| Château d'Anet | |
|---|---|
| Anet, Eure-et-Loir, Centre-Val de Loire, France | |
 | |
| Site information | |
| Type | château |
| Website | https://www.chateaudanet.com |
| Location | |
  Château d'Anet | |
| Coordinates | 48°51′31″N1°26′18″E / 48.85861°N 1.43833°E /48.85861; 1.43833 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1549 |
.jpg)
TheChâteau d'Anet is achâteau nearDreux, in theEure-et-Loirdepartment in northernFrance, built byPhilibert de l'Orme from 1547 to 1552[1] forDiane de Poitiers, the mistress ofHenry II of France. It was built on the former château at the center of the domains of Diane's deceased husband,Louis de Brézé, seigneur d'Anet, Marshal of Normandy and Master of the Hunt.
The château is especially noted for its exterior, notably theFountain of Diana, a statue of Diane de Poitiers asDiana, goddess of the hunt,[2] and theNymph of Anet, a relief byBenvenuto Cellini over the portal.[3] Anet was the site of one of the first Italianateparterre gardens centered on the building's façade in France; the garden designer in charge was Jacques Mollet, who trained his son at Anet,Claude Mollet, destined to become royal gardener to three French kings.
The château, which faced the south, was built partly upon the foundations and cellar vaults of a feudal castle that had been dismantled byCharles V and was subsequently rebuilt as a Late Gothic manor of brick and stone. The name comes from Simon d'Anet, who owned the chateau in the twelfth century. In 1444, it was given toPierre de Brézé byCharles VII, in return for Pierre's services in expelling the English fromNormandy.[4]
The château of Diane was constructed between 1548 and 1552. It was formed around three courts, with theCour d'honneur at the center. The kitchens were located off the right-hand court, while the left-hand court accessed anOrangerie and apavilion known as theGouvernement – so called because it housed theGouverneur of the estate. TheGouvernement also housed theChambre de Trésor (treasury) where the deeds of property and archives of the de Brézé family were kept.[5] Beyond the nucleus of the château were the formal gardens, a square area divided intoparterres and surrounded by galleries. Attached to the gallery on the north side, opposite the Chateau, was a suite of baths.[6] Northeast of the right-hand court, also known as theCour de Charles le Mauvais, were the stables. Even further north from the stables was theHôtel-Dieu, where the sick servants and dependents of the estate were treated. West of the left-hand court, theCour de gauche, was Diane's mortuary chapel, as well as anaviary andheronry.[7]
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
The now free-standing chapel of Anet was built in 1549-1552 as an appendage on the east side of the east wing of thecour d'honneur. It was designed on a centralizedGreek cross floor plan under a diagonally-coffered dome. The original entrance was on the courtyard façade of the east wing, which was subsequently demolished. It has a porch with widely spaced pairedIonic columns between towers crowned by pyramidal spires. The stained-glass windows were made around 1904 byCharles Lorin fromChartres.
.jpg)
.jpg)
There is also the mortuary chapel, built according toDiane de Poitiers' last wishes to contain her tomb, commissioned from Claude de Foucques by Diane's daughter, theDuchesse d'Aumale. In 1581,Henri III and his motherCatherine de' Medici came to the chapel to attend the baptism of the infant son ofCharles, duc d'Aumale.
![Transverse section[8]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFloorplan%2c_Facade_and_Cross_Section_of_one_of_the_Chapels_at_Chateau_d%2527Anet%2c_from_%2522Les_plus_excellents_bastiments_de_France%2522_MET_DP834458.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
In 1576, Diane's daughterLouise de Brézé transferred ownership of the château to her sonCharles, Duke of Aumale.[9] Charles constructed a convent for theCordeliers in 1587 at the western edge of the Anet parkland.[10] Some years later, Charles was implicated in a conspiracy againstHenry IV; he fled into exile in 1595. In his absence, theParlement of Paris condemned him to death and confiscated all his property. It declared that the Château d'Anet be demolished and the forests of the estate felled. However, Henry IV intervened and saved the château from destruction. In 1610, the Duke was bankrupted by his heavy debts and one of his creditors,Marie of Luxembourg, Duchess of Penthièvre, laid claim to the château. Her ownership was confirmed by the Parlement in 1615. The property's ownership then passed to Marie's daughterFrançoise de Lorraine and her husbandCésar de Vendôme, an illegitimate son of Henry IV.[11]
The property was owned, or at least occupied, byLouis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme.[12] Louis Joseph was very fond of the château, entertaining his friends there in luxury. Guests included the poetsGuillaume Amfrye de Chaulieu and Chapelle.[13] Vendôme undertook major alterations which removed many original features and decoration from the Renaissance.[13] Only the bedchamber of Diane was spared from the redecoration of the apartments.[14] A third story was added to thecorps de logis to increase the accommodation and the wing on the left-hand side was rebuilt.[15][14] The gardens, which had fallen into neglect over the years, were destroyed, and the redesign of the parkland entrusted toAndré Le Nôtre.[14] The galleries and bath building surrounding the old gardens were demolished; so too were theorangerie, aviary, and heronry. The stables andHôtel-Dieu were also demolished and rebuilt in new locations, to make way for intersecting canals. The canals fed two windmills, one of which was built on the site of the oldHôtel-Dieu. One of the canals was dedicated tocarp and divided into two compartments by a wall of water lilies.[16]
In 1686, theGrand Dauphin visited Anet for 8 days, where he was sumptuously entertained by Louis-Joseph. The festivities cost the Duke of Vendôme more than 100,000livres, so much money thatLouis XIV would only consent to his son returning for another visit on the condition that the expenses be paid by himself.[17]
The property later belonged to many of Louis XIV's descendants:Louise-Françoise de Bourbon died here in 1743, she was a daughter of the famous illegitimate son of Louis XIV, theDuc du Maine. His sons theprince des Dombes andcomte d'Eu lived here when away from Versailles. It was later owned by the fabulously wealthyduc de Penthièvre, first cousin of the prince and the comte.
The château wasn't pillaged during theFrench Revolution, butDiane de Poitiers' remains were removed to a pauper's ditch in the parish cemetery and the rich contents of the château, which were the property of KingLouis XVI's cousin,Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre, were sold at auction asbiens nationaux. A large part of the château was subsequently demolished, but only afterAlexandre Lenoir was able to salvage some architectural elements for hisMusée des Monuments Français (presently situated in theÉcole des Beaux-Arts inParis). The restoration of the château itself, in pitiable condition, was due to comteAdolphe de Caraman [fr], who purchased it in 1840 and undertook a colossal program of restoration. Under financial duress, Caraman sold the château in 1860 toFerdinand Moreau [fr], who continued the restoration, purchasing furnishings and works of art that were thought to be originally from the château. The set oftapestry hangings woven for the château, in Paris, to cartoons byJean Cousin, forming aHistory of Diana in compliment to Diane de Poitiers, is now widely scattered;[18] it set a precedent for suites of Diana-themed tapestries that remained popular into the 18th century.[19] The elements were reinstalled at Anet afterWorld War II.
In 1889, thechâteau is designated by the French government as a protectedmonument historique (national heritage site).[20]
The castle was used as a filming location in the 1965 James Bond filmThunderball and 1976 filmThe Pink Panther Strikes Again. The entry pavilion for Chateau d'Anet was the inspiration for the façade ofRobert Venturi's 1966Guild House for the Elderly in Philadelphia.
.jpg)
