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onjour!
this month we have the pleasure of presenting our 100th newsletter to you, our faithful FranceMonthly
readers, in partnership with the Maison de la France. My team and I would like to thank you
wholeheartedly for your continued support. To celebrate these many years of sharing with you our
passion for France and its history, let's discover the castle of Fontainebleau, one of the past
kingdom's most prestigious monuments, a lavish palace that dates back to the Renaissance. It was
the birthplace of several kings, an established leisure home, and the setting for many major events.
We invite you to visit this huge residence of 1,500 rooms, an "extra-ordinary" castle that made
Napoleon state that it was "the kings' real place of residence, the home of the centuries"!
But before continuing, please remember that you can access and read all the newsletters already
published at http://www.francemonthly.com/
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Fontainebleau
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Today, Fontainebleau would be just an ordinary city without much history, if not for the wonderful
hidden treasure it contains in its midst, namely the castle where the kings of France came to relax.
If you tried to describe the essence of the structure, before even crossing through the huge iron gate
added by Napoleon in 1810 to emphasize the entrance,
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Fontainebleau Prestigious Entrance
(Click photo to enlarge)
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you would mention a main central building with a staircase in the shape of a double horseshoe at its
center and two rectilinear and symmetrical wings on either side of it. It may appear to be simply
monumental architecture without any specific original features. But nothing could be further from
the truth, as such appearances of simplicity and regularity are deceptive and the visitor is in for
some pleasant surprises. Very large galleries, richly decorated sumptuous apartments, and an abundance
of works of art await you in a huge residence of utmost unruly architecture. Monarchs succeeded one
another in Fontainebleau with amazing constancy over 8 centuries, from the 12th to the 19th, always
enlarging, renovating and embellishing the place according to their own tastes without any concern
beyond their own satisfaction.
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Hunting, the Kings' Passion
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As early as the 12th century, the monarchs favored Fontainebleau, attracted by the mild local
climate that was supposed to be good for one's health. It was an escape from the congestion in
Paris and most importantly, it was the kings' preferred location for relaxation as they could
engage in hunting, their favorite activity. King Francis I came to this forest, full of game,
to hunt the "black and red beasts". The black beasts were the wolves and the wild boars, the
very incarnation of evil, and all was permitted while hunting them, any sort of trick, any
sort of trap. The red beasts, deer and stags, were the noblest prey. One could only take them
"by nobility and kindness". Francis I was very passionate about hunting, and it was said he
could track down a beast for three days straight. At the end of his life, weakened by syphilis
caught from loving the ladies a little too much, he would be carried out to the forest on bedding
as he did not want to miss out on his beloved leisure activity. Almost all the kings shared this
passion for hunting. Indeed, on September 4, 1725, Louis XV chose Fontainebleau rather than
Versailles to celebrate his wedding to Marie Leszczynska, as nothing in the world would have
made him miss one of those precious hunting parties...
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Recipe for Dec 2010
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Waltnut and Apple Cake
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Francis I in Fontainebleau
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After his bitter defeat at Pavie in 1525, Francis I was taken prisoner by his worst enemy,
Charles Quint. One year later, it was a defeated and sick monarch who returned to France
after having traded his freedom for that of his two sons, then 7 and 8 years of age.
Nevertheless, his return marked the start of a new period of rule as the French court
settled back in Paris after more than one century of "exile" in the Val de Loire region.
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Henry IV on Horseback
(Click photo to enlarge)
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Along with this move came a rise in architectural activity thanks to the rebuilding of royal
residences and hunting castles outside the capital city. At this time, the king and the courtiers
alike would leave the Louvre castle and head out to the many crown residences as soon as the
first spring rays of sunshine appeared. In Fontainebleau, Francis I had inherited a medieval
fortress in ruins, built around a square keep. To the west of this castle were a church and a
convent run by a community of Trinitarian monks. The king decided to retain the keep for the
royal dwelling and appropriate the main buildings belonging to the monks. This was only the
very beginning of all the transformations the castle of Fontainebleau would undergo in the
years ahead.
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The Francis I Gallery
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Francis I decided to connect the two structures with a covered passage topped by a gallery. He hired
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Francis I Gallery
(Click photo to enlarge)
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two renowned Italian artists, Rosso Fiorentino and Francisco Primaticcio to design a very innovative
interior of absolute beauty that mixed wood paneling surmounted by frescoes, themselves decorated
with stucco figures. As the gallery was part of the king's private apartments, he kept the keys to
it and was delighted in acting as guide to the various ambassadors and other distinguished guests
that would visit him. He wanted to personally describe to them the scenes representing episodes
from mythology or decipher for them the featured allegories that illustrated his great wisdom and
tremendous fame. Today, it is with great pleasure that you can stroll down this 243-ft long gallery
that contains so many marvels, even if the king is no longer available to reveal the thread of the
messages hidden in the works of art. Francis I went down in history as a hunting enthusiast and a
patron of the arts, but also as a ladies' man whose excessive passion for women is reflected with
no sense of modesty whatsoever in many of the sculptures and paintings at Fontainebleau.
