Chaalis Abbey (, ) was a French

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

abbey north of Paris, at Fontaine-Chaalis, near Ermenonville, now in

Oise Oise ( ; ; ) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 in 2019.< ...

History

It was founded in 1136 by

Louis VI of France Louis VI (1 December 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat () or the Fighter (), was List of French monarchs, King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137. Like his father Philip I of France, Philip I, Louis made a lasting contribution to centralizing ...

. There had previously been a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery in the same place. Most of the buildings fell into ruins thanks to mismanagement on the part of the commendatory abbots. Among the ruins, a chapel with important

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

s by Primaticcio survives intact. For Louis, Count of Clermont and commendatory abbot of Chaalis, the architect Jean Aubert created plans for the reconstruction of the abbey in 1736. Begun in 1739 and intended as a large quadrangle, only the entrance wing with the abbot's residence was completed. Further work was halted in 1745 due to lack of funds and never resumed. File:Abbatiale de l'abbaye de Chaalis 02.jpg, Jean Aubert's château, now the museum, next to the ruins of the former abbey The monastery was sold and demolished during the French Revolution.

Museum

The former abbey is now the location of an art museum, the Musée Jacquemart-André.Photos of Chaalis Abbey
2009-10-31. Like the museum of the same name in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

it houses a part of the former collection of artworks of Nélie Jacquemart-André. At her death in 1912 she gave it to the

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

and asked that a museum should be created in Chaalis, where she had spent her childhood. The museum continues to display this very rich collection which features paintings by

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...

Cima da Conegliano Giovanni Battista Cima, also called Cima da Conegliano (), was an Italian Renaissance painter, who mostly worked in Venice. He can be considered part of the Venetian school (art), Venetian school, though he was also influenced by Antonello da ...

, Luca Signorelli, Francesco Francia, Lorenzo di Credi,

Joos van Cleve Joos van Cleve (; also Joos van der Beke; c. 1485–1490 – 1540/1541) was a leading painter active in Antwerp from his arrival there around 1511 until his death in 1540 or 1541. Within Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, he combines the tr ...

Tintoretto Jacopo Robusti (late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594), best known as Tintoretto ( ; , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized th ...

, Palma the Younger, Jan Davidsz de Heem,

Philippe de Champaigne Philippe de Champaigne (; 26 May 1602 – 12 August 1674) was a Duchy of Brabant, Brabant-born French people, French Baroque era painter, a major exponent of the French art, French school. He was a founding member of the Académie royale de pein ...

Charles Le Brun Charles Le Brun (; baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French Painting, painter, Physiognomy, physiognomist, Aesthetics, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. He served as a court painter to Louis XIV, ...

, Nicolas de Largillière, François Desportes,

François Boucher François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...

Rosalba Carriera Rosalba Carriera (12 January 1673 – 15 April 1757) was an Italians, Italian Rococo painter. In her younger years, she specialized in portrait miniatures. Carriera would later become known for her pastel portraits, helping popularize the medium ...

, Giovanni Paolo Pannini and

Jean-Baptiste Greuze Jean-Baptiste Greuze (, 21 August 1725 – 4 March 1805) was a French painter of portraits, genre scenes, and history painting. Early life Greuze was born at Tournus, a market town in Burgundy. He is generally said to have formed his own ...

; sculptures by Baccio Bandinelli, François Girardon, Jean-Antoine Houdon, Augustin Pajou, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne and Edme-François-Étienne Gois; furniture and decorative art; and a collection of Indian items.

Notes

Bibliography

* Kimball, Fiske (1943). ''The Creation of the Rococo''. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Dover 1980 reprint: . * Neuman, Robert (1996)
Aubert, Jean
vol. 2, p. 701, in ''

The Dictionary of Art ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

'', 34 volumes, edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. . {{Authority control Cistercian monasteries in France Benedictine monasteries in France 1136 establishments in Europe 1130s establishments in France Monasteries in Oise Gardens in Oise Christian monasteries established in the 1130s Chaalis Ruins in Hauts-de-France Museums in Oise

History

Museum

See also

Notes

Bibliography