Château de Meudon
This article contains too many pictures for its overall length. |
Château de Meudon | |
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Location | Meudon |
Nearest city | Paris, Versailles |
Founded | 14th century |
Designated | 12 April 1972 |
Château de Meudon, also known as the Royal Castle of Meudon or Imperial Palace of Meudon, is a French castle in Meudon, Hauts-de-Seine. At the edge of a wooded plateau, the castle offers views of Paris and the Seine, as well as of the Chalais valley. Located between Paris and Versailles, in the heart of a hunting reserve, the castle has an ideal topography for large gardens.
"... the most beautiful place in the world, both in its layout and in its location. " -
J. F. Blondel], Cours d'Architecture ..., 1773, volume 4, p. 132.
It had many successive owners from the Renaissance until the fall of the Second French Empire. It should not be confused with the Château de Bellevue, also located in Meudon.
Famous past residents include:
The Chateau de Meudon has been classified as a historical monument since 12 April 1972. Hangar Y in the Chalais-Meudon park has been classified as an historical monument since 4 June 2000. It was the first storage facility for aerostats in the world and is one of the few still standing.
History
Late Middle Ages
Lords of Meudon (12th century–1413)
There is little information on the origin of the castle, but it was certainly a small castle with an unknown floor plan. Many records do, however, exist of 12th-century lords whose patronymic was "Meudon" as well as a mention of a "manor of the Meudon vale" in the 14th century.[1] Marie-Thérèse Herlédan published an account of this period in her book Meudon, Avant le Roy (Meudon Before the King). Many Meudons held positions at court, such as Robert de Meudon, the Grand Panetier of France under King Philip the Fair. His title was mentioned in a deed in 1305.
Augustin Isbarre (1413–1425)
On 17 July 1413, Jean de Montrevel, known as the Hermit, lord of
Renaissance
Sanguin family and the Duchesse d'Étampes (1426–1552)
The fief of Meudon was bought in 1426 by Guillaume Sanguin for 2000 livres.[4] Sanguin was the valet of Charles VII and the treasurer of the Duke of Burgundy. He was previously associated with the former owner, Augustin Isbarre, a provost of the merchants of Paris from 1429 to 1431. It seems that he built a manor on the site of the old castle. He died in Paris on 14 February 1441.
Jean Sanguin, known as the "Bastard of Sanguin", inherited the
The manor was demolished in 1520 by
Francis I of France stayed in Meudon from 11 July to 5 August 1537 and many more times before his death in 1547.
Cardinal of Lorraine and the Guises (1552–1654)
This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2021) |
Upon the death of Francis I, Anne de Pisseleu had to sell the Meudon estate in 1552 to Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorraine.[7] This ended the Sanguins' presence at Meudon, which had lasted more than a century. The former favourite withdrew to the Château d'Heilly, where she died in September 1580.[8]
The cardinal then renovated the castle, drawing inspiration from the Italian architectural style, which he had discovered during his travels to Rome. A letter written on 28 December 1552, addressed to his sister-in-law Anna d'Este, says: "I have been at Meudon while I was in Paris... there are no more beautiful houses in this kingdom."[citation needed]
The cardinal had the wings on the courtyard side of the gallery surmounted by a terrace, based on drawings by
Terraced gardens and an
Historian Henri Sauval wrote that the Diana of Versailles had been brought from Italy and placed in the castle of Meudon, but recent research seems to prove otherwise.[9] This grotto enjoyed immediate success and was praised by Pierre de Ronsard in his "Chant pastoral sur les noces de Charles, duc de Lorraine et Madame Claude, fille du roi" (Pastoral Song on the Wedding of Charles, Duke of Lorraine and Madame Claude, Daughter of the King).[10]
In 1568, Giorgio Vasari wrote enthusiastically about the grotto, whose repute had reached Italy.[11] For the Cardinal of Lorraine, Primaticcio executed many decorations in his great palace called La Grotte (the grotto), of so extraordinary an amplitude that it recalled the baths of antiquity, because of the infinite number and size of its galleries, staircases, and public and private apartments. The construction of this cave was spread out over time, starting with the grotto itself and the two ramps of the staircase (circa 1552–1555), and then, in a second stage, the two pavilions (1559). The lower cryptoportico was then built in a third phase.[12]
At the death of the Cardinal of Lorraine in 1574, the castle remained the property of the family of Guise, who held it as one of their fiefs, along with the castle of Joinville, Haute-Marne.
Meudon was plundered during the
Meudon became one of the seats of the
In 1639, Jacques Dubreuil boasted of Meudon's stairs and
The domain was plundered under the
Grand Siècle
Abel Servien and the marquis de Sablé (1654–1679)
Meudon, in poor condition, was bought on 12 September 1654 by
On the garden side, he built a monumental orangerie, still preserved today. He enlarged the park, which had existed since at least the Duchesse d'Étampes. Through many land purchases, he managed to put through a "Grande Perspective" south of the castle, featuring basins and ponds, including those of Chalais. Letters patent dated 31 August 1657 bear "permission to extend the park of Meudon, enclose it in walls, even though the acquired inheritances are in the neighborhood of the pleasures of His Majesty," or in other words, of the neighboring Palace of Versailles.
When Queen
Servien died on 17 February 1659 at Meudon itself in his apartment on the ground floor, after having spent a true fortune on Meudon, which was still under construction. His son, Louis-François Servien , marquess of Sablé and protector of Jean de La Fontaine, kept the estate for twenty years. On 2 August 1665, Gian Lorenzo Bernini visited Meudon.
Financial constraints finally forced Louis-Francois Servien to sell Meudon to
Louvois and his wife, Anne de Souvré (1679–1695)
For the powerful minister, who called himself "M. de Chaville" in his youth, the site of Meudon was ideal. It was near both Versailles and the Chateau of Chaville, where the family property was located. It was rebuilt by his father, Michel Le Tellier. Louvois obtained the superintendence for the buildings in 1683, then embarked on a series of grandiose rearrangements. He enriched the façade of the chateau with busts and balconies on columns of gray marble. He sumptuously redecorated the whole interior. He had woodwork installed in 1684.
Above the doors were floral paintings in the style of
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger noted the following during his visit to the castle in 1687.[15]
- "The most remarkable in the house was the ceiling painted in oils directly on the vault by M. de La Fosse. At the four corners of the composition, simulating stucco, two seated figures and two standing figures were painted: in the corners and between the statues, the ceiling was painted in oils directly on the vault by listels all around were completely gilded. The adjoining room must also have been painted by M. de La Fosse. Above, in the oval room, the mirrors made a very good impression. They were arranged circularly and were as tall as the five windows. There was only a woodwork halfway up the wall. In each panel were placed three ice sheets, about 6 qv. High and, when you were in the center of the panel, you could see each other in the three windows at once. The gallery was nicely decorated with a number of tables of jasper, busts, etc., and all the King's actions were to be painted by Van der Meulen; Two were already completed. At one end of the gallery there was a drawing-room, in which the table and the whole panel between the two windows were lined with mirror glass, and the opening of the doors was so great that, from afar, one could almost see the whole gallery. There is, moreover, a profusion of very large and beautiful mirrors. The furniture was very fine, but not of a peculiar taste. Every winter they were removed because of soil moisture. Beneath, in M. de Louvois's own room, there were three pipes of copper that permitted heat to pass at will. This heat came from a copper stove placed in the chimney of the neighboring room. A ventilation pipe passing under the vestibule arrived at this chimney, and then distributed the heat, when the window of this chamber was opened (like the "heat-making machine" at Versailles).
