The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of

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 ...

. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château, built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency, and the Grand Château, which was destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s. The château is owned by the Institut de France, which received it from Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale. An historic monument since 1988, it is open to the public. The château's art gallery, the Musée Condé, houses one of France's finest collections of paintings. It specialises in French paintings and book illuminations of the 15th and 16th centuries.

History

Original construction

The estate's connection with the Montmorency family began in 1484. The first mansion (no longer in existence, now replaced by the Grand Château) was built, between 1528 and 1531, for Anne de Montmorency by Pierre Chambiges. The Petit Château was also built for him, around 1560, probably by Jean Bullant. In 1632, after the death of Henri II de Montmorency, it passed to his nephew, the Grand Condé, who inherited it through his mother, Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency.

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

's play '' Les Précieuses ridicules'' received its first performance here in 1659. Madame de Sévigné relates in her memoirs that when King

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

visited there in 1671, François Vatel, the maître d'hôtel to the Grand Condé, committed suicide when he feared the fish would be served late. The collection includes important works of the cabinetmaker

André-Charles Boulle André-Charles Boulle (11 November 164229 February 1732), ''le joailler du meuble'' (the "furniture jeweller"), became the most famous French Cabinet making, cabinetmaker and the preeminent artist in the field of marquetry, also known as "inlay". ...

Revolution and aftermath

The original mansion was destroyed during the French Revolution. It was repaired modestly by Louis Henri II, Prince of Condé, but the entire property was confiscated from the

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Coutts, an English bank. Chantilly was entirely rebuilt, between 1875 and 1882, by Henri d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale (1822–1897). The new château met with mixed reviews. Boni de Castellane summed up one line of thought: "What is today styled a marvel is one of the saddest specimens of the architecture of our era — one enters on the second floor and descends to the salons". In 1889, the Chateau was bequeathed to the Institut de France as a price for the Duc d'Aumale's return from political exile.

21st century restoration

The World Monuments Fund included the site in the 1998 World Monuments Watch to call attention to water infiltration and high humidity in the ''Galerie des Actions de Monsieur le Prince'' and again in the 2002 World Monuments Watch due to the precarious condition of the entire estate. Funding for restoration work was provided from various sources, including

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

and the Generali Group. Subsequently, in response to an appeal for the restoration of the château, The Aga Khan donated €40 million, accounting for more than half of the €70 million needed by the Institut de France to complete the project. In 2008, the World Monuments Fund completed the restoration of the Grande Singerie, a salon with paintings on the walls of monkeys engaged in human activities, once a fashionable salon motif, but with few examples surviving today.

Musée Condé

Works in the art gallery (many of them are in the Tribune Room) include

Sassetta ''For the village near Livorno, see Sassetta, Tuscany'' Stefano di Giovanni di Consolo, known as il Sassetta (–1450) was a List of Italian painters, Tuscan painter of the Italian Renaissance painting, Renaissance, and a significant figure of th ...

's '' Mystic Marriage of St. Francis'',

Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

's ''Autumn'', Piero di Cosimo's '' Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci'',

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

's '' Three Graces'' and '' Madonna of Loreto'', Guercino's ''Pietà'', Pierre Mignard's ''Portrait of Molière'' as well as four of

Antoine Watteau Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised 10 October 1684died 18 July 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French Painting, painter and Drawing, draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour ...

's paintings and

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot ( , , ; 16 July 1796 – 22 February 1875), or simply Camille Corot, was a French Landscape art, landscape and Portraitist, portrait painter as well as a printmaking, printmaker in etching. A pivotal figure in ...

's '' Le concert champêtre''. Other paintings in the collection include works by Fra Angelico, Filippino Lippi,

Hans Memling Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; – 11 August 1494) was a German-Flemish people, Flemish painter who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. Born in the Middle Rhine region, he probably spent his childhood in Mainz. During ...

, 260 paintings and drawings by

François François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * Voltaire, Fran ...

and Jean Clouet, Veronese, Barocci,

Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci ( , , ; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother Agostino Carracci, Agostino and cousin Ludovico Carracci, Ludovico (with whom the Ca ...

, Domenichino, Salvator Rosa,

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...

