 new stained glass home windows by Sylvie Gaudin had been additional to the southwest chevet of the church in 1993–95. Another series of 6 windows by Claude Courageux was extra in the early 2000s in the higher level of the church, in the south nave, the transept and the choir, changing all those ruined around the hundreds of years.[7]

    Facade

    The facade of the church was begun in 1616, properly after the nave of the church, with the cornerstone laid by Louis XIII. The layout was by Salomon de Brosse (1571–1626), whose other major Paris operate was the Luxembourg Palace. Whilst the nave of the church was late or flamboyant gothic, the facade launched an entirely new classical model, which opened the way for the French Baroque. The facade placed the a few classical orders of architecture a single atop the other. The floor ground highlighted 3 bays with pairs of columns with capitals of the most basic Doric buy, with a classical pediment. Previously mentioned this is a stage of 3 bays with columns of the ionic order, and higher than that is a single bay with paired columns of the Corinthian purchase, keeping up a curved pediment. In order to attach the new facade to the gothic part of the church, de Brosse made a traverse and two semicircular chapels on both facet of the facade. The facade served as product for other churches in France and Europe, most notably the church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, the church of the Jesuits, not significantly absent in the Marais, which was the first church in Paris constructed totally in the new design. [8]

    Given that the Center Ages, an elm tree has been planted in entrance of the church it served as a conference place, and a area where by disputes were at times settled by judges. The trees have been replanted routinely around the centuries. Carvings of the trees from before hundreds of years are found on the partitions of some of the neighboring buildings.

    Nave

    The nave of the church (1600–1620) is noteworthy for its extraordinary top and the simplicity and purity of its traces. When the reduce degree of the nave is late gothic, the higher stage of the nave exhibits the impact of the Renaissance, with big semi-round arches made up of a collection of big stained glass home windows, filling the church with gentle. The higher home windows are 21st-century, by Claude Courageux, illustrating the tale of Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark, and the patriarchs and their spouses. The ceiling of the nave, in which the arches of the walls appear collectively in an elaborate embroidery, symbolizes the vaults of heaven.

    Choir stalls

    The wooden choir stalls (16th–17th century), from the reigns of François I and Henri II, are richly carved with scenes of each day lifestyle, the unique professions, and grotesque animals. Out of sight from those people attending mass, they were made as a position exactly where the Canons of the church could unwind all through the provider. Some of the figures were being way too personal for extra puritanical later hundreds of years, and had to be censored, including a carved picture of a gentleman and woman bathing together.[8]

    Chapel of the Virgin

    The chapel of the Virgin, at the back of the church, has a remarkable late gothic vaulted ceiling, showcasing a hanging crown of stone 2.5 meters in diameter, and summary styles resembling flames. The home is frequently applied for silent meditation by church readers. The chapel has some of the oldest stained glass windows in the flamboyant gothic fashion, built by Jean Chastellain in 1517, illustrating the daily life of the Virgin Mary. [8] A further impressive window by Chastellain, “The Judgement of Solomon”, made in 1533 in the vibrant Renaissance design, is found in a side chapel.

    Painting and sculpture

    The church has a range of notable performs of artwork.

    – A painting by the Venetian artist Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734), Saint Gregory the Fantastic and Saint Crucial intercede for the souls in Pugatory, found in the Chapel of Saint Philomene. This was brought from Venice to Paris by Napoleon immediately after his Italian campaign.

    – The paintings The Beheading of John the Baptist and The Adoration of the Magi by Claude Vignon (1593–1670), located in the Chapel of the Virgin.

    – A statue of Christ carved in oak by Antoine-Augustin Préault (1809-1879) in the Chapel of the Virgin.

    – Statues from the funeral monument of Michel Tellier (1603–1685) the Chancellor of Louis XIV, by Pierre Mazeline (1632–1685) and Simon Hurtelle (1648–1724). The figures include the Chancellor, in prayer a weeping ‘genie’ praying at his ft and two draped figures symbolizing Faith and Religion. Two other figures from the group, Justice and Prudence, are uncovered in the Louvre.

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St-Gervais-et-St-Protais

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    St Gervais et St Protais has 21 mid 16th century misericords and 21 early 17th century misericords.

    More data can be identified listed here:-

    www.misericords.co.british isles/stgervaisandstprotais.html

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    Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church – Paris

    A church devoted to the twin martyrs Gervais and Protais

    Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church is found on the eastern facet of the Hôtel-de-Ville.

    It stands on a hillock recognized as Monceau Saint-Gervais and changed the Chapelle Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais.

    This chapel served the fishing village that produced on the little mound all through the 5th century. This neighborhood was one of the few on the Rive Droite, which then was a extensive marsh these days regarded as Marais.

    The chapel was focused to the twin Roman officers who were being martyred beneath the reign of Nero (1st century Advert).

    Put Saint-Gervais, the church square was in the beginning termed Carrefour de l’Orme. It was named immediately after the large elm that marked its centre and was felled at the French Revolution.

    It was enlarged and renamed in the course of Haussmann’s renovation of Paris of the mid 19th century.

    The cemetery was decommissioned in 1765 to give way to Spot Baudoyer, the sq. that serves the city corridor of the 4th district.

    Sarcophagi and burial artifacts dating back to the 1st century Advert have been uncovered throughout construction performs.

    Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church ,is a fantastic illustration of French architecture.

    The Hôtel-de-Ville district made in the 13th century and gave increase to a flourishing local community. The little Saint Gervais Saint Protais Chapel became obsolete, a greater church was significantly needed!

    Even so, the construction of the new church dragged on from 1494 to 1660 thanks to the absence of funds.

    Amazingly, this gradual development turned Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church into a excellent illustration of the evolution of French architecture.

    Salomon de Brosse intended the French Baroque (Jesuit Style) facade with the three classical orders, the to start with of its model in Paris.

    The 25m superior Gothic Flamboyant nave and the 16th and 17th century stained glass windows are similarly impressive.

    Francois-Henri Clicquot built the organ in 1601. The wind-chests, reeds and two-thirds of its stops are initial and change the instrument into a single of the oldest organs in Paris.

    The composer François Couperin is amid the prestigious organists who performed in Saint Gervais Saint Protais Church, which is to this working day a main centre of Sacred New music.

    The church has two other, but scaled-down, organs which are positioned in the facet chapels

    www.travelfranceonline.com/saint-gervais-saint-protais-ch…

    See also:-

    www.spottinghistory.com/view/4397/st-gervais-et-st-protai…

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St-Gervais-et-St-Protais

    Posted by Glass Angel on 2021-05-08 12:11:58

    Tagged: , France , Paris , St Gervais et St Protais , Europe , Wood , Carving

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