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Chantilly in History and Art

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PAGE

PREFACEvii

AUTHORITIES CONSULTEDxxi

FIRST PART

CHANTILLY AND ITS HISTORY

CHAPTER I

CHANTILLY AND ITS OWNERS: THE MONTMORENCYS

The Origin of Chantilly; the Gallo-Roman Cantillius; the Seigneurs of Senlis; the Orgemonts; the Montmorencys; the Great Constable of France; he builds the Petit-Château; the architects Jean Bullant and Pierre des Iles; the fair Charlotte de Montmorency; Henri IV madly in love with her; the last Montmorency condemned to the scaffold by Richelieu; Chantilly becomes the property of the French Crown 3

CHAPTER II

CHANTILLY AND THE CONDÉS

The origin of the Condés; their adherence to the Protestant Faith; Eléonore de Roy, Princesse de Condé, a staunch Huguenot; the two brothers, Antoine de Navarre and Louis I de Bourbon Condé; Catherine de Medicis sides with Condé in order to counterbalance the ascendancy of the Guises; she succeeds in estranging him from his wife; severe censure of Calvin; premature death of the Prince de Condé; his son Henri de Bourbon succeeds to the title; he sends all his family jewels to Queen Elizabeth to help the Huguenot cause; Charlotte de la Trémoille his second wife; his death; his son Henri II is heir to the Crown until the birth of Louis XIII; he is imprisoned for political reasons by Richelieu; his release; Louis XIII on his deathbed gives back Chantilly to its rightful owners16

CHAPTER III

THE GRAND CONDÉ

The Duc d’Enghien; his mariage de convenance with Claire-Clemence; his attachment to Marthe de Vigeau; Richelieu appoints him General of the French army; the Hero of Rocroy; after his father’s death he assumes his title but is styled the Grand Condé; his victories at Fribourg, Nördlingen, and Lens; he puts down the Fronde and brings the boy-king Louis XIV back to Paris33

CHAPTER IV

CLAIRE-CLEMENCE, PRINCESSE DE CONDÉ

The enmity between Mazarin and Condé; the latter and his brother Conti are arrested; the courageous efforts made by Claire-Clemence to liberate her husband; her flight from Chantilly; Turenne escorts her to Bordeaux where she is received with great enthusiasm; Paris clamours for the release of Condé; the Queen is obliged to send Mazarin with an unconditional order for this purpose; his entry into Paris; he expresses his gratitude to the Princess his wife; new difficulties arise; Condé’s alliance with Spain; he leaves France and goes over to the enemy47

CHAPTER V

CONDÉ’S ALLIANCE WITH SPAIN

Condé is defeated by Turenne at Dunkirk; the Peace of the Pyrenees is signed; Condé is reinstated in all his rights; he returns to Chantilly and lives there in retirement; Le Nôtre lays out the gardens and park; Condé invents a hydraulic machine to receive the waters of the Nonette; Mansart arrives at Chantilly and begins his alterations to the old feudal castle59

CHAPTER VI

FESTIVITIES AT CHANTILLY

The marriage of the Duc d’Enghien with Anne of Bavaria; Claire-Clemence is neglected by her husband; her health breaks down; a mysterious affair; she proclaims her innocence; she is banished to the fortress of Châteauroux; great festivities at Chantilly; Louis XIV and his Queen Maria Theresa visit Chantilly69

CHAPTER VII

THE GRAND CONDÉ A WARRIOR ONCE MORE

Louis XIV after the death of Philip IV of Spain asserts the Flemish rights of his wife; he suddenly declares war, and summons the Grand Condé and Turenne to lead the French army; Condé conquers Franche-Comté and the King makes Lille a French town; William of Orange inundates the whole of Holland to save it from invasion by the French; the Grand Condé is wounded; he returns to Chantilly; not yet recovered, he is summoned back by the King; Turenne is confronted by Montecucoli and meets his death near Salzburg; Condé by his brilliant operations preserves Turenne’s army and shuts out Montecucoli from Alsace, thus terminating this great campaign; Madame de Sevigné, Bossuet, Corneille, Racine, and Molière at Chantilly; death of the Grand Condé78

