Château de Vincennes

The Château de Vincennes is located at the eastern edge of central Paris in the Bois de Vincennes. It is one of the most extensive and best preserved fortified castles in Europe. The origin of the castle goes all the way back to 1150 when Louis VII built a hunting lodge there, which was soon expanded. The actual castle, originally a fortress, was built by Charles V about a century later, including the impressive donjon (central tower.) Half fortified castle, half classic palace, the Château de Vincennes was used as a royal residence from the 12th century until the 18th century, when the king moved to the Palace of Versailles, around 1670.

 

 

 

Approach to the chateau with a view of some of the towers that make up the fortification wall. In 1410 the fortress was walled in by an enceinte (a fortification wall) 3,937 feet long, lined with 9 towers, originally up to 138 feet high. The wall stretches around over more than half a mile and protects a rectangular space of several acres.

 

The Village Tower is the original main gate of the chateau.

 

The entrance by way of a footbridge across the moat

 

The road into the chateau

 

The visitors’ passageway

 

The plan of the chateau

 

 

A scale model of the chateau

 

 

Looking back at the entrance from inside the walls of the chateau

Nowadays, the pavilions to the left and right of the entrance are home to military libraries and part of the Ministry of Defense’s Historical Service archives.

 

 

Donjon

At 170 feet, it is still Europe's tallest donjon. Look closely, and you can see the meurtrières--slits in the turret through which defenders fired arrows at the enemy. One of the FIAC sculptures in the Tuileries had the "arrow slit" as a feature of the sculpture.

 

The chatelet (gateway flanked by 2 towers) forms the main entrance to the donjon.

 

Entrance into the donjon

 

 

A deep moat, originally filled with water, protected the donjon.

 

A look down at the footbridge across the moat from the terrace of the chatelet

 

The courtyard of the donjon

 

In the courtyard is the oldest preserved example of an outwork stairway (one built against another, larger building), lit by 5 openings, one above the other.

 

The spiral staircase

 

L’escalier d’honneur, The Grand Staircase

 

Terrific spiked doors

The donjon has a total of eight floors counting the terrace. The first five floors have a large central hall and secondary rooms in the corner turrets with access to the latrines. The ground floor was probably used as a store room and housing for relatives or servants. On the first floor, the central hall was probably a meeting room. The general layout of the second floor, which housed the King's bedroom, is similar to that of the first floor. It is speculated that the upper two levels of the donjon were used by the king’s entourage.

 

 

 

Entrance to the exhibit, Le Donjon des Rêves De Piranese a Schuiten (Imaginary Prisons from Piranesi to Schuiten)

 

This exposition was possible because twelve etchings of “The Prisons” of the artist Giovanni Piranesi (1720-1778) were donated to Vincennes. The cartoons of Francois Schuiten, a contemporary artist, were strongly influenced by Piranesi. Both the engravings and cartoons are displayed throughout the levels of the donjon. On display are the artistic representations of the dungeon, Piranesi in his etchings and Schuiten with the same subject matter in a different medium three centuries later. I was not familiar with either of these artists before I visited the chateau, but I wish I had known more about them because I would have paid more attention to their works of art.

 

Four levels are all laid out in the same way: a large square room whose sides are 30 feet long with a central pillar supporting the ribs of the vaults. The walls are ten feet thick. The ceiling is 23 feet high at its peak on the ground floor and 26 feet high in the first, second and third floors.

 

 

Artwork by Piranesi and Schuiten are exhibited on easels

 

 

A Schuiten cartoon flanks the huge fireplace. You can see the "flames" of a fire inside the fireplace.

 

Piranesi etchings on either side of the fireplace. There was a fireplace on each of the levels.

Etchings and a display of decorative sculpture on exterior windows of the donjon

 

 

 

View of Pavillon de la Reine, Le Tour du Bois and the Pavillon du Roi (to the immediate right of the donjon)

During the 16th and 17th century the Vincennes chateau continued to be expanded, with an emphasis on turning the fortress into a residential palace. The perfectly symmetrical Queen’s Pavilion on the left, the King’s Pavilion on the right, the Tour du Bois (converted into an arc de triomphe--victory arch) in the middle, and the arcade wall, separating the royal courtyard from the rest of the chateau, were built in the classical French style.

