Château de Meudon
Encyclopedia
The former Château de Meudon, on a hill in Meudon
, about 4 kilometres south-west of Paris, occupied the terraced steeply sloping site. It was acquired by Louis XIV
, who greatly expanded its as a residence for Louis, le Grand Dauphin. It was largely ignored under Louis XV
and Louis XVI
, but became the official residence of the King of Rome
from 1812, and was occupied by Jérôme Bonaparte
under the Second Empire
. The main building was largely destroyed in a fire in 1871, and it is now the site of the Observatoire de Paris-Meudon
.
The château-fort of the manoir of Val de Meudon is traceable to the 14th century. In 1527, the old castle was given by Cardinal Antoine Sanguin to his niece Anne de Pisseleu, duchesse d'Étampes
, a favorite of François I
. A new château de Meudon, in a more congenial Renaissance style
, was completed at the edge of the present terrace, about 1540.
In 1552, the duchesse d'Étampes
ceded the château to Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine
, who embellished its interiors and constructed gardens in the new manner, commemorated in poetry by Pierre Ronsard; he employed Primaticcio
for the grotto
in the Italian mode, an architectural structure with rooms containing fountains and rockwork. Remnants of the terrace that supported its structure now support the great dome of the Observatoire. The orangery
that survives may have substantial 16-century origins as well.
At the Cardinal's death in 1574, Meudon passed into the House of Guise
until 1654, when, battered by the Wars of Religion
and the Fronde
, it was purchased by Abel Servien
, surintendant des finances, who launched ambitious works of rebuilding during the five years in which he possessed it. Meudon was renovated and enlarged, probably by Louis Le Vau
, who constructed a double-height oval salon; the present terrace—260 metres long, 140 m wide and 14 m high at its retaining wall— was established, a vast project of manual earth-moving.
In 1679, the château was sold by Servien's heir to Louvois
, the minister of Louis XIV
, who continued to improve it inside and out, until his death in 1691. Above all, he commissioned André Le Nôtre
to construct grand gardens and fountains fed by elaborate hydraulic works.
In June 1695, Louis XIV purchased Meudon from the widow of Louvois, with the intention of installing le Grand Dauphin in the premises. A brilliant period followed. The Dauphin employed Jules Hardouin-Mansart and the office of the Bâtiments du Roi
, but most particularly his long-term "house designer" Jean Bérain
head of the Menus Plaisirs, to provide new decors, in which the first glimmers of the Régence
style, precursor to the Rococo
, can be detected. An early innovation at Meudon was the Cabinet à la Capucine in the entresol, where the carved oak boiseries were left in their natural color and simply varnish
ed. The main campaign was begun in 1699, with ceiling paintings by Audran
, resulting in the Grand Cabinet de Monseigneur, viewed by the king in August 1699 and commemorated in the portrait Le Grand Dauphin dans son Cabinet now at Versailles
(illustration, left), which offers a rare glimpse of this interior, furnished with a desk by André-Charles Boulle, who also provided the gilt-bronze architectural elements of the fireplace, in the new fashion with a tall mirror above it. Berain engraved some of the arabesque
panels for the Grand Cabinet, which gave the new designs a wide circulation.
In 1702, the chapel was completed and consecrated, and the Aile des Marronniers. Taking the place of Primaticcio's grotto, the Château Neuf de Meudon was constructed, employing some of the old foundations; it was substantially complete by 1706. This is the structure that survives today, supporting the great observation dome. With the death of the Dauphin (1711) and then of his heir, the young duc de Bourgogne, the following year, the spirit went out of Meudon. Louis XV
employed it as a hunting lodge. Although his mistress, Madame de Pompadour
, was installed in the nearby Château de Bellevue
, Meudon was eclipsed in his favour by the Château de Choisy
. Meudon declined further under Louis XVI
, the parterre
s overgrown, the basins emptied, the park let piecemeal to tenant farmers.
Meudon was emptied out in the Revolutionary sales, and royal insignia were chiselled off its façades. The Château Neuf was employed as a manufactory producing balloon
s, one of which served as an aerial lookout at the battle of Fleurus
. A disastrous fire in 1795, followed by looting, resulted in the demolition of the Château Neuf in 1803. Its pink marble columns went to decorate the Arc du Carrousel in front of the Tuileries, and the stone columns to the little garden rotunda
of the Palais du Luxembourg.
In 1807, Napoleon decided to rebuild the Château Neuf, which became the official residence of the King of Rome
in 1812. Meudon remained dark during the Bourbon Restoration
, but was used from time to time under the July Monarchy
. Jérôme Bonaparte
resided in it under the Second Empire
and his son, Prince Napoleon.