CHAPTER VIII

THE LAST CONDÉS

Succession of Henri Jules de Bourbon; he carries out his father’s wishes with regard to Chantilly; he is succeeded by his son Louis III, who outlives him but a short time; Louis Henri de Bourbon inherits the title when only eighteen; he builds the great stables; Louis XV visits Chantilly and is magnificently entertained; the Prince de Condé is made Prime Minister of France in 1723; influence of the Marquise de Prie over the Prince; after her death he marries a princess of Rhinfeld; the young châtelaine of Chantilly is greatly admired by Louis XV; he pays frequent visits to the Château; his death; the succession of the infant Louis Joseph de Bourbon in 1740; he marries Charlotte de Rohan-Soubise; their only son Louis Henri Joseph marries at the age of sixteen a Princess d’Orléans; Marie Antoinette visits Chantilly as Dauphine; the Comte and Comtesse du Nord at Chantilly; a famous hunting party; Princesse Louise de Condé and the Marquis de Gervaisais; an able speech in Parliament by the Duc d’Enghien when only sixteen years of age; the Revolution breaks out; the Condés leave France89

CHAPTER IX

CHANTILLY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Chantilly deserted; the Château devastated and used as a prison for political offenders; the so-called Black Band razes the Grand Château to the ground; Chantilly becomes State property under Napoleon; the Prince de Condé head of the French emigrés; he and his regiment subsequently find refuge in Russia; his arrival in England; his simple home at Wanstead; the tragic death of the Duc d’Enghien; the collapse of the French Empire; the Prince de Condé returns to Chantilly; he restores his ancestral mansion, and dies; the last of the Condés selects his nephew, Prince Henri d’Orléans, as his heir106

CHAPTER X

THE DUC D’AUMALE AND LORD OF CHANTILLY

The Duc d’Aumale owner of Chantilly; Chantilly the French Epsom; the heir of the Condés at Algiers; his victory at La Smalah; his marriage with Princess Caroline de Bourbon, daughter of the Prince of Salerno; Chantilly the home of the newly married pair; their son and heir named Prince de Condé; Louis-Philippe pays a visit to Chantilly; the Duke takes the command of the French Army in Algeria; the Duc d’Aumale in exile; his home at Twickenham; death of his eldest son; death of the Duchess; the Duke returns to Chantilly after the fall of the Second Empire; sudden death of the Duc de Guise, his only surviving son; the architect Daumet undertakes to rebuild the Grand Château; visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Chantilly; the Republic pronounces sentence of banishment on all claimants to the throne of France; the Duc d’Aumale included in this decree; he returns to England; his home at Wood Norton; he publicly announces his intention to leave Chantilly with all its forests, parks and art-treasures to the French nation; President Carnot signs a decree that France will welcome him back; he returns to Chantilly amid great rejoicings of the people; the sculptor Dubois is commissioned to erect his statue at Chantilly116

SECOND PART

THE MUSÉE CONDÉ

CHAPTER XI

THE ART TREASURES OF THE MUSÉE CONDÉ

The Duc d’Aumale joins the ranks of the great European collectors; his pronounced taste as a bibliophile; he purchases the Standish Library in 1851; the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry are acquired in 1855; the Reiset Collection of 380 drawings is bought in 1861; an exhibition is organised at Orleans House; Disraeli’s speech; the first French drawings acquired from the Utterson sale; the Pourtales Vase and the Minerva; the Madonna of the Maison d’Orléans; the Sutherland collection of French drawings is purchased; the portrait of Antoine de Bourgogne; the Carmontelle Collection is added; the Reiset Collection of paintings acquired; Victor Hugo addresses a letter to the Duc d’Aumale on his election as member of the Institut de France; Raphael’s Three Graces purchased from the Earl of Dudley; over 300 French drawings are acquired from Lord Carlisle; the Duc d’Aumale makes his last important acquisition—the forty miniatures by Fouquet from the Book of Hours of Etienne Chevalier129