Sainte-Chapelle (Holy Chapel) is to the left of the Pavillon de la Reine

 

 

Sainte-Chapelle and Pavillon de la Reine

 

 

Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes

The construction of a chapel, modeled on the Sainte-Chapelle on the Île de la Cité in Paris, with magnificent stained glass windows, was completed after 182 years, in 1552. The Sainte-Chapelle of Vincennes was intended to house part of the relics of the Passion, (the crown of thorns, a fragment of the Holy Cross, the sponge and the spear.) By constructing Sainte-Chapelle, Charles V wished to turn Vincennes into a second capital of the kingdom, alongside the Palais de la Cité in Paris.

 

 

The Sainte-Chapelle of Vincennes is just as high but longer and wider than the chapel of the Cité. Both are achievements of Gothic architecture and both are re-creations of the original churches which were partially destroyed during the French Revolution in 1793.

 

 

Entrance to the the Sainte-Chapelle

 

 

The stained glass Rose Window of the Sainte-Chapelle

 

 

Five-sided apse with stained glass windows

 

The Holy Chapel was built in keeping with the traditional plan of castle chapels: a single nave (main aisle), a choir formed by a straight bay (space between 2 adjacent supports/columns) and a five-sided apse (semi-circular recess) flanked by two oratories (small private chapels) – one for the King and the other for the Queen

 

HISTORY

When the chateau was abandoned by the royal family, it became the site of the Vincennes Porcelain factory and then served as a state prison, housing such infamous personalities as Diderot and the Marquis de Sade. Napoleon used it as an arsenal in 1840, and it was in use as a military fortress. Most of the tall towers around the castle were leveled off during that period. In 1860 Napoleon III turned the Bois de Vincennes, historically the royal hunting ground of the Vincennes Castle, into a 2500-acre public park.

On June 14, 1940, the castle was occupied by German troops. It was used as a military barracks and place of internment. In August 1944, Waffen-SS troops retreating from the Normandy front executed prisoners at the castle before leaving on the 24th. In their retreat, the German troops also destroyed ammunition depots in the south and north-west military buildings, creating a large breach in one section of the wall, which was only filled in 1990.

 

 

RESTORATION

Restoration work at the chateau began after World War II and is still going on today. The instability of the donjon required its closure to the public in October, 1995 for 12 years. Completed in July, 2006, the restoration of the donjon was one of the most extensive and technical restoration endeavors to be carried out over recent years. From 1990 to 2006, the Government spent over 43 million euros on the restoration of the chateau, with all interior and exterior work combined.

Before I visited the chateau, I knew a little about it, but I didn’t realize its importance historically as a fortified castle of the Middle Ages. Also, I take for granted the fact that an erstwhile royal residence would be restored as a matter of course. In fact, the restoration didn’t really gain momentum until the Ministers of Culture and Defense asked former Culture Minister Jean-Philippe Lecat for a report on the restoration and enhancement of the château. This document, which was produced in 1988, raised awareness about the monument and its condition. In Lecat’s own words:

Do you think that if the United Kingdom, Russia, or Germany had, on their capital's doorstep, a monumental complex having witnessed their national history and the birth of the State which forged their rank among nations, they would hesitate to turn its revival into the great project of the upcoming decade?”
The restoration of the Château de Vincennes proceeded from that time on until the present day.

 

NOWADAYS

Presently, the Chateau de Vincennes is the seat of numerous services and institutions operated by the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Culture. In 1948, the Historical Service of the Army, as well as its counterparts from the Navy and Air Force, set up premises at the Château. The French Army now uses the château to store its Defense archives, which date back to the 17th Century. It has been said that “Vincennes holds the memory of military France.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Art “Hors Les Murs” in the Tuileries

FIAC, which stands for Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (International Fair of Contemporary Art) is the most important art fair in France. The first FIAC took place in 1974, and the thirty-ninth art fair took place on the third weekend of October, 2012.The venue was the Grand Palais, which becomes a giant art emporium. This year, 182 galleries participated in the event, which is designed to attract contemporary art collectors, museum curators and international dealers. Prior to this year’s FIAC, Madame Jennifer Flay, FIAC Director, pointed out that “many of the 65,000 visitors who are expected to attend the fair this year won’t come with the expectation of buying anything; they will just be there to browse, experience and absorb. There are many different kinds of acquisition of art,” she said. “Monetary exchange at the level of acquisition — that is, purchasing works of art — is only one of the forms of exchange that is possible. For most people there are two kinds that are more accessible — emotional and intellectual acquisition.”

