C H A N T I L L Y
IN HISTORY AND ART
BY LOUISE M. RICHTER
(MRS. J. P. RICHTER)
WITH PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1913
All Rights Reserved
TO MY DEAR FRIEND
MRS. LUDWIG MOND
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
PREFACE
My first visit to Chantilly was in April 1904, when the Exhibition of the French Primitives at the Pavillon Marsan, following close on that at Bruges, raised interest and comment far outside the boundaries of France. I visited the Musée Condé with the intention of studying some more examples of the French fifteenth-and sixteenth-century art which had so much attracted me in Paris.
The high expectations I had conceived were not disappointed, and the result was that my studies in that marvellous collection were prolonged. Weeks grew into months. The Limbourgs, Jean Fouquet, and the Clouets held me in their spell; the Château of Chantilly, with the history of its famous owners, aroused my interest more and more.
Through the great courtesy of the late M. Anatol Gruyer and of M. Gustave Macon, Directors of the Musée Condé, I was given access to all the art-treasures within its walls and I was allowed to while away my time with the famous miniatures and drawings and with the pictures in which I was so much interested. Tranquil and undisturbed, often quite alone, meeting now and then only the furtive glance of one or other of the Museum attendants, who were always ready at hand to be of service, I was enabled to pursue my studies without interruption, owing to the great kindness of my friend M. Macon. The excellent Library, too, was at my disposal, as well as the manuscripts in the Cabinet des Livres.
Nor was that all. When at the end of the day the Museum doors were closed I could walk in the vast park of the Château along its shady avenues and watch the swans gliding on the silent waters, whilst the autumn leaves were the sport of the varying breezes. In that unbroken solitude Time, now long past, brought before me once more kings and queens, courtiers and warriors, ladies of beauty and fame: and amid my reveries I seemed to recognise the well-known faces whose representations I had just left in the galleries within. For was it not here, in these woods and on these lakes, that they had lived and feasted in the manner recorded in the chronicles of their time?
Thus, irresistibly attracted by degrees, I conceived the idea of writing about the history and the art at Chantilly: and I undertook a task which grew gradually in my hands to dimensions that at first I had not anticipated.
My chief study, as mentioned above, was intended to be on the French fifteenth-and sixteenth-century artists which the Duc d’Aumale so successfully collected. To the Italian and the Northern Schools and the later French periods at the Musée Condé I have purposely given but a passing mention, since they are equally well or better represented in other galleries.
The Bibliography which I have appended shows that much has been written on early French Art in France, especially during the last fifteen years; and I feel greatly indebted to authors such as Comte Leopold Delisle, Comte Paul Durrieu, MM. George Lafenestre, Anatol Gruyer, Louis Dimier, Gustave Macon, Moreau Nelaton, Sir Claude Phillips, Mr. Roger Fry and others, by whose works I have greatly profited, as also by my husband’s expert knowledge. But no book exactly covering this ground has as yet been written in the English language.
More than special acknowledgment and thanks are due to Mr. Robert H. Hobart Cust for his help and valuable suggestions. In the arduous task of revising the proofs of this book he was assisted by my son Mr. F. J. P. Richter. I have also great pleasure in expressing my deep gratitude to my dear friend Mrs. Ludwig Mond, whose constant encouragement was of inestimable value to me.
I am indebted to Mr. Murray for the personal interest he has so kindly shown in the many details which this work entails.
Louise M. Richter.
London, October 1913.
CONTENTS
PAGEPREFACE
viiAUTHORITIES CONSULTED
xxi FIRST PART CHANTILLY AND ITS HISTORY CHAPTER I CHANTILLY AND ITS OWNERS: THE MONTMORENCYSThe 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 CONDÉSThe 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 owners
16 CHAPTER III THE GRAND CONDÉThe 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 Paris
33 CHAPTER IV CLAIRE-CLEMENCE, PRINCESSE DE CONDÉThe 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 enemy
47 CHAPTER V CONDÉ’S ALLIANCE WITH SPAINCondé 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 castle
59 CHAPTER VI FESTIVITIES AT CHANTILLYThe 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 Chantilly
69 CHAPTER VII THE GRAND CONDÉ A WARRIOR ONCE MORELouis 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 Condé
78 CHAPTER VIII THE LAST CONDÉSSuccession 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 France
89 CHAPTER IX CHANTILLY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONChantilly 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 heir
106 CHAPTER X THE DUC D’AUMALE AND LORD OF CHANTILLYThe Duc
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 Chevalier
129 CHAPTER XII FRENCH ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS AT CHANTILLYA 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 Genoa
154 CHAPTER XIII THE TRÈS RICHES HEURES DU DUC DE BERRYThis 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 workmanship
165 CHAPTER XIV JEAN FOUQUET OF TOURSCourt-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 characteristics
179 CHAPTER XV JEAN PERRÉAL AND BOURDICHONBourdichon’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 Collection
196 CHAPTER XVI JEAN CLOUETMigrates 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 characteristics
211 CHAPTER XVII FRANÇOIS CLOUET AND HIS FOLLOWERSFavoured 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 Chantilly
227 CHAPTER XVIII FROM NICOLAS POUSSIN TO COROTDr. 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 Dubois
248INDEX: 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
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