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The role of the Château de Chantilly in the Jaunay story 2
The Grand Château was destroyed in the French Revolution, partially repaired by the last of the Condés and then entirely rebuilt in 1875 - 1881 by his heir, the Duc d'Aumale [1822 - 1897], the fourth son of Louis-Phillippe. The Duc bequeathed the whole domain to the Institut de France in 1884.
On entering the grounds through the iron Grille d'Honneur the château is to the left and the Château d'Enghien built in 1770 is to the right. A long walk leads to the Terrasse du Connéctable which features a statue of the Constable Anne de Montmorency for whom the Grand Château was originally erected. The visitor passes between two bronze groups of hounds, crosses the moat and enters the Cour d'Honneur through a colonnade.
The Musée Condé is now contained within the Château de Chantilly having been bequeathed to the Institut de France in 1884. It incorporates a unique collections of French art and an important library. Most of the ground floor of the Grand Château may be visited without a guide and a sales point for souvenirs is located in the Gallerie des Cerfs (Gallery of the Stags).
The Petit Château (Little Chateau) can only be seen on an escorted tour with a guide who speaks only French and only two wings on the ground floor are visited. This is enough to realise just how grand the Condé court was. This part of the Chât;eau remains largely intact from the time of construction and is set out like any royal house with the familiar sequence of chambers from an antechamber where just about any person may enter on business through chambers of ever increasing degrees of privacy from persons of lower rank than the occupant.
On entering the building, we are in the Grand Vestibule with the Grand Staircase to the left and the entry to the Petit Château ahead. The Grand Château is entered to the right via the Gallerie des Cerfs with the arms of successive owners on the ceiling. To see the plan...
The visitor needs to remind themselves while in the Grand Château that what they see is largely a building just over 115 years old. Fortunately it would require very close inspection to ascertain this as the original foundations were used and so the new building very much resembles the former in terms of layout. Also most of the contents which were seized by the State during the Revolution have now been restored to their rightful home and complemented by many more art and literary treasures. The Petit Château is the original building which escaped sacking for reasons which are not entirely clear. The mobs were determined to wipe away every trace of the aristocracy and yet they left this building largely intact and used it as a prison.
The Jaunay family had a close association with this palace up until the French Revolution. Successive generations were retainers in the Condé court. Although the association goes back beyond 1750 according to family lore, the first confirmed association of a Jaunay with the Condé household comes at this time. Records linking the associated Brunet family with the household are available back to 1679. Jean Baptiste Jaunay was described on his son's birth certificate [below] as an officer of His Serene Highness Monseigneur The Prince of Condé [officier de S A S Mgr Le Prince de Condé].
Continued...
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