A link to a nice post all about the Palais Cardinal in Paris, latterly (since about 1650) the Palais Royale.

CLICK HERE

for a connection to the posts describing aspects of the cardinal-duc's Paris mansion describing the development of this famous site over the years.

'Peter's Paris' is a very good blog about the City of Paris

and its detailed history, location by location.

http://peter-pho2.blogspot.com/

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The dedication by CORNEILLE of 'Le Cid' to Madame de Combalet

Rodrigo and Ximene finally get to the altar

LE CID

written by Pierre Corneille

DEDICATION TO MADAME DE COMBALET
niece and favorite of the cardinal duc

- 1637 -

Madame,

   This living portrait which I offer you portrays a hero who is fairly easy to recognise by the laurels with which he covered himself. His life was one long succession of victories; his body, carried about by his armies, won battles even after his death; and his name, after six hundred years, has again triumphed in France. He has had too favorable a reception to regret having crossed his country's frontiers and having learnt another language than his own. The outcome has exceeded my wildest expectations, and at first surprised me; but it ceased surprising me as soon as I saw the satisfaction displayed when it was performed before you. Then I dared expect of him everything that took place, and I felt that, after the praises with which you had honored him, this universal applause could not fail to be accorded to him. And in fact, Madame, one cannot justly doubt the value of something that has been fortunate to please you. Your judgement on it guarantees its value; and, as you always liberally accord to real beauties the esteem they deserve, false beauties are never able to dazzle you.  But your generosity is not confined to sterile praise for works which please you; it takes delight in extending itself usefully to those who write them, and does not disdain to employ in their favour the great influence which your rank and virtues have won you. I have experienced the results of your intervention which are too advantageous to me for me to pass them over in silence, and I owe you no less thanks for myself than for The Cid.  This is a recognition which is to my credit, since it is impossible to announce that I am deeply obliged to you without at the same time announcing that you have had sufficient esteem for me to wish me to have these obligations to you.  Thus, Madame, if I wish this success of my pen, this happy effect, to be fairly lasting, it is not for it to inform posterity of my name, but only to leave eternal proofs of what I owe you and to set before the eyes of those who will be born in centuries to come the protestation that I make to be all my life,

Madame,

Your very humble, very obedient and very devoted servant,

CORNEILLE.

***

Pierre Corneille

Madame de Combalet, duchesse de l'Aiguillon

this post dedicated to Dorothy in Georgia.
***

The Vienne at Chinon and the mighty Loire at Saumur

Two April photos of castles on the two local great rivers, the Vienne and the Loire

click on either to see nice big versions, where the dog can see the rabbit....

 The fortress of Chinon - built in the 1100s - with the river Vienne flowing right to left on its way to join the Loire.

The river Loire, further downstream at Saumur, viewed from the castle's battlements, looking east.

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Richelieu à Richelieu - Musée Municipal Richelieu

3 - RICHELIEU

The exhibition Richelieu à Richelieu runs from mid-March 2011 until 13 June 2011.

ONE MONTH TO GO!

Its subject is an investigation into the remains and general history of the now-disappeared château de Richelieu, originally a grand palace beyond contemporary compare.  Interiors, gardens, art collections, painting, sculptures.  Many of the artefacts created or assembled in the château by the cardinal-duke were dispersed, firstly by the chaos of the revolution of 1789, and then by the progressive destruction of the building itself in the 1830s, as the family could no longer retain control of the ducal properties even after the restitutions of the post-Napoleonic era.

Many of these art objects grace the great art collections of the world.

Richelieu à Richelieu is being held simultaneously at three locations:

1   The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Orléans, located next to the cathédrale Sainte-Croix, right in the centre of the famous town of Orléans

2   The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tours, located in the city's former episcopal palace, next to St. Gatien, the cathedral.

3   The Musée Municipal on the place du Marché in the little model town of Richelieu.

See the locations on the map on the right hand side of this blog

Today we examine the third part of this exhibition located in Richelieu, which is held in the former Auditoire of the cité idéale of the cardinal-duke, now used as the Town Hall.  There has been a small museum of matters concerning the cardinal for many years, but now this has been entirely refitted and accommodates, on a permanent basis, six of the 'battle canvases' of the set of twenty which were originally the centre-piece of the works of art in the château's Grande Galerie.  Six more of these canvases are on exhibition in Orléans, reviewed above. Eight are now lost, somewhere in the cellars of Versailles.