- "The most remarkable in the house was the ceiling painted in oils directly on the vault by M. de La Fosse. At the four corners of the composition, simulating stucco, two seated figures and two standing figures were painted: in the corners and between the statues, the ceiling was painted in oils directly on the vault by
- Borne to one of the sides of the stable by pillars of stones or buttresses, the house is externally in very bad condition. The site is rugged to the possible but nevertheless very pleasant. The central aisle below in the garden in front of the terraces, is covered with turf and 70 yards wide.Then, in the middle of an alley of sand of eight yards wide, are spruces and other trees; Then, on two sides, a new lawn of nine yards, and again a sandy alley with trees eight yards wide. The parterre of M. Le Nostre, in the middle, in front of the cave that I have drawn, is very nice, so the two "embroidery" in the center in front of the house, with two marble vases and marble statues around the oval basin, hand-built as tiles did not do a bad effect. I also drew the boxes of the orange trees there, taking them separately. This garden is surrounded, as well as the park, by a wall at least seven miles in circumference. At the bottom of the garden was another large pleasure-house, which M. de Louvois had bought for life for M. Honoré Courtin Courtin."
Outside, Louvois had extensive hydraulic works to power the waterways of the park, and allow the spectacular water jets. The upper park was developed, while Le Notre worked on the gardens continually throughout the 1680s and created practically all of the lower gardens, invented new groves and parterres, including the one in front of the Grotto. Louvois also arranged a large vegetable garden along the avenue of the castle. In short, he built everything at Meudon that Louis XIV did, in a more spectacular way still, at Versailles at the same time. And he asked
In July 1681, the Queen of France,
On July 16, 1691, Louvois died suddenly at Versailles. He had reached the point of honors, and the splendor of Meudon symbolized this power materially.
On the proposal of Louis XIV, the widow of Louvois,
The apogee: Louis XIV and Monseigneur (1695–1711)
Works of the prince
The
The Dauphin liked to surround himself at Meudon with his family, his friends and
In 1705, space still lacked to accommodate all the courtiers, who were {more and more numerous. At any moment, Monseigneur might become the next king of France, through the death of the aging Louis XIV. The Dauphin then decided to demolish the grotto, which was out of fashion, and to build a new castle, the Château-Neuf . Jules Hardouin-Mansart and Louis XIV collaborated on the project, which was entrusted to the contractors of the chapel and the Palais de Versailles. All the work at Meudon was indeed done by the same artists employed by the king, who worked for the institution of the King's Buildings.
The Château-Neuf had five levels, but due to the steep slope, did not have the same appearance on the side of the parterre as on the side of the forest. It was composed of three pavilions crowned with roofs with ridge terrace, connected by building wings. This sober architecture, which was not to overshadow the architectural character of the neighboring Château-Vieux, was nevertheless enriched by fine sculptures on the side pavilions, and the central pediments, where angels held the coat of arms of the Dauphin. Inside, a succession of apartments opened onto a large central corridor. The interior decoration, which highlighted the collections of the Dauphin, was composed of woodwork panels varnished or painted in pastel colors, enhanced by gilding. A ceremonial apartment was planned for Monseigneur, since Louis XIV retained his usual accommodation in the Château-Vieux, despite the new construction.
It was imitated some ten years later by the
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Layout of the ground floor of the Château-Vieux in 1695, at the arrival of Monseigneur.
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Layout of the ground floor of the Château-Vieux in 1700.
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Layout of the first floor of the Château-Vieux in Meudon, 1700
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Cutaway of the Château-Vieux, with the chapel, after 1702. East-west axis, 2013
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Diagram of the Château-Vieux and of the aile des marronniers (Chestnut tree wing) to the right. ADY
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Château-Neuf on the side of the parterre. Mariette, around 1715.
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Diagram of the third level of the Château-Neuf (known as "le Bel étage", the beautiful floor), by Mariette, around 1715
Hanging gardens
The gardens were not to be outdone. The poem titled Maison royale de Meudon (Royal House of Meudon), dated 1703, even compared them to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon of Semiramis. To expand Meudon, the Dauphin in 1696 acquired the neighboring estate of Chaville. He thus formed a vast hunting preserve where he and his father, who also liked Meudon, practiced venery. The park of Meudon was thus linked to that of Versailles, and together they made up the Grand Parc de Versailles, extending from Meudon to Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Many embellishments are carried out in the gardens. Louis XIV took pleasure in advising his son on them. The King - or his son - even drew up a "Manière de montrer Meudon " a guide in the style of the texts written for Versailles.
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The Arthelon waterfall, lower gardens of Meudon. ca. 1700
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one of the two waterfalls framing the "pièce de M. Le Nostre" (piece by Monsieur Le Nostre)[citation needed]
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Plan for renovation of the parterre of the Hôtel Courtin, lower gardens of Meudon, c. 1710. BNF
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The park and the gardens of the château, Mariette, circa 1715
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Overall map of the domains of Meudon and Chaville, by Alexandre Lemoine, ADY. 1723
18th century
At the death of the Dauphin in 1711, the castle was still perfectly maintained, since the Bâtiments du Roi (King's Buildings) administered it. Nevertheless, until the death of Louis XIV, no member of the royal family returned to Meudon, as a result of the remarks made by Louis XIV the day after the death of Monseigneur his son, wishing that the new Dauphin, the Duke of Burgundy, make no more trips to Meudon. The Marquis de Sourches on the 17th of April, 1711 noted that "Meudon was completely emptied and that all the furnishings were taken to the King's furniture storehouse."[19]
On 17 May 1717, the Tsar
On May 16, 1718, Madame de Ventadour organized a fireworks show for Louis XV, who visited Meudon two or three times a week all that summer. On the following June 6, a new fireworks display was mounted in honor of the king.
Duchess of Berry, daughter of the Regent (1718–1719)
Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, Duchess of Berry, eldest daughter of the Regent, owned the Château d'Amboise and wanted to swap it for Meudon. She was then the first lady of the court of France, and both cousin and aunt to the young unmarried king. The Regent eventually agreed to the exchange effective 30 October 1718. The Duchess of Berry, who was then pregnant, gave the management of this new residence to her paramour, the Count of Riom, lieutenant of her guards.[21] Riom took possession of the castle the next day, 31 October. But the governor in office, Hyacinthe de Gauréault Dumont nevertheless retained his salary. On 2 November 1718, the Duchess went to Meudon to choose her apartments. On 8 February and 24 March 1719, the Regent came to Meudon to have supper with his daughter, by then just about to give birth.[22]
From April 12 to May 14, 1719, the duchess was convalescing at Meudon, hoping to recover from her harrowing delivery. She died on July 21, 1719, at her Château de la Muette in Paris, to which she had travelled from Meudon.[23] On 22 July 1719, a few hours after her death, seals were affixed to her properties: the Palace of Luxembourg and her castles of La Muette and Meudon.
Saint-Simon (1719–1722)
After the death of his daughter,
Louis XV and his children
The triumph of Bacchus, who is carried on an elephant, with his tyrsus in his right hand, and several Baccantes around him carrying instruments. In the foreground are two children, one mounted on a tiger. On the left one sees Silenus on the reverse.[34]
- By Jupiter, and herdownfall by lightning was engineered by Jupiter’s jealous wife Juno.
- By Musée du Louvre. Venus, Bacchus and Ceres. This painting is preserved in the Louvre, where it is called "Bacchus and Ariane". It is also named in the ancient inventories as ‘’Bacchus and Ariane’’, ‘’Bacchus and Erigone’’ or ‘’Bacchus, Flora and Ceres’’. Sent to the Central Museum at the end of the year II, it lost its attribution but remained at the Louvre, where it was found among the anonymous members of the French school.[35]It is to be restored.