In 1870, the terraces of Meudon were part of the strategic defenses of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War
, and the château, damaged by shelling, was occupied by Prussian forces. Forty-eight hours after the signing of the armistice
, in January 1871, Meudon caught fire. It burned for three days, until only some exterior walls were left standing
Jules Janssen chose this site as the location for the present observatory in 1874, in preference to Malmaison
, and it was built partly incorporating some of Meudon's exterior stonework. Some of the outbuildings are inhabited today by astronomers
attached to the Observatoire. Its history since that date can be followed at Observatoire de Paris.
Meudon
Meudon is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located from the center of Paris.-Geography:...
, about 4 kilometres south-west of Paris, occupied the terraced steeply sloping site. It was acquired by Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
, who greatly expanded its as a residence for Louis, le Grand Dauphin. It was largely ignored under Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
and Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
, but became the official residence of the King of Rome
King of Rome
The King of Rome was the chief magistrate of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 BC, when the last king was overthrown. These kings ruled for...
from 1812, and was occupied by Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort was the youngest brother of Napoleon, who made him king of Westphalia...
under the Second Empire
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
. The main building was largely destroyed in a fire in 1871, and it is now the site of the Observatoire de Paris-Meudon
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world...
.
The château-fort of the manoir of Val de Meudon is traceable to the 14th century. In 1527, the old castle was given by Cardinal Antoine Sanguin to his niece Anne de Pisseleu, duchesse d'Étampes
Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly
Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly , Duchess of Étampes, was the mistress of Francis I of France.She was a daughter of Adrien de Pisseleu, seigneur d'Heilly, a nobleman of Picardy, who, with the rise of his daughter at court, was made seigneur of Meudon, master of waters and forests of Île de France, of...
, a favorite of François I
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
. A new château de Meudon, in a more congenial Renaissance style
French Renaissance
French Renaissance is a recent term used to describe a cultural and artistic movement in France from the late 15th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that many cultural historians believe originated in northern Italy in the fourteenth century...
, was completed at the edge of the present terrace, about 1540.
In 1552, the duchesse d'Étampes
Étampes
Étampes is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the center of Paris . Étampes is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department....
ceded the château to Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine
Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine
Charles de Lorraine , Duke of Chevreuse, was a French Cardinal, a member of the powerful House of Guise. He was known at first as the Cardinal of Guise, and then as the second Cardinal of Lorraine, after the death of his uncle, John, Cardinal of Lorraine . He was the protector of Rabelais and...
, who embellished its interiors and constructed gardens in the new manner, commemorated in poetry by Pierre Ronsard; he employed Primaticcio
Francesco Primaticcio
Francesco Primaticcio was an Italian Mannerist painter, architect and sculptor who spent most of his career in France.-Biography:...
for the grotto
Grotto
A grotto is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificial garden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide...
in the Italian mode, an architectural structure with rooms containing fountains and rockwork. Remnants of the terrace that supported its structure now support the great dome of the Observatoire. The orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
that survives may have substantial 16-century origins as well.
At the Cardinal's death in 1574, Meudon passed into the House of Guise
House of Guise
The House of Guise was a French ducal family, partly responsible for the French Wars of Religion.The Guises were Catholic, and Henry Guise wanted to end growing Calvinist influence...
until 1654, when, battered by the Wars of Religion
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...
and the Fronde
Fronde
The Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling, which Parisian mobs used to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin....
, it was purchased by Abel Servien
Abel Servien
Abel Servien, marquis de Sablé et de Boisdauphin, comte de Roche-Servien and comte de La Roche des Aubiers was a French diplomat who served Cardinal Mazarin and signed for the French at the Treaty of Westphalia...
, surintendant des finances, who launched ambitious works of rebuilding during the five years in which he possessed it. Meudon was renovated and enlarged, probably by Louis Le Vau
Louis Le Vau
Louis Le Vau was a French Classical architect who worked for Louis XIV of France. He was born and died in Paris.He was responsible, with André Le Nôtre and Charles Le Brun, for the redesign of the château of Vaux-le-Vicomte. His later works included the Palace of Versailles and his collaboration...
, who constructed a double-height oval salon; the present terrace—260 metres long, 140 m wide and 14 m high at its retaining wall— was established, a vast project of manual earth-moving.
In 1679, the château was sold by Servien's heir to Louvois
François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois
François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois was the French Secretary of State for War for a significant part of the reign of Louis XIV. Louvois and his father, Michel le Tellier, would increase the French Army to 400,000 soldiers, an army that would fight four wars between 1667 and 1713...
, the minister of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
, who continued to improve it inside and out, until his death in 1691. Above all, he commissioned André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France...
to construct grand gardens and fountains fed by elaborate hydraulic works.
In June 1695, Louis XIV purchased Meudon from the widow of Louvois, with the intention of installing le Grand Dauphin in the premises. A brilliant period followed. The Dauphin employed Jules Hardouin-Mansart and the office of the Bâtiments du Roi
Bâtiments du Roi
The Bâtiments du Roi was a division of Department of the household of the Kings of France in France under the Ancien Régime. It was responsible for building works at the King's residences in and around Paris.-History:...
