France: The Magnificent Chateau of Chantilly

Chantilly, (Shan-tee) a magnificent estate located not too far (less than an hour drive) from Paris, was once the property of the Duc de Montmorency giving it a French Canadian connection.  One of the treasures of the Conde Museum is  “La Joconde nue" a drawing  by Leonardo Da Vinci. Fr. Joe Ashe, who was traveling with us on this trip, knew that if we contacted the museum in advance they would allow us to see it. It is not on display, it is held safely in the library because of its fragile condition. We were faxed a letter to present at the chateau when we visited. 

The Conde Museum opened at 10:30 a.m. They had to open the gate for us and it was no ordinary gate. It was a portcullis of the type you see on a castle and they hauled it up. I was impressed!   We decided that we would visit the museum first, then the Leonardo and then tour the private apartments. The collection here is a credit to the Duke of Aumale. He had the great Chateau of Chantilly rebuilt to house the collection that he had amassed. His ancestor Prince Louis Joseph had managed to get some of the chateau's works of art returned in 1815 and in 1886 the Duke of Aumale donated the chateau to the Institut of France subject to a life tenancy, with the stipulation that it be a museum open to the public.

 

The picture gallery has wonderful overhead windows to allow natural lighting and the arrangement of the pictures is as the Duke desired in his will. One of the amazing things about the museum is that it can't loan its works and the pictures have to stay where they are placed, so, you get a unique view of what a 19th-century art gallery looked like. Among the pictures in this room are two large portraits of those masters of intrigue Cardinal Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin, both very impressive. There are also four Poussins and a portrait of Louis XV.

There are too many great paintings in this collection to recount them all but aside from the Louvre, the Musee Conde is the only museum to own three Raphaels. That alone speaks for itself. Come prepared to be amazed, you won't be disappointed.

After we finished with the museum, we presented our letter and were escorted into the private library where a covered package was set on a table with a pile of white cotton gloves. The young man spoke only French but I translated and told everyone that we were allowed to handle the picture but only with the gloves on. Can you imagine holding a large Leonardo da Vinci in your hands? Well, we did, and it was unbelievable!!! We just stared, she is so beautiful, the name means the naked Mona Lisa. Her hair is up, not down but it is definitely the same woman, sans clothing. I think it was one of the high points of my entire life. We felt it would be in really poor taste to try to photograph her after they had been so nice as to leave us alone with the picture for as long as we wanted. I think we surprised him by how short a time we stayed but we were just there to admire this amazing work.

We took the guided tour of the apartments but it was done entirely in French so it put my abilities as a translator to the test. There are other things to see here which we didn’t do but if you are planning a visit to France, I highly recommend that you include the Chateau of Chantilly in your plans.