- By Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims. The theme comes from episode number six of Virgil's ‘’Eclogues’’, entitled "Silenus," in which Virgil writes: "And as the old man opens his eyes, he blushes his forehead and the temples of the juice Bloody of the blackberry." Silenus, asleep in a cave after his usual drinking, is surprised by two satyrs and the nymph Egle, for whom he promised to sing. The two satyrs seized Silenus, whom they bound with ivy, while the beautiful Egle blushed her face with blackberries, which she crushed in order to snatch from her threat the fulfillment of her promise. Measurements: 4 feet 9 inches by 4 feet 1 inches. The picture was substantially cut in the nineteenth century. It is preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts of Reims[36]
- Billiard room
Beginning in 1700, the old staircase by Louvois and
Monseigneur ordered for this room a series of paintings above the doors, all of them oval and of the same size:
- By Charles de La Fosse: Hercules between Vice and Virtue: Height 4 ft 10in; L. 3 ft 5 in; oval. For this work Charles de La Fosse was paid 600 livres in 1700, and 200 livres more in 1701, "for the perfect payment of 800 livres for the picture he made at Meudon, representing Hercules".[37]
. The painting, painted in 1700, had a format of 3 feet 10 inches by 3 feet 5 inches. Frédéric Villot correctly identified the painting at Meudon as a canvas, now rectangular, in the museum of Nevers in 1872[38]
By Jean Jouvenet: Latone and the peasants of Lycia. A copy of this work is preserved in the Museum of Art and History of Meudon, another, undoubtedly the original, in the Palace of Fontainebleau[39] It is inspired directly by the central white marble sculpture of the Latone fountain in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles.
- Latone et les paysans lyciens: By Cephalus of Phocis and his wife, who gives a dart to her husband. After being deposited at Compiègne,[40] the painting was sent in 1962 to the Musée de Saint-Etienne under the title: Venus and Adonis , and attributed in error to Bon Boullogne. Its former oval shape is clearly visible. The painting was made and placed in 1700, as David and Abigail commissioned by the same painter. A preparatory drawing is held at the Cabinet des Arts Graphiques in the Louvre.[41]
- Antoine Coypel], then the youngest painter of the four: 'Hercules bringing back Alceste from the underworld; Height 3 feet 10 inches; Width 3 feet. It is a question of "Hercules returning to Admetus his wife Alceste that he brings back from the Underworld", a picture brought to Meudon by Antoine Coypel himself.[37] The painting was placed before May 1700, according to a memoir cited by F. Engerand [42] Charles-Antoine Coypel, the painter's son, showed the novelty of these literary subjects. To execute the painting of Meudon, Antoine Coypel had translated by Mme Dacier the fifth act of the tragedy of Euripides. The painting is preserved in the Cholet Museum of Art and History. The work was formerly titled "Hercules Freeing Theseus"! In May 1700, Antoine Coypel came to Meudon himself to install his barely completed work.
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Latone et les paysans de Lycie, Jean Jouvenet, Musée d'art et d'histoire in Meudon
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Hercule entre la Volupté et la Vertu (Hercules Between Voluptuousness and Virtue), Charles de La Fosse, musée de Nevers
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Hercules Bringing Alceste Out of the Hells, Antoine Coypel, Musée d'art et d'histoire de Cholet
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Céphale et Procris, Louis de Boullogne le Jeune, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Saint-Étienne.
- Antechamber (former dining room of the Dauphin from 1695 to 1699)
The former "dining room of Monseigneur", which had this function in 1695, became a real antechamber with the enlargement of the apartment. The inventory of 1775 indicates: "Room lighted by two windows, paneling with gold frames, gilded cornice, ceiling in gilt arabesque and painted by Claude Audran. Jacques-François Blondel recalls his admiration for these ceilings of arabesques at Meudon, although he condemns the style of the ceiling to decorate the dwelling of a prince:
« D'ailleurs l'on peut réduire ces ouvrages à des nuages avec des Génies, & à quelques belle grisaille qui en forme les extrémités; décoration préférable à ces riches, mais peu vraisemblables peintures grotesques, dont on voit d'ingénieux desseins d'Audran, & qui sont exécutées avec un succès étonnant dans quelques appartements de Meudon, aussi bien que dans les plafonds & sur les lambris du Château de la Ménagerie: seul bâtiment où ce genre de peinture soit convenable ».
The inventory of 1775 adds that there is also a "green Campan marble chimney, the top of the mantelpiece decorated with marble of any height with gold-bronze ornamentation of ground gold, the mirror in two parts, the first 52 inches wide by 96 inches high, the second 52 inches by 26 inches high. Two paintings above the doors of each 3 feet 6 inches wide by 2 feet 9 inches high, representing fruit and flowers, painted by Jean-Baptiste Belin".
In this antechamber, the dauphin placed the collection of paintings offered to Louis XIV in 1693 by André Le Nôtre and which the king put at the disposal of his son. These works are now preserved in the
Bedchamber of the Grand Dauphin
The inventory of 1775 indicates that the chamber of the Dauphin possessed: "Wall panels of gilded frames, gilded cornice, gilded ceiling and painted in arabesques by Claude Audran III, marble serancolin fireplace, the top in violet brown marble, the whole very ornamented with bronze gilded of ground gold. (...) Two paintings above doors of 3 feet 5 inches by 4 feet 1 inch wide representing fruits painted by Batiste ". It is in this room that Monseigneur died on April 14, 1711. This chimney excited the curiosity of the researchers: the famous little painting preserved at Versailles, representing "the Regent in his Cabinet of work with the Duke of Chartres" by Fiske Kimball as representing the Dauphin at Meudon. Of course, one finds there the type of furniture and decorations that could decorate the castle. But Jerome de La Gorce asks the right question:
"Has this interior really existed? Is it not surprising that the chimney, the paneling to the left of the door and the desk, that is to say, most of the elements of the decoration, are identical to the engraved work of Berain? Would not the painter, whose career is still obscure, have had recourse to the plates published by the draftsman to reconstruct a framework worthy of the personages whom he represented? The inventory of the furnishings of the crown mentions in the year 1695: "[n °] 1615 - An upholstery [sic] of red and yellow satin velvet, embroidered and silver lined, listed before No. 783, Which has been upgraded and furnished to serve Monseigneur le Dauphin at Meudon, now consisting of a full bed, four armchairs, eight folding seats, two panes, two doors, six sheets of screens, a business chair and two tapestries".
In addition, Monseigneur retrieved for his room the small ebony desk encrusted with copper and tortoiseshell which he had bought at Godron, which had a plateau supported by eight bronze
Corner cabinet
The inventory of 1775 indicates that the room was adorned with "Wall panels with large gold frames, golden cornice, gilded ceiling with arabesques painted by Audran. Chimney of violet breccia marble, the top decorated in marble of all the height with bronzes very rich in children[clarification needed] and ornaments gilded of ground gold (...). As with the two previous rooms, Audran decorated with arabesques the ceiling: "Having come to Meudon on April 22, 1699, the king left on the 24th; Two days later, on the 25th of April, Mansart received orders from Monsignor to have the paintings of the ceiling of his corner cabinet erased, to print it with three layers of white, and to paint a base Grotesque like that in the room of the Dauphin. " The ceiling which was then erased can only be that realized by Charles de La Fosse for Louvois, whose subject is Pandora, and whose modello has been identified by Clémentine Gustin-Gomez. In 1702 twas found: "In the Grand Cabinet of Monseigneur: Five Porcelains, 630 Louis; Two Bronzes 180 Louis. Stéphane Castelluccio identified these two bronzes as the Laocoon and Lutteurs, for which Monseigneur certainly commanded their rich 'feet of marquetry'. Finally, the inventory of the royal furniture[43] indicates under the number: "1768 - Four couty mats striped with two strands of wool, with their threads of several colors, for the windows of the cabinet of Monseigneur at Meudon."
