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The Château of Fontainebleau is a Château Renaissance being next to the town of Fontainebleau. It was the residence of the sovereigns of the France since François Ier until Napoleon III. Several kings left their print in the construction and the history of the castle. Since 1981, it is with its park on the Liste of the world heritage of UNESCO.

The western frontage built by François Ier opens on monumental the Escalier out of Horseshoe and the Court of the White Horse.

History

A strong castle is mentioned has this site for the first time in 1137, and increased by Saint Louis (1214 - 1270). François I {{er}} (1494 - 1547) decides to make build a castle of Renaissance style. It makes shave preceding construction, except for the Donjon, in the court Ovale, and called upon artists Italy NS to ensure the construction and the decoration of its palate. François Ier comes to drive out in Fontainebleau, accompanied by his court and his mistress, the duchess of Stamps.

The king wishes to make of Fontainebleau a hearth of the art of the Renaissance: it collects the objets d'art, orders works on mythology, makes come from Italy of the antiques. It receives tables on behalf of the pope and makes come from the moulds of Roman statues in order to run bronzes. It commissions Rosso Fiorentino for the decoration of the castle which carries out the house of Pomone, the house of Poesles, the Basse gallery (all destroyed) and especially the gallery François Ier (1534-1540). Fontainebleau is sometimes indicated like the “Rome News” and its school is famous in all Western Europe.

His/her son, the king of France Henri II supplements the castle with a ballroom and a vault, connected to the building by the famous gallery François Ier, which faces the pond of carps.

Later, Henri IV increases the residence of several wings and the Door of the Baptistry. It makes arrange the court of the offices. From now on, the palate can accommodate nearly thousand people. The king comes to play Jeu of palm in an especially arranged room. Louis XIV liked to come in Fontainebleau: it made build a theater; Louis XV makes arrange a theater who burned in 1856.

During the French revolution, the palate is emptied of its furniture; it becomes successively a barracks then a prison. It is Napoleon i which revives Fontainebleau starting from 1804 : it makes bring pieces of furniture, makes come its court for which it makes arrange 40 apartments of Master. Two evenings per week, it makes give spectacles of opera and theater. But Fontainebleau is also a place of political decision, as the throne room and the library of work of the emperor show it. It is in Fontainebleau that Napoleon i signs his act of abdication in 1814. It tries to commit suicide with the poison, but this one does not have the discounted effect. April 20th, there makes a speech remained famous with its guard in the Cour of the Good-byes , a scene illustrated by table the good-byes of Fontainebleau paints by Horace Vernet.

To the 19th century, the wife of Napoleon III, Eugenie, passes her evenings in the small theater built by her husband. She sticks to the Chinese living room, decorated by the gifts of the ambassadors of Siam.

Interior of the palate

The gallery

It is approximately 60 meters long. King François Ier made it build and decorate; he kept of them the keys and made it visit with its hosts of mark. The gallery was entrusted to the Italian Rosso Fiorentino who decorated it in an original way with paintings, skirtings and stuccos. The monogram of the king everywhere is found; paintings represent accounts of mythology gréco-Roman and allegories from which the direction escapes to us today. One of most famous is that of the elephant which carries the royal figure.

A scene is devoted to the education of Achilles by the Chiron centaur.

The ballroom

The ballroom has a surface which exceeds 300 m ². In the beginning, it was simple a Loggia which opened on the oval court. Henri II decides to transform it into a big room of reception and pageantry to organize the royal festivals there. At the time of the festivals, the top table was drawn up on trestles close to the large chimney. Once the finished banquet, one removed the tables to dance. Paintings which decorate the ballroom inspire by mythology gréco-romaine : one of them represents the episode of bone of contention. One also finds topics related to the festival (music…). The court was invited to extravagant masked balls: one could see François Ier disguised in Centaure.

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