CHAPTER XII

FRENCH ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS AT CHANTILLY

A note in the Inventory of the Duc de Berry mentions Pol de Limbourg and his brothers as the authors of the Très Riches Heures; Fouquet mentioned by François Robertet, Secretary to Pierre de Beaujeu Duc de Bourgogne; the Cabinet des Livres of the Duc d’Aumale; the Psalter of Queen Ingeburge; the Breviary of Jeanne d’Evreux; the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry discovered at a villa near Genoa154

CHAPTER XIII

THE TRÈS RICHES HEURES DU DUC DE BERRY

This work marks an important epoch in the history of French Art; the Calendar Months by Pol de Limbourg (the eldest brother); the scenes from the Life of Christ joint work of the three brothers; the Zodiac; the Plan of Rome; the Duc de Berry a collector of medals; his sudden death interrupts the completion of his Livre d’Heures; Jean Colombe, half a century later, undertakes the painting of the remaining miniatures; his mediocre workmanship165

CHAPTER XIV

JEAN FOUQUET OF TOURS

Court-Painter to Charles VII and Louis XI; inspired by the work of the Limbourgs; a similar inclination for landscapes in his backgrounds; Etienne Chevalier, Treasurer of France, his patron; the forty miniatures by Fouquet at Chantilly; Fouquet well known in Italy as a painter; commissioned to make a portrait of Pope Eugenius IV; mentioned by Vasari; his impressions in Italy shown in the miniatures at Chantilly and in the MS. of the Antiquitates Judæorum; his strong individuality; his sense of humour and other characteristics179

CHAPTER XV

JEAN PERRÉAL AND BOURDICHON

Bourdichon’s name found upon cartridge-cases made out of old accounts and contracts; the Prayer-Book of Anne de Bretagne and its ornamentation of flowers; Perréal painter to the Duc Pierre de Bourbon; studies Fouquet’s work at Moulins; the miniatures of the MS. of St. Michel in the Bibliothèque Nationale attributed to Perréal by Durrieu; affinity between the angels in the MS. and those in the triptych at Moulins; why the original drawings of the Preux de Marignan are likely to be by Jean Perréal rather than by Jean Clouet; the handwriting of Perréal identified on the back of a drawing attributed to him; the Tournois tapestries; Perréal mentioned in the Royal Accounts as Architect and Sculptor; his medals representing Louis XII and Anne de Bretagne in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and in the Wallace Collection196

CHAPTER XVI

JEAN CLOUET

Migrates to France; settles at Tours; marries Jeanne Boucault; his portrait of Oronce Finé exists only in an engraving; his craftsmanship of a more elaborate nature than that of Perréal; the Duc de Guise and the unknown man at Hampton Court; his portrait of Francis I in the Louvre; Queen Claude and her sister Renée; numerous drawings to be attributed to Jean Clouet; his characteristics211

CHAPTER XVII

FRANÇOIS CLOUET AND HIS FOLLOWERS

Favoured by Francis I; he adheres at first to parental teaching; Mary Stuart in her girlhood by Germain le Mannier; Mary Stuart as Dauphine and as Queen of France; Francis II; Charles IX by François Clouet; his exquisite drawing of Margot de France at Chantilly; portrait of Pierre Quthe at the Louvre; the portrait of Odet de Coligny at Chantilly; Catherine de Medicis as a collector; her handwriting identified on the margins of drawings at Chantilly, and elsewhere; Corneille de Lyon and the Dauphin François; Jean de Court court-painter to Henri III; Carron and the brothers Lagneau; Daniel Dumoustier; his portrait of Henri, Duc de Guise; the Quesnels, court-painters to the first Bourbon Kings; the painting of Gabrielle d’Estrées and her two sons at Chantilly227