Saint-Simon, describing the death of the Grand Dauphin, tells us that it is in this room, on the evening of April 14, 1711, that the famous scene of the comings and goings takes place between the corner cabinet of the king, and the adjoining room where Monseigneur was dying:
"As he was about to enter the room, the Princess of Conti, who had had time to run to Monseigneur's in that short interval of the table-out, presented herself to prevent him from entering the room. She even pushed him away, and told him that he must no longer think of anything but himself. Then the king, almost in weakness of so sudden and complete a reversal, let himself go on a couch which was at the entrance of the door of the closet by which he had entered, which gave into the room. He asked all that came out of it for news, and hardly anyone dared to reply. Madame de Maintenon, hastening to the king, sat on the same sofa and tried to weep. She was trying to take the king, whose carriages were already ready in the courtyard, but there was no way of making him realize that the Monseigneur had expired. This unconscious agony lasted nearly an hour after the king was in the closet. The Duchess and the Princess de Conti divided themselves between the care of the dying man and of the king, to whom they frequently returned, while the confused Faculty, the distraught valets, the buzzing courtesan, pushed each other and walked without ever changing place".
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Schéma of the ceiling of the corner cabinet, erased by the dauphin in 1699
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Arabesques on gold background by Claude Audran III, circa 1700. Archives des Arts décoratifs de Paris.[44] For the Ménagerie de Versailles or the apartment of the Dauphin at Meudon
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Other decorations by Audran.[45]
The apartment named "of the Duke and the Duchess of Burgundy"
It was situated between the Grand Vestibule and the apartment of Monseigneur.
These rooms were the main apartment of Abel Servien, who died there in his room on the ground floor in 1659.
When
Rooms on the ground floor
The first floor contained large reception rooms, mainly the "Salon des Moures" and the gallery.
Salon des Maures
Louvois placed in this salon twelve terms in Moorish and Moorish marble, eight of which are now in the Palace of Compiègne, transferred there at the very end of the 18th century. The minister also embellished the attic with seven paintings of flowers by Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer. The 1733 inventory of paintings of Meudon describes them:
- "a golden vase filled with all kinds of flowers, laid on a blue carpet embroidered with gold - the bottom of the picture is a sky."
- "a golden vase, or rather an agathic manner, whose handles are of gold, filled with all kinds of flowers, a carpet behind which is embroidered with gold, with two parrots, one blue and the other yellow."
- "A golden ornamented goderon vase filled with all kinds of flowers - a carpet behind embroidered gold with a red and green parrot".
- "A vase in the shape of a silver bowl filled with all sorts of flowers placed on a red carpet embroidered with gold with a peacock on the bowl."
- "A golden vase garnished with all kinds of flowers, among which a poppy falls with one of its leaves to the pedestal on which the vase is laid."
- "A golden vase laid on a foot-filled way filled with all kinds of flowers with a peacock behind the vase."
- "A gold and silver vase set on a blue and gold carpet whose lining is crimson with a monkey holding a fish."
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Terme féminin, C38.120 MR 2494.
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Terme masculin, C38.98 MR 2492.
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Terme féminin, C38.129 MR 2495.
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Terme masculin, C38.122 MR 2497.
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Terme masculin, C38.97 MR 2496.
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Terme masculin, C38.121 MR 2493.
The antechamber called games
After the Salon des Maures a series of reception rooms served as rooms for games, and, as it were, for so-called "apartment" evenings, as at Versailles. The first room after the oval salon was square and had two windows on the side of the pit. Monseigneur the dauphin hung on the wall the tapestry of the History of the King, to please his father.
Game room
The second room was similar to the first, and was also enriched with draperies, the northern bays being clogged for this purpose.
Salon du Petit Pont
This corner room was one of the two salons framing the gallery. It had access to the "Petit Pont" (small bridge), which led directly to the high gardens. Alexander's porphyry bust was placed there.
Gallery of the old castle
The gallery of Meudon had an area of 300 m², and the main room measured 40 meters long. There were also two drawing-rooms, the Salon du Petit Pont, and the Salon des Albane to the north.
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La prise d'Ypres
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La prise de Fribourg
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La prise de Condé
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La prise de Lau
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La Fidélité (Fidelity), following a drawing by Pierre Mignard, Jardins de Versailles
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La Fourberie, following a drawing by Pierre Mignard, Jardins de Versailles
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Aurora, or daybreak, by Gaspard Marsy, following a drawing by Charles Le Brun, Jardins de Versailles.
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Flore, by Philippe Buyster(1595–1688)
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The Alexander of Mazarin. Musée du Louvre
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Bust of the painter Raphaël, by Alessandro Rondoni
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Bust of Annibal Carrache, by Alessandro Rondoni
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Jupiter and Junon, bronzes by the Algarde. Wallace Collection, London
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Octagonal pedestals placed in the gallery. Abbey of Chaalis
The Albane salon
This chamber ends the gallery, and it is the pendant of the Salon du Petit Pont, in symmetry. The salon is named for the painter Francesco Albani, for several oval-shaped canvases had been placed in the corners, copies reinterpreted from the master's work. The architecture of the room, with its niches adorned with mirrors and its domed ceiling, was inspired directly by the Cabinet of the medals of Louis XIV at Versailles.
The dauphin will place there the great bronzes of L'Algarde, Jupiter and Juno.
The apartment said of Louis XIV
At the end of the 19th century, Louis XIV's apartment consisted of an antechamber, a royal chamber, a small passageway to the rear, That of a "cabinet of the mirrors of the King", which had a balcony allowing to admire the view on Paris.
Council antechamber
This room without woodwork had three windows on the side of the floor and two French windows on the side of the courtyard allowing access to the balcony. The mantelpiece was of Campanian green marble.
The bedroom of Louis XIV in Meudon
Above the fireplace in the king's chamber hung the original of "Charity" by Andrea del Sarto, then a copy of this painting. This work can be interpreted as an allegory of the transmission of royal power.
The cabinet of the mirrors of the king
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Elévation de la paroi Nord.
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Elévation de la paroi Est.
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Elévation de la paroi Sud.
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Elévation de la paroi Ouest.
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Restitution 3D du Cabinet des glaces de Louis XIV, Franck Devedjian & Hervé Grégoire, janvier 2013.
Apartment of Madame de Maintenon
Madame de Maintenon's apartment consisted of an antechamber, a bedroom, and a closet in the center of the east wing, as well as a balcony with a view of Paris. In the cabinet of Maintenon, there was a painting above the door of David and Abigail, painted by Louis de Boullogne.
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Antechamber of Mme de Maintenon, c. 1700
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Chamber of Mme de Maintenon, 1700–1711
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Cabinet of Mme de Maintenon, c. 1700
Apartment of the Princess of Conti
Afterwards, the apartment of the Princess of Conti followed and ended with another "Cabinet des mirroirs".
In the Princess room were two paintings by Antoine Coypel, Psyche discovering Sleeping Love, and Psyche abandoned by Love
In the adjoining cabinet was placed the painting entitled "Venus at the Forges of Lemnos", by the same painter. These three works were commissioned by
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Psyché découvrant l'Amour endormi, Antoine Coypel, 1701
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Psyche Abandoned, Antoine Coypel, 1701
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Vénus aux forges de Lemnos, Antoine Coypel. 1701
Chapel
The chapel was completed at the end of 1702, on the plans of Jules Hardouin-Mansart. This construction, desired by Monseigneur, was aimed at by Louis XIV. This chapel follows the same model as the Royal Chapel at the Chateau of Versailles and the Royal Chapel of Versailles. However, the chapel of Meudon was completed a decade before that of Versailles. Like the latter, it has a barrel-vaulted nave ending in a cul-de-four above the sanctuary. Above the high altar is a large painting of Antoine Coypel, four meters high, eighty-five by three wide, which features the "Resurrection". Charles de La Fosse will model this composition to undertake the painting of the kiln furnace of the royal chapel of Versailles. Another painting by Coypel, The Annunciation, completes the set.
