After a two-year restoration, the private apartments of Chateau de Chantilly have been reopened to the public. In 1845 Henri de Orleans/the Duke of Aumale, the last heir to the Duke Aumale, commissioned architect Victor Dubois and decorator Eugene Lami to create private apartments for he and his new wife, Maria-Carolina-Augusta, on the ground floor of the Petite Chateau of the Chateau de Chantilly. The series of eight rooms was completed in 1847, includes the prince and princesses bedroom, salon, toilet and bathrooms, plus the Petite Singerie, the only room that hasn’t been altered since it was built. The wood panels painted in 1735 by Christophe Huet, a kind of satire, display the aristocratic activities of female monkeys (lunch during the hunt, picking cherries, playing card games, dressing) borrowing the clothes and expressions of the Condé princesses, in each season of the year.
There were fifteen stages of the demanding undertaking including restoration of the painted ceilings, gilding and paint, restoration of the wood paneling, wainscoting, and parquet floors, plus the replacement of textiles including tassels.
On a small group tour the other day, the guide took us through the eight rooms, explaining the significance of each one, the history of the furniture, paintings, general décor style, and family. The most beautiful of the rooms was the duchess’s salon, a semi-circular room painted in the most vivacious shade of violet, along with a hand painted-ceiling of blue sky and cherubs. The furniture is upholstered in violet silk and the walls and doors are decorated with exquisite gilded wood paneling.
The contrast between the duchess’s and duke’s bedrooms is unusual. The duchess’s bedroom is a study in opulence with teal blue with an extravagant floor to ceiling bed canopy, white lace bedspread, tufted silk chairs, and white gilded walls while the duke’s bedroom is much more subdued with a small bed with barely a headboard, and pale gray walls, although his desk is quite elaborate.
In order to control the wear and tear by admitting too many visitors, the apartments can only be visited with a guide. A 45-minute tour in English is given everyday at 11:30AM for a cost of 5€ in addition to the general admission ticket for the chateau.
Domaine Chantilly
http://www.domainedechantilly.com/en/reopening-of-the-private-apartments/
Only three more weeks left of my photo exhibition at the Hotel Pont Royal, 5-7 rue Montalembert, 75007
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