image: A portrait of Louis-Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé by an unknown artist. 18th century.
Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé was a prince of the blood who inherited, among several other prestigious estates, the chateau de Chantilly, which had been in his family for many years. It was this particular Condé who overhauled the Chantilly grounds and ordered the construction of an English-style garden, including a hamlet. The hamlet and gardens at Chantilly would be an inspiration for Marie Antoinette's Petit Trianon gardens several years later.
In 1780, Anne-Rosalie Filleul (born Anne-Rosalie Boquet) was hired to paint views of the estate, with an emphasis on its lush English-style gardens. Filluel was a popular artist whose work was noticed by Marie Antoinette, who eventually commissioned her to paint several portraits of the royal family. Of these royal portraits, only a few--such as her portrait of the Artois children--survived the revolution.
image: A portrait of the children of the comte d'Artois by Anne-Rosalie Filleul. 1781.
Filleul, like many of her royal paintings, did not survive the revolution. She was denounced to the Committee of Public Safety for wearing mourning for Louis XVI in 1794, and was arrested for attempting to sell royally commissioned furniture from the Chateau de la Muette. Anne-Rosalie had once lived at Muette and was appointed Superintendent of the chateau by Marie Antoinette after her husband's death. However, because all royally commissioned furniture was considered seized property of the new Republic, Anne-Rosalie, along with companion Marguerite-Émilie Chalgri, were charged with 'theft and concealment of property belonging to the Republic.' They were found guilty and sentenced to death.
Of the Filluel paintings that did survive to present day, few are quite as charming as her pastel paintings of the Chateau de Chantilly gardens. Her paintings capture the simple, sometimes rustic, yet overwhelmingly beautiful English-style gardens that came into vogue among the French upper elite in the 1770s and 1780s.
image: The Grand Canal at the Chateau de Chantilly
image: The Barn at the Chateau de Chantilly
image: The Grotto at the Chateau de Chantilly
image: The Hamlet at the Chateau de Chantilly
image: The Menagerie at the Chateau de Chantilly
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