Chateau Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaison, France;(1803-1805); Renaissance
The chateau de
Malmaison is a French chateau that was bought by Josephine in 1799 and became
the French government’s headquarters after her husband Napoleon Bonaparte
became the emperor in the 1800s. It was located west of the center of Paris
(Approximately 50 feet) in Rueil-Malmaison and was renovated after the purchase
by two architects by the names of Pierre Francois Leonard Fontaine and Charles
Percier, while the queen and her husband vacationed to Egypt.
A military
tent was used to set up an entrance for the antique styled building created by
in 1800. The tent accented the entrance and once inside it opened toward a main
entrance hall. The entrance hall then passed a billiard-room, where the guests
would usually end during venues, and after the grand entrance and the
structured set up of the two rooms it finally entered into the Salon which
included dismantled paintings by Josephine, along with her harp, and the Queen’s
piano. The Salon proudly embraced two paintings (one by Gerard and the other by
Girodat.) Napoleon himself had a secret staircase leading to his private
bedroom, creating private spaces that were inaccessible to guests. Napoleons
room contained another smaller room that housed many paintings of the royal
family, along with a painting commissioned by Napoleon called, “Napoleon
crossing the Great Saint-Bernard pass.” Alongside, were the empresses room with
red and gold gilt, and a tent shaped bed, which Josephine was almost always
found in. Outside visitors could walk in the public park and get lost in the
rosebushes that stretched across.
After
Josephine and Napoleon divorced in 1809 Josephine kept the house, and she later
died there in her tent bed in 1814. In 1861, Napoleon III was given the house
and turned it into the first museum in Malmaison, which later closed due to
bankruptcy in 1870. The building was then broken up, piece by piece, painting
by painting, until every piece of gold gilding was auctioned off to the people.
After some time had passed, the state started
buying back pieces of the building to reconstruct it in 1904, and after it was
refurbished it was reopened in 1906 to the public. The dining room still
displays its colors that are reminiscing of the Pompeian style (A harmony of
subtle colors, not meant to overwhelm the guests.) Still inside the building
today after its refurbishments is included its tent like, metal structure that
welcomes guests inside, the billiard room which is accented by its black and
white tiling that continues onto the outskirts of the music room, the music
room which kept its tan tiles creating a strong central space, the tent shaped
room that was dear to Percier and Fontaine, the full extent of the library,
both Napoleon and Josephine’s formal bedrooms, and finally Josephine’s
non-formal bedroom. Still around the site exists Josephine’s extensive garden.
Inside there are still details strung throughout the house of the original
tile-work, and gilding. This work of renaissance architecture is still a place of beauty that can be explored by those that the building invites to stay weather it be its public or private guest's.
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| Chateau Malmaison |
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Work Cited
Hubert Gérard, and Barbara
Shuey. Chateau Malmaison. Musées Nationaux, 1988.
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