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The grand 18th century... and a château of unknown Watteaux
A site from which French taste radiated throughout Europe : the Château de Condé
- A facade that is both varied and sober
- The interior reveals the taste that radiated through Europe
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 - Concert hall by Servandoni, decorator of Saint-Sulpice, Paris's great 18th-century church
Over the mantelpiece, a scene from the Marquis's amours (a god carries off a goddess)...
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an example of how nobles took up royals' practice of painting coded messages for initiates
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 - Salon by Oudry, painter of the royal hunt
"Painter of the royal hunt" – that is, the greatest animal painter in France at the time
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Nobles' fascination with hunting together – exerting collective domination over animals symbolized exerting it over men.
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- Art history nestles in a laundry-room
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 - The young châtelain is guiding us.
The Marquis let Watteau store paints and brushes in this laundry room. He used the walls to experiment, painting one figure over another.
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Museums would be overjoyed to have this notebook, but it is part of the walls.
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- Works by Watteau and his followers emerged one by one...
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 - By Watteau
...as restorers peeled away the coverings with which 19th-century owners concealed works they viewed as frivolous...
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 - By Lancret, Watteau disciple
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- Mysteries hover over the mantelpiece
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 - The work as it was found...
Placed in the most prestigious part of the salon, the painting's coded message is typical of the art that nobles commissioned for their châteaux. What is the subject's story?
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 - and after restoration
Watteau did not paint nautical scenes the people are not painted in his style. Yet he signed the work. Why?
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- We visited the château long before the châtelaine opened it to the public
That explains why Isabel de Rochefort invites us for coffee in her private apartments while her son, Aymeri de Rochefort, rather than the local guide, conducts our visits.
So this jewel of France's civilization can still be perceived in a personal way.
• Costs: Please CLICK
° There is a modest fee for the visit
° Déjeuner: a picnic with regional specialities, bought in the medieval covered market? For groups, a catered lunch (or dinner) in the dining hall, with a fire in the fireplace?
Credits: façade and works of art / château; other photos / Claude Abron
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 - Isabel and Aymeri de Rochefort
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