FONTAINEBLEAU AND ITS FOREST
[Illustration: ORIGINAL PLAN OF FONTAINEBLEAU]
Of all the French royal palaces Fontainebleau is certainly the most
interesting, despite the popularity and accessibility of Versailles. It
is moreover the cradle of the French Renaissance. Napoleon called it the
Maison des Siecles, and the simile was just.
After Versailles, Fontainebleau has ever held the first place among the
suburban royal palaces. The celebrated "Route de Fontainebleau" of
history was as much a _Chemin du Roi_ as that which led from the capital
to Versailles. Versailles was gorgeous, even splendid, if you will;
but it had not the unique characteristics, nor winsomeness of
Fontainebleau, nor ever will have, in the minds of those who know and
love the France of monarchial days.
[Illustration: From Paris to Fontainebleau]
Not the least of the charm of Fontainebleau is the neighbouring forest
so close at hand, a few garden railings, not more, separating the palace
from one of the wildest forest tracts of modern France.
The Forest of Fontainebleau is full of memories of royal rendezvous, the
carnage of wild beasts, the "_vraie image de la guerre_," of which the
Renaissance kings were so inordinately fond.
It was from the Palace of Fontainebleau, too, that bloomed forth the
best and most wholesome of the French Renaissance architecture. It was
the model of all other later residences of its kind. It took the best
that Italy had to offer and developed something so very French that even
the Italian workmen, under the orders of Francois I, all but lost their
nationality. Vasari said of it that it "rivalled the best work to be
found in the Rome of its time."
A charter of Louis-le-Jeune (Louis VII), dated at Fontainebleau in 1169,
attests that the spot was already occupied by a _maison royale_ which,
according to the Latin name given in the document was called Fontene
Bleaudi, an etymology not difficult to trace when what we know of its
earlier and later history is considered.
Actually this _fontaine belle eau_ is found to-day in the centre of the
Jardin Anglais, its basin and outlet being surrounded by the
conventional stone rim or border. After its discovery, according to
legend, this fountain became the rendezvous of the gallants and the
poets and painters and the "sweet ladies" so often referred to in the
chronicles of the Renaissance. Rosso, the painter, perpetuated one of
the most celebrated of these reunions in his decorations in the Galerie
Francois I in the palace, and Cellini represented the fair huntress
Diana, amid the same surroundings.
Under Louis-le-Jeune in 1169 was erected, in the Cour du Donjon, the
chapel Saint-Saturnin, which was consecrated by Saint Thomas a Becket,
then a refugee in France.
Philippe Auguste and Saint Louis inhabited the palace and
Philippe-le-Bel died here in 1314. From a letter of Charles VII it
appears that Isabeau de Baviere had the intention of greatly adding to
the existing chateau because of the extreme healthfulness of the
neighbourhood. The work was actually begun but seemingly not carried to
any great length.
Such was the state of things when Francois I came into his own and,
because of the supreme beauty of the site, became enamoured of it and
began to erect an edifice which was to outrank all others of its class.
The king and court made of Fontainebleau a second capital. It was a
model residence of its kind, and gave the first great impetus to the
Renaissance wave which rose so rapidly that it speedily engulfed all
France.
Aside from its palace and its forest, Fontainebleau early became a noble
and a gracious town, thanks to the proximity of the royal dwelling. In
spite of the mighty scenes enacted within its walls, the palace has ever
posed as one of the most placid and tranquil places of royal residence
in the kingdom.
All this is true to-day, in spite of the coming of tourists in
automobiles, and the recent establishment of a golf club with the usual
appurtenances. Fontainebleau, the town, has a complexion quite its own.
Its garrison and its little court of officialdom give it a character
which even to-day marks it as one of the principal places where the
stranger may observe the French dragoon, with _casque_ and breastplate
and boots and spurs, at quite his romantic best, though it is apparent
to all that the cumbersome, if picturesque, uniform is an unwieldy
fighting costume. There was talk long ago of suppressing the corps, but
all Fontainebleau rose up in protest. As the popular _chanson_ has it:
"_Laissez les dragons a leur Maire_." This has become the battle cry and
so they remain at Fontainebleau to-day, the envy of their fellows in the
service, and the glory of the young misses of the boarding schools, who
each Saturday are brought out in droves to see the sights.
