Fine Art Friday: The Loire Châteaux

Growing up I had a pretty limited imagination about kings and queens. Especially the castles they lived in, which in my mind were always constructed in simple blocky stones and it always seemed that each king and queen had a single castle from which to rule their kingdom. In fact, I’m pretty sure my childhood imagination amounted to nothing more than this simple drawing. No wonder the ideas of princes and princesses couldn’t grasp my imagination!

My understanding of royalty completely changed as I began studying the history of France. Suddenly kings and queens had names and fascinating stories with as many humorous tales as tragic circumstances that I discovered in old archives and dusty books from the abandoned depths of research libraries. Old letters in their handwriting gave them personality and humanity. Royal family portraits gave the characters faces and visions of what their lives might be like enraptured in luxurious fabrics and weighted by large precious gems. And details about their lives unearthed where they lived and how they traveled across the land. So they weren’t just powerful, gluttonous figures that sat atop a throne day in and day out after all!

Portrait of Francis I of France (1494-1547) who started numerous architectural projects that we still enjoy throughout France including some of the Louvre and many chateaux in the Loire Valley. Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566) was the favorite mistress of Henri II (son of Francis I) even before the queen, Catherine de Medici.

The royal pack of hunting dogs were even honored with having their portraits painted (which include their names) and displayed throughout the castles – some insight into how precious the packs were during the 16th century.

But nothing brought to life the details of the Royal Family more than visiting the very châteaux they lived in.

Visiting the Loire Valley this last fall only made me want to dig deeper into the history of France and study the key people that make up a part of its significance. Scattered across the lush green hills, surrounding the two large rivers, are exquisite castles by the dozens (many built during the French Renaissance) and I can still remember how intrigued by them I felt as I wandered from room to room, keenly aware that I was walking in the footsteps of royalty.

Chambord’s Italian architecture was influenced largely by a young Catherine de Medici. It was also due in part by the Courts obsession with conquering parts of Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries.

One of my most intriguing realizations I had while exploring the Loire was that the Royal Family wasn’t limited to a single castle. Francis I spent a large amount of time between building projects including finishing Amboise, renovating Blois and the Louvre, expanding Fontainebleau and building Chambord, all of which exceed my childish notion of a castle fit for a king. Each of these châteaux (and then some) were inherited by Henri II which he used as “gifts” (after the death of the Monarch, the castles became the property of the next king) to his most loyal followers. Could you imagine one of your friends gifting you a castle? Better yet, being a friend capable of giving away castles? Um, yes please!

Château d’Anet and Chenonceau – Diane de Poitier’s castles gifted to her by King Henri II.

However, it wasn’t always wrapping paper and ribbon; Henri made Catherine’s blood boil with jealousy when he bestowed Château d’Anet and Chenonceau, one of the kingdoms most charming royal getaways, upon his beloved mistress, Diane. To appease the queen, Henri gave Catherine the Château de Montceaux-en-Brie and for her trips to Paris, Château de la Tournelle (though both no longer exist).

The Queen’s châteaux, Château de la Tournelle along the Seine and Monceaux en Brie near Meaux.

The downside about being the King’s mistress is that in the unfortunate event that he dies, you are immediately banished from the Court, all of your courtly possessions are seized and you may even be sentenced to prison or even death. Diane was lucky. Sure she was banished when King Henri II died in 1559 during a joist after his opponents lance impaled his face (where Place des Vosges now stands in Paris) but her family had married well and she was allowed to keep Château d’Anet, where she resided for the rest of her life. After Henri’s death, Catherine and Diane never crossed paths again.

All throughout Catherine’s marriage to the king, Catherine had to tolerate the influence of the Favorite, as Diane was referred to. Diane dictated how Catherine’s children were raised, influenced political decisions, was gifted precious jewels and castles that would otherwise be Catherine’s, and rendered Catherine incapable of taking her place beside the King. It didn’t matter that Catherine was the rightful Queen of France; so long as the mistress was who the king preferred, even the Court was expected to tolerate her role in France’s affairs.

Henri and Diane’s monogram on the left with Catherine’s on the right from Chenonceau (my image) designed when she became Regent of France after Henri’s death as her son was still too young to rule.

The relationship between Henri and Diane can even be seen throughout art and architectural design from the period. Henri had a special monogram designed interlocking two D’s between an H and it was placed everywhere throughout France (clothing, carriages, architecture, robes, curtains, tapestries). To keep Catherine from complaining, one could argue it’s really two C’s inside Henri’s H. But Catherine finally was given the credit she was due upon Henri’s untimely death. All signs of Henri and Diane’s relationship quickly vanished throughout the Court. Even Chenonceau, now Catherine’s, was due for a transformation – the gallery over the Loire River the charming castle is most known for is her doing, but most importantly when you visit, you’ll notice plenty of Catherine’s bold monogram displayed proudly throughout.

There are so many details and secrets hidden in the Loire. Who would have thought this could include interior decorating?

First images courtesy of here, here and here, the royal hound image courtesy of here which is from a blogger doing a fascinating honors thesis on French royal hounds. Other images can be found at Chambord, Anet, Chenonceau, Tournelle, Montceaux en Brie and Diane emblems.

Tagged as: Chambord, Chateaux, Chenonceau, Loire Valley