This new museum, complete with its awesome artworks, now complements the Éspace Richelieu at 28 Grande Rue.  So the 'most beautiful village in the universe', to quote La Fontaine, sports a good set of facilities for the curious visitor.  Remember that the 'town' of Richelieu only has 2000 inhabitants in the latest census, and these touristic and cultural facilities are expensive for such a small commune.

In this newly reorganised layout, pride of place is given to a sort of recreation of the Grand Galerie, which occupied the left hand (N) wing of the castle's piano nobile - first floor-.  In all there were twenty battle pictures, ten each side, hung between each window, recounting in graphic terms the grandest military events of Louis XIII and his first minister, the cardinal-duke.  Originally each battle was linked vertically to pictures of equivalent Roman battles and their relevant heros and gods.

***

Below we list the six canvases with a title for each.

The siege of the city of La Rochelle - Sept 1627 to Oct 1628

The reduction of Montauban - 21 August 1629

The Battle of Avein - 20 May 1635

Siege and capture of Corbie - 14 November 1636

The reduction of Nîmes - 4 July 1629

The rescue of the Ile de Ré - 1627-28

Plucked from these pictures are details of the King and the cardinal himself.  Richelieu had trained as a soldier before he became the Bishop of Lucon by family inheritance, so he was at home in the saddle and in warrior adventures, while still wearing the cardinal's red costume (and socks?).

***

The exhibition's catalogue - 537 pages! - €49

The 'eminence grise', François Leclerc de Tremblaye, in the Palais Cardinal
painted by Jean-Léon Gérôme
***

A knitting pattern for Eminence Rouge socks

With thanks to our friends at

 http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/socks.php
and (probably) Miss Megan Mahoney!

Eminence Rouge Socks

***

Richelieu à Richelieu - Musée des Beaux-Arts Tours

2 - TOURS

The exhibition Richelieu à Richelieu runs from mid-March 2011 until 13 June 2011.

ONE MONTH TO GO!

Its subject is an investigation into the remains and general history of the now-disappeared château de Richelieu, originally a grand palace beyond contemporary compare.  Interiors, gardens, art collections, painting, sculptures.  Many of the artefacts created or assembled in the château by the cardinal-duke were dispersed, firstly by the chaos of the revolution of 1789, and then by the progressive destruction of the building itself in the 1830s, as the family could no longer retain control of the ducal properties even after the restitutions of the post-Napoleonic era.

Many of these objects grace the great art collections of the world.

Richelieu à Richelieu is being held simultaneously at three locations:

1   The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Orléans, located next to the cathédrale Sainte-Croix, right in the centre of the famous town of Orléans

2   The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tours, located in the city's former episcopal palace, next to St. Gatien, the cathedral.

3   The Musée Municipal on the place du Marché in the little model town of Richelieu.

See the locations on the map on the right hand side of this blog

The Musée des Beaux-Arts, TOURS

Today we will report on the parts of the circuit exhibition - exhibition parcours - at the Musée des Beaux Arts in Tours.  The museum is located in the former palace of the bishop, immediately to the south of the cathédrale de St. Gatien. 

For Balzac fans, one might remember the sad tale of the Curé de Tours and the petty jealousies of the 1830s, as the hero finally loses his hope of eccesiatical preferrment and has to move from the north side of the cathedral precints to the 'outer darkness' of St. Symphorien on the other side of the Loire.


The aspect of the exhibition taken up at Tours is the art collection assembled by the cardinal and used to decorate the interiors of his palace.  In particular:

• the King's suite - to the right of the grand stair
• the Queen's suite - in the righthand wing after the king's apartments
• the Cardinal's suite - to the left of the grand staircase

each of which occupied parts of the piano nobile of the château.

In the King's chambers:

the 'Generosity of Titus' by Jacques Stella from the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard, USA

a detail from the above - don't I know that face? And the other bloke?

the two famous 'Bacchanales' of Nicholas Poussin - one from London, one from Kansas City USA

ordered by the cardinal-duc from Poussin for the Château

from the Queen's chambers:

Claude Déruet - 'Fire' from the 4 elements.