Many descriptions of Fontainebleau have been written, but the works of
Poirson, Pfnor and Champollion-Figeac are generally followed by most
makers of guidebooks, and, though useful, they have perpetuated many
errors which were known to have been doubtful even before their day.
The best account of Fontainebleau under Francois I is given in the
manuscript memoir of Abbe Guilbert. Apparently an error crept into this
admirable work, too, for it gives the date of the commencement of the
constructions of Francois as 1514, whereas that monarch only ascended
the throne in 1515. The date of the first works under this monarch was
1528, according to a letter of the king himself, which began: "We, the
court, intend to live in this palace and hunt the _'betes rousses et
noirs qui sont dans la foret.'_"
An account of Francois I and his "young Italian friends" makes mention
of the visit of the king, in company with the Duchesse d'Etampes, to the
studio of Serlio who was working desperately on the portico of the Cour
Ovale. He found the artist producing a "melody of plastic beauty, garbed
as a simple workman, his hair matted with pasty clay." He was standing
on a scaffolding high above the ground when the monarch mounted the
ladder. Up aloft Francois held a conference with his beloved workman
and, descending, shouted back the words: "You understand, Maitre Serlio;
let it be as you suggest." After the porticos, Serlio decorated the
Galerie d'Ulysse which has since disappeared owing to the indifference
of Louis XV and the imbecility of his friends; and always it was with
Francois: "You understand, Maitre Serlio; it is as you wish." The
_motif_ may have been Italian, but the impetus for the work was given by
the _esprit_ of the French.
The defeated monarch was not able to bring away from Padua any trophies
of war; but he brought plans of chateaux, and gardens as well. He did
more: he took the very artists and craftsmen who had produced many of
the Italian masterpieces of the time.
The tracing of the gardens at Fontainebleau, practically as they exist
to-day, was one of Francois I's greatest pleasures. In their midst, on
the shores of the Etang aux Carpes, was erected a tiny rest-house where
the royal mistresses might come to repose and laugh at the jests of
Triboulet.
The edifice of Francois I is of modest proportions and of perfect unity;
but it is with difficulty that it presents its best appearance,
overpowered as it is by the heavier masses of the time of Henri IV, and
suffering as it does because of the eliminations of Louis XIV and Louis
XV when they made their additions to the palace.
Under the Convention, later on, Fontainebleau's palace again suffered.
Under the Consulate it became a barracks and a prison, and finally, not
less terrible, were the restorations of Napoleon and Louis Philippe. A
castle may sometimes suffer less from a siege than from a restoration.
From every point of view, however, Fontainebleau remains an
architectural document of the most profound interest and value, and,
from the tourists' point of view, it is the most appealing of all
European palaces of this or any other age. The expert, the artist and
the mere curiosity-seeker all unite in their admiration in spite of the
fact that the fabric has been denuded of many of its original beauties.
[Illustration: _Palais de Fontainebleau_]
First, this royal dwelling is of the most ample and effective
proportions; second, it possesses a remarkable series of luxurious
apartments; third, it still contains some of the finest examples of
furniture and furnishings of Renaissance and Napoleonic times; and, in
addition, there is also to be seen that admirable series of paintings
which represent the School of Fontainebleau. With such an array of
charms what does it matter if the unity of the Renaissance masterpiece
of Francois I is qualified by later interpolations? General impression
is the standard by which one judges the workmanship of a noble monument,
and here it is good to an extraordinary degree.
The palace of to-day sits at one end of the aristocratic little town of
Fontainebleau. Beyond is the forest and opposite are many hotels which
depend upon the palace as the source from which they draw their
livelihood.
The principal entrance to the palace opens out from the Place Solferino
and gives access immediately to the Cour du Cheval Blanc of Chambiges,
which, since that eventful day in Napoleonic history nearly a hundred
years ago, has become better known as the Cour des Adieux. At the rear
rises the famous horseshoe stair, certainly much better expressed in
French as the _Escalier en Fer a Cheval_, from which the emperor took
his farewell of his "Vieux Grognards" lined up before him, biting
savagely at their moustaches to keep down their emotions.