The arms carved above the tribune are royal weapons on the drawing projecting the chapel, but will eventually be realized according to the model of weapons
It will be destroyed between 1805 and 1808.
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Coupe de la tribune of the chapel of the château de Meudon, 1701
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Projet non définitif de coupe of the chapel of Meudon. Dessin de Jules Hardouin-Mansart, 1701. AN.
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Plan définitif of the chapel of Meudon, circa 1775–1780. AN
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Jeton representing the interior of the chapel of the château of Meudon, seen from the tribune, 1703. Private collection
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Copy of Résurrection by Antoine Coypel, chapel of Vernon
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L'Annonciation, by Antoine Coypel. Estampe de Drevet
Chestnut Tree Wing
The old "Cour des Offices", or "Basse Cour", was transformed by
Small hanging gallery
This gallery links to the communicating gallery which follows it perpendicularly. A large buffet painted by Fontenay completes the perspective of the small suspended gallery.
Communicating gallery
This room is decorated with large paintings by
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Communicating gallery, Chestnut tree wing, c. 1703. Reconstruction by Franck Devedjian, 2012
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Un cerf poursuivi par des chiens (Stag Pursued by Dogs), François Desportes, 1703
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La mort d'un chevreuil (Death of a deer), François Desportes, 1703
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La meute de Monseigneur (Hounds of Monseigneur), 1703, Musée de Gien
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La mort du loup (Death of the wolf), François Desportes, 1703
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Un sanglier chassé par huit chiens (A Boar Chased by Eight Dogs), François Desportes. 1703
Large oval cabinet
Also called the "Salon doré" (golden salon) where hung the "Triumph of Bacchus" by Bon Boullogne. The painting disappeared, but a preparatory drawing, preserved at the Albertina Museum (Vienna), and attributed to his brother Louis, allows us to understand what the composition of this work might look like.
Large corner cabinet
The dauphin had some prestigious paintings in this room, including Renaud and Armide by the
Grand Salon
It was the main room of the apartment of the chestnut trees, with an area of 100 m². The dauphin placed there other pictures from the royal collections, including two by
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Essai de restitution de la coupe de la paroi Est du grand salon des marronniers, circa 1705
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Essai de restitution de la coupe de la paroi Sud du grand salon des marronniers, around 1705. With paintings placed by Monseigneur the dauphin.
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Essai de restitution de la coupe de la paroi Ouest du grand salon des marronniers, circa 1705
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Pithopolis faisant servir des mets en or au roi Pithès (Pithopolis having King Pithès served food of gold), Nicolas Loir, formerly "Cléopâtre qui, dans un festin....", musée de Brou.
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Reine donnant audience à un vieillard (Queen Giving Audience to an Old Man), by Nicolas Loir, also known as La reine de Saba (The Queen of Saba), Musée Hyacinthe-Rigaud , Perpignan
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Reine s'adressant à des soldats (Dueen addressing soldiers), or "la reine de Saba appuyée sur son trône" (the Queen of Saba leaning on her throne), Nicolas Loir, musée du Louvre, n°8715
The dining room
It was in this hall that the Bishop invited guests to dine.
The cabinet of the buffet
This small room had two small basins, from which flowed streams of water.
"Small Fresh Apartment"
Behind these large reception rooms, the Prince was given a "small fresh apartment", which consisted of an antechamber and another room. As well as a cabinet, it was enlivened by miniatures painted by Jean Cotelle the Elder, representing the gardens of Versailles. These three rooms were all wooded at the Capucine, and adorned with the door-tops by Jean-Baptiste Belin.
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Le bassin de Neptune (Neptune's Basin), Jean II Cotelle
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L'arc de triomphe, Jean II Cotelle
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L'Encelade, Jean II Cotelle
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L'entrée du labyrinthe (The Entrance of the Labyrinth), Jean II Cotelle
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La fontaine du dragon (The Fountain of the Dragon), Jean II Cotelle
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La colonnade, Jean II Cotelle
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L'intérieur du labyrinthe (The Interior of the Labyrinth), Jean II Cotelle
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Le théâtre d'eau (The Water Theatre), Jean II Cotelle
Grotto of Meudon
The cave of Meudon is the twin sister of this "House of the Theater" begun for Henry II in 1556 by De l'Orme and continued in 1559 by
"The Primatice painted for the Cardinal of Lorraine for his Chateau de Meudon a cave made up of several rooms, among others that of the pavilion where there were a number of frescoed figures in the ceiling; We destroyed this cave by building the new Castle in the time of Monseigneur the Dauphin ayeul du Roy. "
"At two leagues from Paris is Meudon, where is seen in the wood an admirable and wonderful grotto, enriched with supports and damping of cut stone, small turrets turned and massed in the ass of a lamp, paved with a pavement Of porphire bastard, speckled with white, red, green, gray spots and of a hundred different colors, noughed by esgouts made with gargoyles and lyon muffles. There are columns, figures and statues of marble, grotesque paintings, compartimens and images of gold and azure, and other couleurs. The frontispiece has large fluted and roughened columns, trimmed with bases,
It was demolished in 1705 to build the Château-Neuf in the same location.
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Map of the Grotto de Meudon and its surroundings, late 17th century, Archives nationales
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Parterre of the Grotto, seen from the central salon.Israël Silvestre, c. 1685
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Décor project for the Grotto, c. 1685. Not carried out. Jules Hardouin-Mansart
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Grotto of Meudon in an imaginairy landscape, Harvard Art Museum, 34.1991 (The roofing of the central pavilion is fictive)
Château-Neuf (new castle)
We owe the plans of the Château-Neuf to the architect
A long corridor serves all the apartments: this was not unusual for the time. What was much more so was the systematization of the typical dwelling of the courtier, since the whole of the Château-Neuf can be compared to a "hotel" in the modern sense of the word.
After nearly two hundred years, a fire ravaged the building on January 31, 1871. The ruins were left to the inclement weather, and probably also looted, until 1879 when a law enacted the choice of Meudon as an observatory. Restoration of the ruins was then begun by the architect Constant Moyaux, saving from destruction what remained of the castle, especially the two lower floors, less damaged by the fire.
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Château-Neuf from the parterre. Mariette, c. 1715
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Third level of the Château-Neuf ("le bel étage"), by Mariette, around 1715
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Cutaway of the Château-Neuf, circa 1720. Mariette
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Levels 2 and 4 of the Château-Neuf. Mariette, c. 1715
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Grilles du Château-Neuf de Meudon. Mariette, A.F.
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La grille basse du Château-Neuf, c. 1708 Musée-promenade de Marly-le-Roi.
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Taque foyère aux armes du dauphin, Château-Neuf, vers 1708.Musée d'art et d'histoire de Meudon
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Photograph Château-Neuf, c 1860
The upper vestibule
The chateau was reached by the upper vestibule on the forest side. It was Italian, pierced by an opening, which made it possible to clear its space. The door-tops were carved with children representing the four seasons, the representation of which is preserved by photographs of plaster models, molded on the originals (Vente Sardou).