, but most particularly his long-term "house designer" Jean Bérain
Jean Bérain the Elder
Jean Berain the Elder was a draughtsman and designer, painter and engraver of ornament, the artistic force in the Royal office of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi where all the designs originated for court spectacle, from fêtes to funerals, and many designs for furnishings not covered by the Bâtiments du...
head of the Menus Plaisirs, to provide new decors, in which the first glimmers of the Régence
Régence
The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed by a Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV of France....
style, precursor to the Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
, can be detected. An early innovation at Meudon was the Cabinet à la Capucine in the entresol, where the carved oak boiseries were left in their natural color and simply varnish
Varnish
Varnish is a transparent, hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent. Varnish finishes are usually glossy but may be designed to produce satin or semi-gloss...
ed. The main campaign was begun in 1699, with ceiling paintings by Audran
Audran
The Audrans were a family of French artists, natives of Paris and Lyons.*Charles Audran I *Claude Audran I *Germain Audran , son of Charles I*Claude Audran II , nephew of Charles I...
, resulting in the Grand Cabinet de Monseigneur, viewed by the king in August 1699 and commemorated in the portrait Le Grand Dauphin dans son Cabinet now at Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
(illustration, left), which offers a rare glimpse of this interior, furnished with a desk by André-Charles Boulle, who also provided the gilt-bronze architectural elements of the fireplace, in the new fashion with a tall mirror above it. Berain engraved some of the arabesque
Arabesque
The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements...
panels for the Grand Cabinet, which gave the new designs a wide circulation.
In 1702, the chapel was completed and consecrated, and the Aile des Marronniers. Taking the place of Primaticcio's grotto, the Château Neuf de Meudon was constructed, employing some of the old foundations; it was substantially complete by 1706. This is the structure that survives today, supporting the great observation dome. With the death of the Dauphin (1711) and then of his heir, the young duc de Bourgogne, the following year, the spirit went out of Meudon. Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
employed it as a hunting lodge. Although his mistress, Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
, was installed in the nearby Château de Bellevue
Château de Bellevue
The Château de Bellevue was a small château built for Madame de Pompadour in 1750. It was constructed on a broad plateau in Meudon, above a slope overlooking the Seine to the east, but was demolished in 1823 and little remains....
, Meudon was eclipsed in his favour by the Château de Choisy
Château de Choisy
The Château de Choisy was a sometime royal French residence in the commune of Choisy-le-Roi in the Val-de-Marne département, not far from Paris...
. Meudon declined further under Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
, the parterre
Parterre
A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. Parterres need not have any flowers at all...
s overgrown, the basins emptied, the park let piecemeal to tenant farmers.
Meudon was emptied out in the Revolutionary sales, and royal insignia were chiselled off its façades. The Château Neuf was employed as a manufactory producing balloon
Balloon
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...
s, one of which served as an aerial lookout at the battle of Fleurus
Battle of Fleurus (1794)
In the Battle of Fleurus on 26 June 1794, the army of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan faced the Coalition Army commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg in the most decisive battle of the Flanders Campaign in the Low Countries during the French Revolutionary Wars...
. A disastrous fire in 1795, followed by looting, resulted in the demolition of the Château Neuf in 1803. Its pink marble columns went to decorate the Arc du Carrousel in front of the Tuileries, and the stone columns to the little garden rotunda
Rotunda (architecture)
A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan, sometimes covered by a dome. It can also refer to a round room within a building . The Pantheon in Rome is a famous rotunda. A Band Rotunda is a circular bandstand, usually with a dome...
of the Palais du Luxembourg.
King of Rome
The King of Rome was the chief magistrate of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 BC, when the last king was overthrown. These kings ruled for...
in 1812. Meudon remained dark during the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
, but was used from time to time under the July Monarchy
July Monarchy
The July Monarchy , officially the Kingdom of France , was a period of liberal constitutional monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848...
. Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort was the youngest brother of Napoleon, who made him king of Westphalia...
resided in it under the Second Empire
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
and his son, Prince Napoleon.
In 1870, the terraces of Meudon were part of the strategic defenses of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
, and the château, damaged by shelling, was occupied by Prussian forces. Forty-eight hours after the signing of the armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
, in January 1871, Meudon caught fire. It burned for three days, until only some exterior walls were left standing
Jules Janssen chose this site as the location for the present observatory in 1874, in preference to Malmaison
Malmaison
Malmaison may be:* Château de Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaison, France* Greenwood LeFlore's home, Greenwood, Mississippi, USA* Malmaison, a UK hotel chain....
, and it was built partly incorporating some of Meudon's exterior stonework. Some of the outbuildings are inhabited today by astronomers
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
attached to the Observatoire. Its history since that date can be followed at Observatoire de Paris.