This Cour du Cheval Blanc acquired its name from a plaster cast of
Marcus Aurelius's celebrated steed which was originally placed here
under a canopy or baldaquin held aloft by colonnettes. The moulds for
this work were brought from Venice by Primaticcio and Vignole, but it
was never cast in bronze and the statue itself disappeared in 1626. The
courtyard, however, still kept the name until the last of Napoleonic
days.
As a Napoleonic memory this Cour des Adieux shares popularity with the
famous Cabinet of the Empire suite of apartments where Napoleon signed
his abdication. Certainly most visitors will carry away the memory of
these words as among the most vivid souvenirs of Fontainebleau.
"_Le 5 Avril, 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte signa son abdication sur
cette table dans le cabinet de travail du Roi, le deuxieme apres la
chambre a coucher a Fontainebleau._"
The abdication itself (the document) is now exposed in the Galerie de
Diane, transformed lately into the Library.
On the right is the Aile Neuf, built by Louis XV, for the housing of his
officers, on the site of the Galerie de Ulysse, originally one of the
most notable features of the palace of Francois I. Opposite is the sober
alignment of the Aile des Ministres, and still farther to the rear are
the Pavillon des Aumoniers, or de l'Horloge; the Chapelle de la Trinite;
the Pavillon des Armes; the Pavillon des Peintres; the Pavillon des
Poels; the Galerie des Fresques; and, finally, the Pavillon des
Reines-Meres. All of these details are of the period of Francois I save
the last, which was an interpolation of Louis XIV.
The Fer a Cheval stairway, however, most curious because of the
difficulties of its construction, dates from the time of Louis XIII, and
replaces the stairs built by Philibert Delorme. The tennis court, just
before the Pavillon de l'Horloge, dates only from Louis XV.
The imposing entrance court is a hundred and twelve metres in width by a
hundred and fifty-two metres in length, and to see it as it was
originally, before the destruction of the Galerie d'Ulysse, one must
imagine it as closed in by a series of small pavilions with their
frontons of colonnettes preceded only by a staircase and two drawbridges
crossing the moat, which at that time surrounded the entire confines of
the palace. The moat is to-day surrounded, where it still exists, by a
balustrade, due to the rather shabby taste of Louis XV.
An inner courtyard, known as the Cour de la Fontaine, is incomparably of
finer general design than the entrance court, and the Cour Ovale,
absolutely as Henri IV left it, is finer still. At the foot of this
latter court is the Baptistry where were baptised, in 1606, the three
"Enfants de France," the dauphin, afterwards Louis XIII; the Princesse
Elizabeth, afterwards the Queen of Spain; and the Princesse de Savoie.
The Cour Ovale is practically of the proportions of the ancient Manor of
Fontaine Belle Eau, built by Robert le Pieux. There, too, Philippe
Auguste, Saint Louis, Philippe-le-Bel, Charles V and Charles VII
frequently resided. Francois I had no wish that this old manor should
entirely disappear and preserved its old donjon, a relic which has since
gone the way of many another noble fane. There are several other notable
courts or gardens, the Cour des Offices, the Jardin de Diane, the
Orangerie, the Cour des Princes, etc.
All the original gardens were laid out anew by Louis XIV, and that of
Diane underwent a considerable change at the hands of Napoleon, who also
laid out a Jardin Anglais on the site of the ancient Jardin des Pins,
where originally sprang into being the rippling Fontaine Beleau, or
Belle Eau, which gave its name to the palace, the forest and the town.
[Illustration: _Salle du Throne, Fontainebleau_]
The park, as distinct from the great expanse of surrounding forest, is a
finely shaded range of alleys, due chiefly to Henri IV, who cut the
great canal of ornamental water and ordained the general arrangement of
its details.