CHAPTER XVIII

FROM NICOLAS POUSSIN TO COROT

Dr. Fagon by Mathias le Nain; Nicolas Poussin; his drawing of Daphne; Gaspar Poussin; Claude Lorraine; Mignard and his portrait of Molière; the portrait of Louis XIV by Rigaud; Largillière and his portrait of a friend of the Condés; he painted Liselotte as a Naiad; the Princesse de Condé, wife of Louis Joseph, by Nattier; Desportes and Oudry; a copy by Boucher of a portrait of Watteau by himself; the relations between Crozat and Watteau; Lancret adopts Watteau’s style; Madame Adelaide de France by Latour; the portrait of Georgette by Greuze; the small portraits of the Royal Bourbons and of the Bourbon Condés by Fragonard; Ingres; Delaroche and Eugène Delacroix; Descamps represented by no less than ten paintings; Fromentin’s Arab Chiefs hawking in the Sahara; Meissonier and his great pupil Detaille; Corot and the Barbizon School; the tomb of the Duc d’Aumale by Dubois248

INDEX: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y, Z 279

LIST OF PLATES

PLATE

I. Mary Stuart in her girlhoodFrontispiece

Germain le Mannier, Musée Condé.

FACING PAGE

II. Guillaume de Montmorency4

Attributed to Perréal, Musée Condé.

III. The Château de Chantilly6

IV. Anne de Montmorency8

François Clouet, Musée Condé.

V. Henri II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé12

School of François Clouet, Musée Condé.

” Geneviève de Bourbon12

Beaubrun, Musée Condé.

VI. Antoine de Bourbon16

” Charlotte de la Trémoille16

School of Francois Clouet, Musée Condé.

VII. Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé18

” Henri I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé18

School of François Clouet, Musée Condé.

VIII. Francis II20

François Clouet, Bibliothèque Nationale.

IX. Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre22

François Clouet, Musée Condé.

X. Catherine de Medicis26

Attributed to Corneille de Lyon, Musée Condé.

” Henri II26

François Clouet, Biblothèque Nationale.

XI. The Grand Condé36

David Teniers, Musée Condé.

XII. The Virgin as Protector of the Human Race42

E. Charonton and Vilatte, Musée Condé.

” The Tomb of the Duc and Duchesse de Bretagne in the Cathedral at Nantes42

Executed after Designs by Perréal.

XIII. Chantilly before 168750

XIII. Chantilly in the Time of the Grand Condé50

XIV. Antoine de Bourgogne, called Le Grand Bâtard62

Memling, Musée Condé.

XV. Molière84

Mignard, Musée Condé.

XVI. Charlotte de Rohan Soubise, Princesse de Condé96

Nattier, Musée Condé.

XVII. Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Condé104

Madame de Tott, Musée Condé.

XVIII. Louis Henri Joseph de Bourbon, Last Prince de Condé114

Danloux, Musée Condé.

XIX. Henri d’Orléans, Duc d’Aumale124

Léon Bonnat, Musée Condé.

XX. The “Minerva” of Chantilly136

Greek Bronze, Musée Condé.

XXI. The “Madonna” of the House of Orléans140

Raphael, Musée Condé.

XXII. A Game of Chess144

Carmontelle, Musée Condé.

XXIII. The Mystic Marriage of St. Francis146

Sassetta, Musée Condé.

” Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci146

Piero di Cosimo, Musée Condé.

XXIV. The Three Graces148

Raphael, Musée Condé.

XXV. The Story of Esther150

School of Sandro Botticelli, Musée Condé.

XXVI. The “Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry”: Plan of Rome152

Pol de Limbourg and his Brothers, Musée Condé.

XXVII. The “Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry”: January154