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Winter, upper vestibule, 1708
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Spring, upper vestibule, 1708
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Summer, upper vestibule, 1708
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Autumn, upper vestibule, 1708
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Décor of the upper vestibule. Stockholm, NMH CC 1078
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Pedestal of the vestibule. Stockholm, NMH CC 1073
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Décor of the upper vestibule. Stockholm, NMH CC 1074
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Detail of the cornice in the upper vestibule, National museum of Stockholm, NMH CC 1074
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Cutaway of the upper vestibule, which functions as an Italianate salon
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Reconstruction, seen from the upper vestibule
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Reception ofPrince Napoleon, upper vestibule, 1867
The guardroom
This central room overlooked the flower beds through three rectangular windows (preserved bays). At its creation, it was lined with molded woodwork. On the mantelpiece was a copy of the David of Dominiquin. Louis XIV was particularly fond of this painting. Two paintings were ordered from the side exits: 1. a dog, and a greyhound, on the front in the middle of the game, scattered on the ground ducks partridges beccasses and hare in the middle A game-bag has a tree "; 2. a "hare that is attached to a tree by its left foot, on the left a dog at the feet of which are four partridges and a pheasant, on the front of the table a gun and its supply".
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Cutaway of the guard room. Mariette. Shows positioning of the table of Desportes
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TheDavid, by Domenichino, copy above the chimney
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A sleeping dog, and a greyhound,François Desportes. 1709
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A hare tied to a tree, François Desportes, 1709
The first antechamber
In 1775, the piece is described in the following way: "Antechamber or dining room in suitte. Room illuminated by two windows in the Levant, paneling of apui, cornice carved. Chimney of white marble vene (...) Two paintings above the doors, painted on canvas. One represents a golden vase, set on a marble pedestal, with a garland falling in festoons, and fruits. On the pedestal are limes, grenades and grapes, crimson curtain and sky background, the other represents a golden bronze vaze, surrounded by a garland of flowers posed on a fullte of green marble, beside is a vase Of silver overturned with a figure of a woman in the form of an anchor. These two paintings are from Fontenay ". The middle of the room is adorned with "a table of black mastic with flowers and birds in the natural".
The second antechamber
When the Château-Neuf was finished in 1709, on avait disposé two paintings ordered from Fontenay, comme pour toutes les autres pièces de l'appartement, ce qui uniformisait le décor, à savoir : "A golden vase with two handles, surrounded by a garland of fruit, placed on a table of porphire, which is furnished with grapes; On the right, a basket filled with Italian grapes, cucumber, pomegranate and flowers; on the left, a crimson curtain, behind which are several golden basins, one of which is surrounded by a garland of flowers."
A pyramid of fruit resting on a marble table, on which is a melon hung next to a pomegranate; On the right, on the same table, an orange tree in a porcelain vase; On the same table, on the left, a large golden vase surrounded by a garland of flowers, at the foot of which is another silver vase reversed, a golden dish, a corner of which is hidden by a purple curtain of the same dimensions as the preceding.
The inventory of 1775 indicates that it is a:
"Room illuminated by a cross in the Levant, paneled high, scultée, gilded and varnished on wood, cornice in plaster scultée and gilded idem. The chimney of green-campan. (...) Two paintings above the doors, painted on canvases, each of width on height. The first one represents Apollo and Daphne, this god pursues this nymph who takes refuge in the arms of his father's river
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Apollo and Daphne, Antoine Coypel. Musée de Versailles
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Acis and Galatée,Michel Corneille, Musée de Versailles
Monseigneur's Parade Chamber
The 1775 inventory indicates the following decorations in the parade chamber:: The room is illuminated by two windows on the east, wooden panelling, varnished and gilded on wood, sculpted and gilded cornice, large alcove supported on pilasters. Two paintings above the doors, painted on canvas, each 4 feet 9 inches wide by 3 feet 3 inches high. One represents a golden vase filled with different flowers, set on a marble ledge. In the background are two columns surrounded by garlands of flowers. The other represents a golden vase with a handle filled with different flowers, placed on a stone stack, beside another alabaster vase. And on the other side an end of drapery that falls over the edge of the plinth. These two paintings are by Fontenay. [In the margin] In this room, under the mirrored piers, are two long green Campan marble tables supported on gilded and sculpted console feet.
Originally, the alcove was decorated with 12 "grotesque" tapestries designed by Claude Audran III for Gobelins, nine of which still exist. The inventory of Crown furniture is as follows: "A three-piece basse-lisse tapestry of wool and silk, enhanced with gold and silver, manufactured in Paris at the Gobelins Manufactory and designed by Audran. It represents the divinities who preside over the twelve months of the year on twelve bands of daffodil, under grotesque porticoes of different shapes, accompanied by the attributes of each divinity, grotesques, grooves and ornaments, with the sign of the month. By other narrower stripes, with a purple background, laden with mosaics, and the figures of Louis of France, all in silver, the top and bottom borders like narrow bands, with silver shells and dolphins, the curtain containing 9 aunes 1/8 of course on 3 aunes ¼ high, made expressly for the Monseigneur's chamber, in his apartment in the new castle in Meudon."
Here is the list of the gods attached to the months grotesques:
- "January under the protection of Juno"
- "February under the protection of Neptune"
- "March under the protection of the god Minerva"
- "April under the protection of Venus"
- "May under the protection of Apollo"
- "June under the protection of Mercury"
- "July under the protection of Jupiter"
- "August under the protection of Ceres"
- "September under the protection of Vulcan"
- "October under the protection of Minerva and Mars"
- "November under the protection of Diane"
- "December under the protection of Vesta"
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Coupe of the parade chamber in the Château-Neuf of Meudon, circa 1709
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Elévation du fond de la chambre de parade, circa 1708, with the bed
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Six des douze mois grotesques, de Claude Audran III, copy of the panneaux pour la tenture réalisée for Meudon. Sotheby's, 18 November 2010, New-York, lot 235
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Design of the chamber woodwork. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, NMH CC 2300
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Projet (ultérieur ?) de décor pour l'alcôve (non Versailles), BNF
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Balustrade in gilded wood from the parade chamber, circa 1708
Gallery
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Cross-section of half the gallery of Monseigneur at the Château-Neuf in Meudon, condition in 1709. Nationalmuseum de Stockholm
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Cross-section of half the gallery. Stockholm, NMH THC 5953
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Plan of half the gallery, Stockholm, NMH THC 5954
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Schéma de l'élévation de la galerie, Stockholm NMH CC 2855
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Details of the cheminée et des consoles NMH CC 1105
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Cyrus interrogeant le roi d'Arménie (Cyrus questioning the king of Armenia), Noël Coypel. Museum of Grenoble
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Néron au milieu d'un festin ordonnant la mort d'Agrippine (Nero in the midst of a Feast Ordering the Death of Agippinus), Noël Coypel. Museum of Grenoble
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Hercules and Archélaos, Noël Coypel. Musée de Versailles
Orangeries
To protect the orange trees from the cold during the winter, two main orangeries were built at Meudon, the largest of which is the Château-Vieux.
Orangery of the old castle
Traditionally, in French castles since the 18th century, an orangery is a utilitarian building that retains a strong element of monumental composition, constituted here by the terrace, the Castle-Vieux and the loggia. Its dimensions determine the magnitude of the great perspective that extends from the castle to the plateau of Villacoublay.
The orangery was probably built between 1655 and 1659 by the architect Louis Le Vau, for the owner of the estate Abel Servien, superintendent of finance under Louis XIV. Open to the south through eight high windows on either side of a monumental entrance, the orangery is intended to house the park's orange trees during the cold season. During the summer, orange trees were displayed on its floor around a rectangular basin, as well as on the grounds of the castle and cave. The orangery extends eastward with a crude bastion.
Renovated several times in the 19th century, then abandoned until 1980, the parterre of the orangery was restored between 1980 and 1984 to its 17th-century appearance.
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L'orangerie of Meudon, 17th century. Restored in 2012
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The nymphaeum above the orangery
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Orangery of Meudon before restoration, 2010
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Inside the bastion of the orangery, 2014
The Orangery of the new castle
It was built at the same time as the Château-Neuf, between 1706 and 1708. It was demolished during the reign of Louis XVI.