The principal curiosity of the park is the famous Treille du Roy, or the
King's Grape Vine, which, good seasons and bad, can be counted on to
give three thousand kilos of authentic _chasselas_, grapes of the finest
quality. One wonders who gets them: _Ou s'en vont les raisins du roi?_
This is an interrogation that has been raised more than once in the
French parliament.
In general, the aspect of the exterior of the Palais de Fontainebleau,
the walls themselves, the Cours, the alleyed walks are chiefly
reminiscent of the early art of the Renaissance. Francois I is, after
all, more in evidence than the Henris or the Napoleons. Within, the same
is true in general, though to a less degree. The Renaissance is
_maitresse_ within and without; the other moods are wholly subservient
to her grace.
There is hardly an apartment in all the world of palaces in France, or
beyond the frontiers, to rank with the great Galerie Francois I at
Fontainebleau, though indeed its proportions are modest and its lighting
defective to-day, for Louis XV blocked up all the windows on one side.
It remains, however, one of the richest examples of the Franco-Italian
decoration of its era, though somewhat tarnished by the heedlessness of
Charles X.
Never were there before, nor since, its era such mythological
wall-paintings as are here to be seen. The aspirants for the Prix de
Rome protest each year against such subjects being set them for their
_concours_, but their judges, recalling how effective such examples are,
are insistent. The best examples of the School of Fontainebleau are a
distinct variety of French painting. The veriest dabbler in art can say
with Michelet: "There is no reminiscence of anything Italian therein."
Frankly, these works were the product of secondary artists and their
pupils. Leonardo da Vinci, too old to do anything more than direct, saw
himself succeeded by Del Sarto, Rosso and Primaticcio. Cellini may have
contributed, too, but his labours were doubtless blotted out to a great
extent by the orders of the all-powerful Duchesse d'Etampes who feared
his competition with her protege, Primaticcio. One of the masters of
this coterie was Nicolo dell' Abbate, better known, perhaps, for his
works painted at Bologna than for his frescoes at Fontainebleau.
[Illustration]
The Galerie Henri II is notable also for its decorations, the harmonious
juxtaposition of sculpture and painting, and, although "restored" in
late years, presents an astonishing pristine vigour. This apartment
ranks with the Galerie Francois I, all things considered, as one of the
chief show apartments of the palace. Its length is thirty metres, its
breadth ten, with five ample round-headed windows letting in a flood of
light on either side, one set giving on the Cour Ovale, and the other on
the Parterre and the magnificent facade of the Porte Doree. The ceiling
is broken up into octagonal _caissons_, their depths alternately laid
with gold or silver, bearing the monogram of the monarch and his
_devise_. The parquet is laid in divisions reproducing the design of the
ceiling. On either side the walls are wainscoted in oak similarly
emblazoned in gold and silver, with the initials of Diane de Poitiers,
and of her admirer, Henri, everywhere interlaced. Again, a colossal
monogram reproduces itself in the chimney-piece with the frescoes of
Nicolo dell' Abbate, and fifty figures of mythological gods and heroes
decorate the window casings.
The chapel dates chiefly from the time of Henri IV, the altar and
numerous embellishments belonging to later reigns.
A certain sentiment, not a little real beauty, and much unauthenticated
history attach themselves to the Salon Louis XIII, the Salle du Trone,
the Apartment of Madame de Maintenon, those of Napoleon I, of Pope Pius
VII and of Marie Antoinette.
The Galerie de Diane is little reminiscent of the day of the huntress,
being a reconstitution under the First Empire, though its decorations
date from the Restoration, and the ceiling, and furniture, apparently of
the best of Renaissance times, are merely copies made by Louis Philippe,
who did not hesitate, on another occasion, to blue-wash the Salon de
Saint Louis, and who hung worthless third-rate paintings, which even
provincial museums of the meanest rank have since refused to house, in
the admirably decorated apartments of the period of Francois and Henri.
Fontainebleau, to-day, is but a memory of what it was, a memory by no
means fragmentary, by no means complete; but all sufficient.
