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The Château de Chenonceau, construction of which began in 1517. By the 1540s it was in royal hands; it became the property of Henry II's mistress, Diane de Poitiers in 1548. In 1733, Chenonceau became the property of Claude Dupin, whose wife was the elegant salonière, Louise Dupin. Under the guidance of Mme Dupin, the château hosted numerous intellectual luminaries – including Voltaire, Fontenelle, Marivaux, Montesquieu, Buffon, and Rousseau. |
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The Château de Chaumont, construction of which began in 1469, but which was not completed until the middle of the eighteenth century. In 1750 the château was acquired by Jacques Donatien, then Gouverneur of the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris. In the distance flows the Loire River. |
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The Château de Chambord, built between 1519 and 1547. By the eighteenth century, this palace had become an albatross, and acordingly it was fobbed off on any number of lesser luminaries: in 1746 Louis XV offered the châteaux to Maurice de Saxe, the victor of the Battle of Fontenoy (during the War of Austrian Succession); under Napoléon it was given to Maréchal Berthier. |
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Perhaps the most striking feature of Chambord is its grand central staircase, designed by Leonardo da Vinci. In actuality, two staircases ascend from opposite ends, in much the same fashion as a double helix. |
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In an era when peasants and the urban poor had difficulty procuring food, opulence as it is found in the carriage above undoubtedly struck many dumb. Nevertheless, the “grand style” of the wealthy clearly has found few parallels in the modern era. (This carriage resides, as well, at Chambord.) |
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Perhaps the finest example of the “modern style” of châteaux (post-Renaissance), the Château de Cheverny was built between 1629 and 1635. It has remained in the care of one family, the Huraults, since its construction – a testimony to the endurance of wealth in France. |