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Orangery of the Château-Neuf
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Interior of Orangery, Château-Neuf
The greenhouse below the Orangerie du Château-Vieux
A third building was used for the conservation of shrubs during the winter. The "greenhouse" was located immediately below the bastion of the Orangery of the old castle in Meudon. There is still the wall at the bottom, enclosed, as well as a buttress. The rest of this building adjoins the back of the garden of the Museum of Art and History of Meudon.
Stables
The new commons still exist today, perfectly preserved. They are located at the entrance of the estate, at the top of the avenue to the castle. They were built by extending an earlier building, the kennel of Louvois.
The three inner courtyards connect through a clear central passage for horses. The stables have only one floor, attic, so as not to obstruct the view of Paris from the Pond of Bel Air above. Abundant dwellings for the castle staff furnish this floor.
All the stalls were rebuilt in the 19th century. Some still exist.
Today all of these buildings are assigned to the Observatoire de Paris, which prevents access to all visitors. The commons have a total area of 5,000 m² (2,500 m² on each of the two levels). To this must be added also the area of the adjoining guard-house, of 850 m².
Gardens
The gardens of Meudon were of great magnificence. There were high gardens and low gardens, not to mention the Grande Perspective. The Meudon Way describes the itinerary for discovering Meudon's points of view at the end of the reign of Louis XIV. They are classified as "slope gardens".
The Grand Perspective
The Great Perspective is the monumental axis that organizes all the area of Meudon. It is perfectly rectilinear over a distance of 3.5 km, despite the unevenness of the terrain. It was created on both sides of the Château-Vieux, a place occupied from the beginning.
At its apogee, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, it was composed as follows (from north to south):
- Avenue du château (planted with four rows of trees)
- First ditches
- Front yard (on the right, terrace of the chestnut trees)
- Second ditches (buried under the terrace)
- Courtyard of the Château-Vieux, known as the royal court
- The Château-Vieux (destroyed, cellars preserved)
- The floor, designed by André Le Nôtre (destroyed)
- The Orangerie, of Louis Le Vau, with a circular basin
- The parterre of the Orangerie, with a rectangular basin
- Lawn, with a white marble statue, unidentified
- The basin known as the "Grand Carré" (destroyed)
- New lawn, shorter than first
- The water grid, with 10 jets of water (destroyed)
- Other lawn, longer
- The pond of Chalais (on the right, the carp channel)
- The Green Carpet
- The pavilion of Trivaux (under Louis XVI) (destroyed)
The axis ended at an alley drawn on the plateau of Trivaux.
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Estampe d'Israël Silvestre représentant la Grande Perspective de Meudon depuis le tapis vert. Vers 1685.
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Vue aérienne de la Grande Perspective de Meudon.
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Vue aérienne par drône de l'avenue du château, en direction du nord.
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Schéma de la Grande Perspective de Meudon, 2015. Légende : 1.Avenue du château; 2.Grande Terrasse du château; 3. Orangerie; 4.Partie toujours bouchée; 5.Étang de Chalais; 6.Tapis Vert.
Lower gardens
The low gardens were mainly developed by Louvois, and then embellished by Monseigneur and Louis XIV. Their different levels and the different points of view made the charm, as well as the presence of many water bodies and thousands of topiaries. It was accessed from the "Grand Carré" basin:
- The floor of the Oval;
- On the left, the channel of the shadow;
- On the right, the half-moon;
- The wood of Guenegaud, with its pavilion;
- The basin of the octagon;
- Below, the "play of M. Le Nostre", framed by two cascades;
- In the background, the vertugadin, going up.
- On the left, Cleopatra's grove;
- The Arthelon canal
- The Arthelon waterfall
- The chestnut grove
- The Small Grotto of the Hotel Courtin
- The parterre of the Hôtel Courtin
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Les jardins bas de Meudon (The Lower Gardens of Meudon), by Israel Silvestre, 17th century, BNF
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Detail of the lower gardens on the draft plan for the gardens at Meudon. ADY (78). Circa 1697
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Le bassin de l'Ovale, jardins bas de Meudon. Circa 1690
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"Meudon. Les 2 châteaux réunis sous un même aspect", drawing by Jean-Baptiste Maréchal, 1785. View from the Ovale
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Restitution 3D des jardins bas, avec la "pièce de M. Le Nostre". Condition circa 1700
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Ariadne endormie (Ariane Sleeping), known at the time as "Cléopâtre", copy placed in the low gardens
High gardens
The area of the high gardens is nearly three times larger than that of the low gardens. The hold of these high gardens is still preserved today, occupied mainly by the Paris Observatory. The gardens consisted of a labyrinthine network of walkways, embellished with numerous bodies of water. Unlike the low gardens, the high gardens were mainly flat, since they were planted on the hill of Meudon. There were:
- The parterre of the Grotto, then parterre of the Château-Neuf in 1708
- The Cradles, simplified in 1708
- The floor of the Globe
- The parterre des Bois
- The Calotte
- The Parasol
- The Gladiator
- The Grove of the Cloisters
- The Bel Air Basin
- The gardens of Montafilan, with the stone cabinet
- The bastion of the Capuchins, which served as a point of view on Paris and Saint-Cloud.
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The parterre of the Grotto, engraved by Mariette
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Quarter of the parterre of the Grotto. Nationalmuseum of Stockholm. Condition of parterre between 1680 and 1708
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Recreated view from the "Parasol", circa 1700
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South semi-circle of the Bel Air basin, 2010
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Elévation du cabinet de pierre des jardins hauts de Meudon, du côté de Montafilan (près des Capucins). Nationalmuseum de Stockholm, NMH THC 377.
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View from the bastion of the Capucins, Jacques Rigaud , circa 1730
Park and ponds
The park of Meudon extended as far as Chaville, and thence reached that of Versailles. The elevation of the terrain, the dense forest, the numerous ponds, the great plains situated on the heights are the main features of this park in the 17th and 18th centuries. These included:
- The pond of the Garenne
- The Triveau pond
- The pond of the Fountains
- The pond of Vilbon
- The Renault Fosse pond
- The Tronchet pond
- The old tank
- The new tank
- The leg of Oye
- The farm of Vilbon, with the watermills
The pond called Meudon was not created until the 20th century.
The historical library of the city of Versailles preserves a manuscript of the reservoirs of Meudon, embossed with the arms of the Grand Dauphin, dating about 1700.
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Binding with the arms of the dauphin
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Title page
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Villacouplay pond
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Tronchet pond
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Villebon pond
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New reservoir
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Old reservoir
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Bel air
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Pond of the fonceaux
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Pond of the garenne
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Pond of Triveau
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Trout canal
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Pond of Chalais
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Etang du loup pendu
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the different levels
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(suite)
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(suite)
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(suite)
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(suite)
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Binding with arms
The village of Meudon
The village of Meudon was made up of numerous hôtels[46] and properties, the largest of which belonged to persons linked to the owners of the castle. These included:
- Saint Martin's Church, (preserved)
- Hotel Henri du Plessis-Guénégaud (demolished)
- Hotel Bellon, (demolished)
- Hotel Richer, (preserved)
- Hotel Tourmont, (preserved)
- hôtel of the Countess of Verrue (preserved)
- Castle of Fleury (demolished)
- The country house of Madame de La Fayette in Fleury
- Folly by Jean-Jacques Huvé, (preserved)
- Villa of Jean-François Jacqueminot
- Gallyot hotel in Fleury, (demolished)
- House of Pierre-Joseph Redouté
- House of Bastide, then house of Bailly. (Demolished)
- Convent of the Capuchin Friars Minor, the first of this order installed in France by the care of the Cardinal of Lorraine
All these buildings and gardens were visible from the castle or its gardens.