Claude Déruet -'Earth' from the 4 elements

left hand detail

right hand detail

'Perugino' or Pietro Vannucci - 'The combat of Love and Chastity'

from the collection of Isabelle d'Este in Mantua acquired by the cardinal.

Finally, from the cardinal duke's suite, a picture of his mum,
Suzanne de La Porte:

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Richelieu à Richelieu - Musée des Beaux-Arts Orléans

1 - ORLÉANS

The exhibition Richelieu à Richelieu runs from mid-March 2011 until 13 June 2011.

ONE MONTH TO GO!

Its subject is an investigation into the remains and general history of the now-disappeared château de Richelieu, originally a grand palace beyond contemporary compare.  Interiors, gardens, art collections, painting, sculptures.  Many of the artefacts created or assembled in the château by the cardinal-duke were dispersed, firstly by the chaos of the revolution of 1789, and then by the progressive destruction of the building itself in the 1830s, as the family could no longer retain control of the ducal properties even after the restitutions of the post-Napoleonic era.
Many of these art objects grace the great art collections of the world.

Richelieu à Richelieu is being held simultaneously at three locations:
1   The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Orléans, located next to the cathédrale Sainte-Croix, right in the centre of the famous town of Orléans
2   The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tours, located in the city's former episcopal palace, next to St. Gatien, the cathedral.
3   The Musée Municipal on the place du Marché in the little model town of Richelieu.

See the locations on the map on the right hand side of this blog.

Today we will talk about the part of the exhibition in Orléans, the furthest from the original location of the cardinal's château (174 km, 2hrs 3 minutes, 12.20€ tolls by autoroute A10).

The centre or Orléans is topsy-turvey with the installation of a new tramway system, still 18 months from completion.  So one struggles, through all the works and disruption, to the the 1985 Musée des Beaux-Arts situated just next the town's cathedral, on Place Sainte-Croix.  Once inside, a good part of the gallery's first floor is occupied with the exhibition.  

This part of the exhibition parcours concerns itself with:

1. the authors of the cardinal's project in 1632
2. its influence on the art history of the time and contemporary comments by visitors
3. a large collection of classical statuary and busts, mainly from the exterior of the château and the gardens
4. the drawings of Cannini, made of the statues and busts purchased in Rome in the 1630s
5. a video presentation of the château's history
6. many religious paintings from the cardinal's apartments in the château
7. 6 of the 12 remaining 'battle pictures' from the original total of 20 scenes in the château's gallery
8. the two huge rostral columns from the entrance portico to the château

Orléans was the only part of the exhibition where the organisers frowned on photography, perhaps hoping -  rightly - that we would purchase the 3 inch thick catalogue for 49€. So we cannot offer a photo essay of the exhibition.  

But we reproduce below their summary of the contents in the slim catalogue given to each visitor.  Of course it is written in French, but not too hard to skim, even if the pictures are all one can digest.
We trust they will not object to our assistance to publicise the exhibition and encourage visitors this way.

Merged PDF
A short movie about moving the statues from the Louvre......

Découvrez Du Louvre à l'exposition "Richelieu à Richelieu" sur Culturebox !

.... and a web site of the DRAC (Direction régionale des affaires culturelles) of the Region Centre....

http://www.draccentre.culture.gouv.fr/contenu.php?id=198
....and a blog from Tours
http://theaujasmin.blogspot.com/2011/03/richelieu-richelieu-architecture-et.html

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Paté en croute - the cardinal does 'veal 'n 'am' pie

Trust the cardinal-duke to upstage the old favourite of Englande, veal and ham pie. And even the newly appellation controlé, Melton Mowbray pork pie.

This particular delicacy, purchased in April 2011 for a mere €2.50 (including the third slice FREE), shows how his table resonates down the centuries of history.

Maybe it was the gastro-project of one of his descendants - perhaps the voracious third Duke, inventor of Mayonnaise.  Wikipedia, as yet, stays silent.  

Buying it pre-prepared seems a better bet than cooking it oneself - the collection of ingredients alone would take a morning.

A foie gras core!

BUT it was nice....

http://cuisine.journaldesfemmes.com/recette/338585-pate-en-croute-richelieu

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