Of later years there is actually little to single out in the way of
remarkable additions or restorations. Under the Second Empire the
Galerie Francois I was repainted, some false antiquities added as
furnishings, and various ranges of books were stored away in the Galerie
de Diane, having been brought from the chapel which had ceased to serve
as the Library. This apartment was now refitted as a chapel, and, to
supplant six wall paintings which had been removed, Napoleon III ordered
seven canvases from the painter Schopin, illustrating the life of Saint
Saturnin.
[Illustration]
Finally, the Salle de Spectacle completes the modern additions, and,
while gaudily striking, is scarcely above the taste of a gilded cafe in
some pompous Prefecture.
Henri IV was the creator of the park of the palace, which extended as
far as the village of Avon and absorbed all the Seigneurie de Montceau,
of which Mi-Voie (the dairy of Catherine de Medici) occupied a part. The
acquisition of the Seigneurie was made in 1609. Across it was cut a
"grand canal" in imitation of that already possessed by the Chateau de
Fleury. It was a great rarity as a garden accessory, and was more than a
quarter of a league long and forty metres wide. Bassompierre said in his
memoirs that Henri IV made him a wager that it could be filled with
water in two days. It actually took eight.
To the north of the park, Henri IV built, under the name of La
Menagerie, what he called a _maison de plaisance_, but which was really
the forerunner of the animal house at Versailles.
To all these works of Henri IV in the gardens at Fontainebleau is
attached the name of Francine. There were two brothers of the name,
Thomas and Alexandre, and it was the latter who chiefly occupied himself
with the Parterre, the Chaussee and the Grand Canal at Fontainebleau. In
the Jardin de la Reine he erected the celebrated Fontaine de Diane which
finally gave its name to the garden itself. The fountain was designed by
Barthelemy Prieur, and was cast in 1603. The original bronzes are now in
the Louvre, those seen at Fontainebleau to-day being later works (1684).
The Forest of Fontainebleau is a dozen leagues in circumference, and of
an area of nearly thirty-five thousand acres. Its beauty, its natural
beauty, is unrivalled. Rocks, ravines, valleys, patriarchal oaks and
beeches, plains, woods, glades, meadows, lawns and cliffs, all are here.
Its population of stag and deer was practically exterminated during the
Revolution of 1830, but nevertheless it sustained its reputation as a
great hunting-ground for long afterwards.
The Royal Hunt invariably centered at La Croix du Grand Veneur, a
notable landmark of the forest even now, at the intersection of four
magnificent forest roads. Its name comes from a legend of a spectral
black huntsman who was supposed to haunt the forest, and who appeared
for the last time, in reality or imagination, to Henri IV shortly before
his assassination.
In 1854, one of the last and most gorgeous of Fontainebleau hunts was
given by Louis Napoleon. The emperor spent lavishly for the equipment of
the hunt, and granted liberal stipends to the attendants that they might
caparison themselves with some semblance of picturesque dignity; horses
and dogs were furnished and cared for on the same liberal scale.
The costuming of a hunting party under such conditions was not the least
appealing of its picturesque elements. Three-cornered hats, gold lace,
knee breeches, silk stockings and other costly properties, when provided
for a single special occasion, as they were in this case, were apt to
suggest the life of centuries long gone by rather than that of modern
times.
The Forest of Fontainebleau can best be briefly described as a
rendezvous for tourists and "trippers," and as a vast open-air studio
for the youthful emulators of "the men of Barbison."
Historic, romantic and artistic memories and realities are on every
hand; the march of time and progress has not dimmed them, nor thinned
them out; the Forest of Fontainebleau remains to-day the best known and
most delightful extent of wildwood in all the world.
The chief of the well-known names associated with the Forest of
Fontainebleau, and one which will never die, is that of Denecourt,
called also the "Sylvain de la Foret," a mythological appellation which
came from his abounding knowledge of its devious ways and byways. It was
in 1841 that Denecourt began his original studies and catalogued its
every stone and tree. He invented names and gave a historical setting to
many a picturesque and romantic site which might not have been known at
all had it not been for his enthusiasm.