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The King's Favorite
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Generally speaking, the kings' official mistresses occupied a place just as important as lawful
spouses did. The interiors of the apartments they occupied in the castle were covered in first
rate artistic creations that were often marked by extreme sensuality. You can see this in the
part of the room of the Duchess of Etampes, favorite of Francis I, that fortunately survived
being turned into a stairwell under Louis XV.
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King's Favorite Bedroom Decoration
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There, you can admire magnificent frescoes illustrating various episodes of Alexander the Great's love life,
lined with garlands of fruit and supported by huge sculptures of naked women under the gaze of cherubs but
also Satan. All this voluptuousness and sensuality, all these risqué paintings and sculptures were meant
to awaken the senses, but one century later, Ann of Austria did not see these representations with such an
approving and conciliatory eye. Apparently, the queen regent had about 100,000 crowns' worth of pictures
burned, judging them to have no artistic quality. Henri Sauval, a lawyer and 17th century historian, stated
in his book, "The History of Brothels in the Court and in Paris" (a book in which he described what he
considered to be the loose morals prevalent under Francis I and Henri II), that had this queen "burned
all that was abominable and dirty, all of Fontainebleau would have been reduced to ashes!".
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The Ballroom |
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Henri II succeeded his father Francis I to the throne and continued the work on this castle that he was
also particularly fond of. He was not bound by any architectural rule of symmetry or regularity; he was
simply concerned with enlarging the castle so that it could receive his court. Francis I hired Philippe
Delorme to build a magnificent arched loggia aired out by very large openings in one wing of the castle.
Henri II decided to turn this space into a huge ceremonial hall worthy of receiving the most powerful
figures in the world, and where he could host the most formal events of the monarchy. This ballroom is
today without any doubt one of the most beautiful spaces in the entire castle. It showcases massive
rectangular columns covered in wood paneling, a monumental chimney, and a gigantic coffered ceiling that
displays magnificent frescoes representing the universe of the gods. The message to visitors was clear:
it was thanks to the gods that the world existed, and only Love could guarantee harmony and consequently
peace on earth. The admiration of the successive visiting emperors, kings, princes and ambassadors was
endless faced with such a profusion of artistic richness at a time when the kingdom of France was exerting
its influence throughout the world.
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The "Salle du Jeu de Paume" and the Canal
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Henri IV also played a definitive role in the expansion of Fontainebleau. He added three new wings
to the castle which could then accommodate more than 1,000 courtiers. His reign was also marked by
the commission of large decorated interiors, in particular that of the beautiful Trinitarian church
then elevated to the status of royal chapel.
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Fontainebleau Long Canal
(Click photo to enlarge)
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In addition to the gardens, we can also credit this builder king for creating a 3,940-ft long canal that
came to be thanks to a bet. Indeed, Henri IV had built a small indoor court to satisfy his passion for
the "jeu de paume", his favorite sport, a cross between squash and tennis. The matches were always the
subjects of bets, and one day, the king won. It was with this money that he decided to have a canal cut
in his castle's gardens. It took three years of work to dig it and eight days to fill it up, a real
technical feat at the time. The hosts of Fontainebleau could then navigate the canal in boats as varied
as they were unusual: Louis XIII enjoyed the little galley that Cardinal Richelieu had given him, while a
few years later, King Louis-Philippe preferred to ride in a gondola.
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An Invitation to Travel... |
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Although Louis XIV was probably the one king who spent the most time at Fontainebleau, he was also the
one responsible for the least amount of transformation, with the exception of the great flower beds
designed by Le Nôtre between 1660 and 1664. Fontainebleau represented for the Sun King a place of memories,
a home that had been embellished over the years by his grandparents and parents and had become an inheritance
he was particularly attached to. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette did not have the time to enjoy all the new
development they undertook at Fontainebleau. During the French Revolution, the castle miraculously escaped
destruction but all of its furniture was removed so that it could serve first as barracks, then as a prison.
It was Napoleon who breathed new life into Fontainebleau in 1804, but that is another story that I will tell
you all about next month if you would like...
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