TheChâteau de Maisons (nowChâteau de Maisons-Laffitte[ʃatodəmɛzɔ̃lafit]), designed byFrançois Mansart from 1630 to 1651, is a prime example ofFrench Baroque architecture and a reference point in the history ofFrench architecture. Thechâteau is located inMaisons-Laffitte, a northwestern suburb ofParis, in thedepartment ofYvelines,Île-de-France.
The Longueil family, long associated with theParlement of Paris, had been in possession of part of theseigneurie of Maisons since 1460, and a full share since 1602. Beginning in 1630, and for the next decades,René de Longueil, first president of theCour des aides and thenprésident à mortier to theParlement of Paris, devoted the fortune inherited by his wife, Madeleine Boulenc de Crévecœur (who died in 1636), to the construction of a magnificent château. By 1649, he was able to spend the summer months in his new house, but works on the outbuildings continued after that date.Louis XIV visited Maisons in April 1651.
The attribution toFrançois Mansart was common knowledge among contemporaries.Charles Perrault reported its reputation: "The château of Maisons, of which he [Mansart] had made all the buildings and all the gardens, is of such a singular beauty that there is not a curious foreigner who does not go there to see it, as one of the finest things that we have in France."[1]
Nevertheless, the sole surviving document mentioning Mansart's name is a payment of 20,000livres from Longueil in 1657, apparently occasioned by the final completion of the château. A pamphlet with the titleLa Mansarade accused the architect of having realised, after completing the construction of the first floor, that he had committed an error in the plans and razed everything built so far in order to commence anew.
Perrault emphasizes that the architect had the habit of remodelling certain parts of his buildings more than once in a search for perfection.
After the death of René de Longueil, in 1677, the château passed to his heirs until 1732, and then in succession to the marquise de Belleforière, then to the marquis deSoyécourt. In 1777, it became the property of KingLouis XVI's brother,Charles Philip, count of Artois, who carried out important interior transformations under the direction of his house architectFrançois-Joseph Bélanger. These works were interrupted in 1782 for lack of funds. Maisons then ceased to be kept up.
Confiscated during theRevolution as "national goods", the château was sold in 1798 to an army provisioner, M. Lauchère, resold in 1804 toMarshal of the EmpireJean Lannes, and then resold once again, in 1818, to the Parisian bankerJacques Laffitte. Starting in 1834, Lafitte proceeded to develop the surrounding park as building lots; he tore down the fine stables to furnish construction materials for the purchasers. After his daughter, the Princesse de la Moskowa, sold the château in 1850, it passed to M. Thomas de Colmar, and to the painterWilliam Tilman Grommé [ru], who farmed out the small park and demolished the entrance gateway to the forecourt, enclosing the severely reduced space with a wrought-irongrille brought from theChâteau de Mailly inPicardy. Grommé died in 1900. In his last will, he ordered his whole property to the city ofViipuri, which decided to keep his art collection but sell the château.
In 1905, the State purchased the château to save it from demolition. It was classed as amonument historique in 1914.
The Château de Maisons was built between theSeine and the forest ofSaint-Germain-en-Laye, with its garden front oriented to the southeast. Originally it comprised the garden, a small park of 33 hectares (82 acres) and a large outer park of 300 hectares (740 acres). The visitor arrived by one of twoavenues that crossed in a T intersection before the gate to thecour d'honneur.[2] The principal central axis led to the forest, the cross axis through the village to the southwest and to the river, thence on to Paris. Three gateways stood at the far ends of the avenues.
On either side of theavant-cour, Mansart constructed the stables, masterworks of architecture whose monumental character gave a preview of those that would be built atVersailles andChantilly. Of these works, there remains only agrotto, which had served also to water the horses.
The château stood on a rectangular platform outlined in the French manner with a drymoat. Thecour d'honneur was defined by terraces. The central block extends symmetrically into short wings, composed of several sections, each with its own roofline, with raked roofs and tall chimney stacks, in several ranges, with a broken façade reminiscent of the planning in work ofPierre Lescot andPhilibert Delorme in the preceding century. The single pile construction, typical of itsepoch, carries three storeys, a basement supporting a ground floor, andpiano nobile with three attic floors above.
The grand central entrancevestibule of stone was originally enclosed by exceptionally fine wrought-iron grilles, which are today at theLouvre. Largebas-reliefs of The Seasons were executed byGilles Guérin after drawings provided byJacques Sarazin, who oversaw all the sculpture provided for Maisons. There arelunettes representing The Elements, for which Sarazin's drawings also survive.[3] This vestibule gives onto two state apartments. The apartment on the left, called the Appartement des Captifs, was that of René de Longueuil; it has retained its original decor. The chimneypiece of the corner room, thechambre de parade represents a bas-relief medallion ofLouis XIII supported by captives and afrieze of the triumph of Louis XIII, works ofGilles Guérin that have given a name to the suite of rooms.
The apartment on the right, called the Appartement de la Renommée, was entirely redecorated byBélanger for the comte d'Artois, in a discreetneoclassical style quite in keeping with the general classic style of the château.
The staircase was of a type that Mansart originated at theChâteau de Balleroy,[4] in which the central space is left open so that the flights climb the four walls.
On the parade or main floor, the apartment to the right, called the Appartement des Aigles for theEmpire style decoration effected by maréchal Lannes in expectation of the visit ofNapoleon, is undistinguished. The one to the left, on the other hand, the Appartement du Roi, is also calledà l'italienne in that it is covered in false vaulting. The apartment consists of a vast Salle des Fêtes employed also in the character of a guardroom, with atribune for musicians. It opens into the Salon d'Hercule from the painting ofHercules defeating the Hydra that used to be featured on thechimneybreast, with sculptures by Guérin. In the end pavilion is a domed room articulated by therm figures[definition needed], a precursor to the grand salon ofVaux-le-Vicomte. A small ovalcabinet, or privatewithdrawing room, the Cabinet aux Miroirs (Mirror Room) bears a refined decor, and aparquet floor inlaid with pewter and bone.
48°56′50″N2°09′14″E / 48.94722°N 2.15389°E /48.94722; 2.15389
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