, Philippe de Champaigne, Van Dyck, Guido Reni, Jean-Baptiste Greuze,

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

, Eugène Delacroix, Ingres, Géricault. The library of the Petit Château contains over 1,500

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s and 17,500 printed volumes, that is part of the collection of over 700 incunabula, and some 300 medieval manuscripts, including one page of the '' Registrum Gregorii'' (), the '' Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry'', the Ingeborg Psalter and 40 miniatures from Jean Fouquet's ''Book of Hours of Etienne Chevalier''. Also in the museum's collection is the Chantilly codex (MS 564), the primary manuscript of music, and the treasured library of the Emirate of Abdelkader, a 19th century Sufi emirate in Algeria.

Selected collection highlights

Raphaël - La Madone de Lorette - Google Art Project.jpg, Raphaël, ''La Madone de Lorette'' Raphaël - Les Trois Grâces - Google Art Project.jpg, Raphaël, ''Les Trois Grâces'' Raphaël - La Madone de la maison d'Orléans - Google Art Project.jpg, Raphaël, ''La Madone de la maison d'Orléans''

Park and Chantilly racecourse

The main French formal garden, featuring extensive parterres and water features, was laid out principally by

André Le Nôtre André Le Nôtre (; 12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), originally rendered as André Le Nostre, was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France. He was the landscape architect who designed Gardens ...

for the Grand Condé. The park also contains a French landscape garden with a cascade, pavilions, and a rustic ersatz village, the Hameau de Chantilly. The last of these inspired the Hameau de la reine of

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

in the Gardens of Versailles. The estate overlooks the

Chantilly Racecourse Chantilly Racecourse (In French: "Hippodrome de Chantilly") is a Thoroughbred grass, turf race track, racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris. Chantilly Racecourse is located in the ...

and the ''Grandes Écuries'' (Great Stables), which contains the Living Museum of the Horse. According to legend, Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon, Prince of Condé believed that he would be reincarnated as a horse after his death. In 1719, he asked the architect Jean Aubert to build stables suitable to his rank.

In popular culture

* The Molteni Campagnolo cycling team, including star rider

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (born 17 June 1945), known as Eddy Merckx (, ), is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an ...

, are seen riding past the chateau towards the beginning of Jorgen Leth's seminal documentary, ''A Sunday In Hell'', on the way to the start line of the 1976 Paris-Roubaix race. * The château and the Great Stables were featured in the 1985

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film '' A View to a Kill'', as the home of villainous Max Zorin (played by Christopher Walken) which was being infiltrated by Bond (played for the last time by Roger Moore) in his quest to find out more about Zorin, who had already aroused suspicions of MI6 with various business activities, and ultimately eliminate him. *

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

performed, on two consecutive nights, at the château during their '' The Division Bell'' tour on 30–31 July 1994. * Every two years, in June, the "Nuits de Feu" international

fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

competition is held in the château's garden. * Ronaldo married model and former television host Daniela Cicarelli in the château in 2005. The ceremony reportedly cost €700,000. * Every May, a rowing regatta, the Trophée des Rois, is held on the grounds. French university crews compete in the 750m race for a trophy. * The château appeared in the finale of the French reality competition '' Amazing Race'' in 2012. * David Gilmour, guitarist and singer of

, performed at the venue on 16 July 2016 as part of his '' Rattle That Lock'' world tour. * The video game '' Battlefield 1'' features a level that is based around the Château called "Ballroom Blitz". * The trailer for the finals of the '' 2019 League of Legends World Championship'' was filmed inside and around the chateau. * The fifth leg of '' The Amazing Race 32'' had a Roadblock and a Speed Bump take place on the grounds of the château. * The castle is a location in the 2022 movie '' The Gray Man''. * Every year it hosts the Richard Mille Arts&Elegance organized by Peter Auto * The chateau is the location for the Kommandantur scenes in the 1962 movie '' The Longest Day (film)''.

References

Sources

External links

Château de Chantilly official website (English language)Château de Chantilly
within Google Arts & Culture * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau De Chantilly Chantilly Chantilly Museums in Oise Châteaux with formal gardens in France French landscape gardens Art museums and galleries in France House of Bourbon-Condé Houses completed in 1881 Monuments historiques of Oise Renaissance architecture in France 1881 establishments in France