Notes
- ^ Sometimes written "Ysbarre"
References
- ^ Robert, Louis Eugène (1843). "Chapter 2 Détails historiques". Histoire et description naturelle de la commune de Meudon (in French). Paris: Paulin, Libraire. pp. 27–144.
- .
- ^ "Bibliographie de Paris au Moyen Age : La Base".
- ^ Gérard, Jules (1926). Meudon: étude d'évolution urbaine [Meudon: urban development study] (in French). Presses Universitaires de France. p. 60.
- ^ Jean Aymar de Piganiol de la Force (1742). Description de Paris, de Versailles, de Marly, de Meudon, de S. Cloud, de Fontainebleau... (in French). Vol. Tome quatrième. Paris: chez Charles Nicolas Poirion. p. 296.
- ^ Billat, Hélène. Joinville: le château du Grand Jardin: Haute-Marne (Service regional de l'inventaire générale des monuments et des richesses artistiques de la France) 2005.
- ^ Carroll 2009, p. 88-89.
- ISBN 9780300178852
- ^ Franco, Floriane (8 December 2014). La réception dela Diane de Versaille du XVI au XVIIIe siècle [The reception of the Diane de Versailles from the 16th to the 18th century] (Masters). University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour, HAL Science. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ Le Chant Pastoral de Ronsard évoquant la Grotte de Meudon.
- S2CID 234605877.
- ^ Vasari, Giorgio (1842). Vies des peintres, sculpteurs et architectes... (in French). Paris: J. Tessier. p. 183.
- ^ Spangler, Jonathan The Society of Princes: The Lorraine-Guise and the Conservation of Power and Wealth in Seventeenth-Century France. Routledge. (2016) p. 272
- ^ Mercure enlevant Psyché, Louvre Collections.
- ^ Weigert, Roger-Armand (1932). "Notes et documents. Notes de Nicodème Tessin le Jeune relatives à son séjour à Paris en 1687" [Notes and documents. Nicodemus notes Tessin the Younger relating to his stay in Paris in 1687]. Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art Français (in French) (2): 220–279.
- ^ According to the "Mercure Galant" of July 1681.
- ^ Internet Archive - LE SIÈCLE DES BEAUX ARTS ET DE LA GLOIRE ou LA MÉMOIRE DE LOUIS XIV JUSTIFIÉE DES REPROCHES ODIEUX DE SES DÉTRACTEURS OUVRAGE OU SONT PASSÉS EN REVUE LES PRINCIPAUX AUTEURS QUI ONT ÉCRIT SUR LE RÈGNE BU GRAND ROI DEPUIS 1715 JUSQU'À NOS JOURS - ANCIEN SECRÉTAIRE DES ARCHIVES DE LA COURONNE - VERSAILLES CHEZ DUFAURE IMPRIMEUR RUE DE LA PAROISSE 21 - 1838
- ^ Chaufourier, Jean (1730). Recueil des Plans, Elevations, et Veües du Château de Petit-Bourg (in French). Bibliothèque nationale de France.
- ^ Mémoires du marquis de Sourches, 17 avril 1711.
- ^ The day after the feasts of Pentecost (the day of the arrest of Voltaire), the Czar passed through Les Invalides on the way back from the château de Meudon, where he was said to have desired to take saddle, and being on a pierced chair, asked for paper from the valet who had brought it to him; the latter having none to give him, the prince used an écu of one hundred sols instead, presenting it afterwards to the valet, who declined it saying that the concierge had forbidden him from accepting anything from anyone; on seeing which the Czar, after having told him several times to take it, threw him, full of villainy to the ground. The concierge, having heard the account of the valet, told him laughing aloud: "Go on, go, when you will have washed this écu, it will be as good as any other: I am confident that you lacked paper in order to profit from this écu, to give yourself the means to drink to the health of the prince with your comrades." Journal de la Régence, Jean Buvat, 17 May 1717
- ^ Michelet (Histoire de France, volume 17, Lacroix & Co., 1877, p. 155) suggests that the Regent ceded the castle of Meudon to his daughter on learning she was pregnant: a prolonged stay at Meudon would allow the young widow to wait out this new pregnancy and give birth with discretion, away from the prying eyes of courtiers and gossipmongers.
- preeclampsiaand seemed about to die. The Abbé Languet de Gercy, parish priest of Saint-Sulpice, refused to administer the Holy sacraments. On April 2, Berry delivered a stillborn child, and was thus relieved of her "dangerous indigestion" (as the official version of her "illness" put it).
- ^ According to Saint-Simon (Mémoires (Memoirs) VII, 456) the autopsy found that "the poor princess was pregnant". As Duclos remarked (Œuvres complètes (Complete Works), 1821, Vol.6, p.369) "she wasted no time after giving birth". The "fertile Berry" (one of her sobriquets in the satirical poems embroidering her illegitimate pregnancies) apparently again became pregnant during her convalescence at Meudon, the month following her very arduous labor at the Luxembourg.
- ^ de Rouvroy Saint-Simon, Louis (2006). "Chapter XCVIII". Memoirs of Louis XIV and his court and of the regency : complete Memoirs of Louis XIV and his court and of the regency. Vol. 13. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
- ^ a b c d e "Château de Meudon: Stanislaus à Meudon" at wifeo.com, archived 18 February 2019. [unreliable source?]
- ^ Pierre-Hippolyte Pénet, "Déclaration de Meudon", Musée Lorrain website.
- ^ Frédéric d’Agay (éd.), Journal de voyage de l’abbé Cavalier de Fréjus à Paris et Versailles (février-juin 1748). Unpublished annotated document online at CourdeFrance.fr, 1 September 2008 (http://cour-de-france.fr/article497.html)
- ^ Inventory preserved in the INHA library, carton 46, file XII, microfilm 24170-24198
- ^ "Les collections du département des arts graphiques - Retour de la promenade de Mr le Dauphin au vieux château de Meudon - ISABEY Jean-Baptiste".
- ^ Emile Dard (1905). Perrin et cie (ed.). Le général Choderlos de Laclos, auteur des liaisons dangereuses, 1741–1803 [General Choderlos de Laclos, author of Liaisons dangeureses 1741–1803] (in French). Paris. p. 516.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Demolition of the Château of Meudon", Getty Museum Collection
- ^ http://restaurermeudon.wifeo.com/images/p/pot/potentiel-archeologique-meudon-oct-2012.jpg [bare URL image file]
- ^ The Franco-German War of 1870-71, Field-Marshal Count Helmut von Moltke, Clara Bell and Henry W. Fischer trans., Harper and Brothers, 1901, via Library of Congress. p. 125
- ^ Louvre Museum, INV No. 4537.
- ^ (Inv. 8608)
- ^ INV. D.872. 2. 5.
- ^ a b (CBR t IV col 675)
- ^ (Invitation Villot, n° 4538, 1m 20 x 1m 09).
- ^ (IV col 675).
- ^ (8676)
- ^ (Inv. 24961)
- ^ Inventories of the Royal Tablets, Paris, 1899
- ^ Tome II, pp. 434, 1697
- ^ inv. 5482 A
- ^ inv. 5482 B
- ^ Translator note: These were not hotels in the English sense of the word, but rather elaborate aristocratic residences
Sources
- Carroll, Stuart (2009). Martyrs and Murderers, The Guise Family and the Making of Europe. Oxford University Press.
- Fiske Kimball, The Creation of the Rococo, (Philadelphia Museum of Art) 1943.
External links
- The Web page about the "Château de Meudon" (in French)
- Châteaux de Meudon (in French)
- Engravings of the Château de Meudon.
- Construction of the Observatoire de Paris at Meudon. (in French)