After the vogue of Denecourt all the world followed in his footsteps
until the Parisian knew as well the Longue Rocher, the Gorges d'Apremont
and the Gorge de Franchard as he did the Rue de la Paix or the Champs
Elysees. Denecourt's great work, "_Promenades dans la Foret de
Fontainebleau_" appeared in 1845, and if he is to be criticised for
letting his fancy run away with him now and then, and for the opera
bouffe nomenclature of many of the _caves_ and _mares_ and _chenes_ and
"fairy-bowers" and "tables of kings," he at least has enabled a curious
public to become better acquainted with this great forest.
The flora of the Forest of Fontainebleau is remarkably varied; Denecourt
gives seventy varieties of plants and flowers which grow and propagate
here naturally, to which are to be added a great number of nondescript
vines, lichens and vegetable mosses.
Of the trees the list extends from the imposing and sometimes gigantic
oaks, elms, beeches, and willows to shrubs and heather growth of the
most humble species.
A score or more of the most commonly known feathered tribes people the
forest to-day with almost the same freedom of life and abundance as in
monarchial times. The songsters are all there, from the robin to the
nightingale; as well as the partridge and the celebrated indigenous
grouse.
Previous to 1830 the forest was well supplied with big game, deer and
wild boar without number; but, in later times, as was but natural, these
have been greatly thinned out. Rabbits and hares, to say nothing of
foxes and the like, were formerly so abundant that, under Louis
Philippe, it was necessary to carry out what was practically a war of
extermination. To-day they exist, of course, but in no great numbers.
Another sort of publicity has been given the Forest of Fontainebleau by
its association with the painters of the thirties. Theodore Rousseau,
in 1836, lived at Barbison, which at that time was but a hamlet of a few
houses, with no encumbering hotels, garages and merry-go-rounds as
to-day.
A certain Pere Ganne kept a sort of a lodging house where artists were
made welcome at an exceedingly modest price. Not only the really famous
and much exploited painters of the time gained fortunes here, but those
of a more conservative school, who never rose to really great
distinction, also drew much of their inspiration from the neighbourhood,
among them Hamon, Boulanger and Celestin Nanteuil.
Without having to go far to hunt up their subjects, the Forest of
Fontainebleau lying near Barbison offered to painters much that was not
available within so small a radius elsewhere.
Diaz was here already when, in 1849, Jacque and Millet arrived upon the
scene, and at more or less frequent intervals, and for more or less
lengthy stays, there came Corot, Dupre and Daubigny.
Just what the Barbison school produced in the way of painting all the
world knows to-day, but these men were originally the target of every
prejudiced critic of the Boulevards and the Faubourgs. The present day
has brought its reward and appreciation, though it is the dealers who
have profited--the men are dead.
[Illustration: _Monument to Rousseau and Millet at Barbison_]
In memory of the fame brought to this little corner of the forest in
general, and to Barbison in particular, there was placed (in 1894), at
the entrance to the village, a bronze medallion showing the heads of
Millet and Rousseau. It was a delicate way of showing appreciation for
the talents of those two great men who actually founded a new school of
painting.
At the other end of the forest is the little village of Marlotte, also a
haven for many painters of a former day, and no less so for those of
to-day. The old forest in three quarters of a century has seen itself
reproduced on canvas in all its moods. No painter ever lived, nor could
all the painters that ever lived, exhaust its infinite variety. Hebert
in his "_Dictionnaire de la Foret de Fontainebleau_" says, rightly
enough, that, with the coming of the men of Fontainebleau and its
"_artist-villages_" the classic type of "Paysage d'Italie" has
disappeared from the Salon Catalogues.
Art amateurs and the common people alike made the reputation of
Fontainebleau; the mere "trippers" were brought thither by Denecourt,
but the real forest lovers were those who were attracted by the
masterpieces of the painters. The town of Fontainebleau has changed
somewhat under this double influence. At Fontainebleau itself are two
monuments in memory of painters who have passed away. One of these is to
the memory of Decamps, who was killed by a fall from his horse while
riding in the forest; it is a simple bust, the work of Carrier-Belleuse.
The other is of Rosa Bonheur who died at Thomery, a little village on
the southern border of the forest, in 1902; it is an almost life-size
bull from a small model by the artist herself and surmounts a pedestal
which also bears a medallion of the artist.