 

For the seventh consecutive year, FIAC staged exhibitions of art which are “hors les murs,” literally “outside the walls.” One venue was the Tuileries Garden, where sculptures and installations are set up in the garden's fountains, basins, lawns, lanes and groves. I first saw FIAC art installations in 2011 in the Jardin des Plantes. I wasn’t familiar with FIAC and thought it was odd to find such elaborate art installations scattered throughout a garden; some of the art installations were a little odd, too, and had no particular relationship to a garden setting. When I visited the Tuileries shortly afterward, there was FIAC artwork there, also. In 2012, I made a point of visiting the Tuileries during FIAC because I enjoyed seeing the outdoor art. In the photo description, I’ve included only the name of the work and the artist. If you want more information, including an explanation of the artist‘s work, go to the FIAC web site: www.fiac.com (In some cases, neither the French description of the artwork nor the English translation made a lot of sense, but in some cases, neither did the artwork.)

 

The Glass Pyramid in the Cour Napoleon, the Louvre and the sculpture of Louis XIV
 

 

 

Sculpture of Louis XIV

In 1665, Louis XIV commissioned Bernini to sculpt an equestrian statue of himself. Bernini’s sculpture portrayed the king as a Roman emperor. This typically Baroque sculpture, with its appearance of movement rather than a controlled pose like those of the Renaissance, was sent to Versailles in 1685. Louis disliked it and had it exiled to the far end of the gardens. The American architect I.M. Pei, who was in charge of the grand renovation project of the Louvre, persuaded the officials at Versailles to make a copy of this statue, which he placed in front of his famous Glass Pyramid entrance to the Louvre. This copy, cast in lead, is the only sculpture in the courtyard of the Glass Pyramid. The marble original remains at Versailles.

 

 

Close-up of Louis XIV, depicted as a Roman emperor

 

FIAC Sign (Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain)

Parce qu’il y a notre pouvoir qui ne l’est pas encore (Because there is our power that is no more, 2012) by Emmanuel Lagarrigue

 

Parce qu’il y a notre pouvoir qui ne l’est pas encore

The striations in the wood are not a random design--they are Morse Code for a lengthy philosophical quotation engraved in the wood.

Sleep and Echo (2012) by Matthias Bitzer

Sleep and Echo
The sculpture is composed of colored metal rings that overlap and swivel.

 

Fontaine

 

(Fountain, 2012) by Elsa Sahal

 

 

Fontaine

The sculpture is structured in two parts, or columns, surmounted by a central feminine figure which sends out a continuous stream of water from a height of nearly 10 feet.

 

 

Colorful sailboats are at the ready to go into the basin

 

Deux mêmes choses ne peuvent être pareilles

(No two things can be the same, 2012) by gerlach en coup
 

 

Deux memes choses ne peuvent être pareilles

The sculpture involves two rubbish bins, with one of the bins discarded into another.

 I had to check to be sure this was really an art installation. It was.

 

 

The Origin of the World (2012)

 by Marc Quinn
 

 

Origin of the World

A realistic shell cast in bronze and nearly 10 feet tall. It is meant to symbolize a woman’s sexuality.

Modified Social Benches (2012)

 by Jeppe Hein

Four different styles of benches were placed around the basin. I would have been happy to take any or all home with me.

Modified Social Bench

 

Modified Social Bench

 

Modified Social Bench

 

 

Blue Candle (2010)

 by Mark Handforth

 

 

Blue Candle

The artist re-envisions an everyday object and creates a sculpture from it.

 

 

Sans titre (Untitled, 2012)

by Vincent Mauger

 

 

 

The sculpture is made of stainless steel plates and stainless aluminum tubes. It is the third sculpture by this artist that I’ve seen--last year his work was in the Jardin des Plantes and the Tuileries, and this year again in the Tuileries. Once I knew who sculpted it, I recognized the artist’s precise, symmetrical, totally abstract style.

BBZ (2012)

by Aaron Curry

 

 

BBZ

The painted aluminum sculpture is built according to a wooden model carved out by the artist with a jigsaw. The model is then scanned, blown up and reproduced on a larger scale.

 

 

Bateau (2011)  by Dominique Ghesquiere

 

In “boat,” the artist questions the precise status of reality: is it really all that exists and is there nothing else? Perhaps this is the bow of a boat, a flat barge that conceals the depths and that floats on the surface ? Or is it a boat at the end of its life, almost fully submerged? Everything happens on the surface.

 

Chromosaturation (1965)

 by Carlos Cruz-Diez

 

 

Chromosaturation

 An artificial environment consisting of three chambers—one red, one green, one blue— that immerse the visitor in an absolute monochromatic situation.

Colonne Pascale (2010)

 by Pascale Marthine Tayou

 

 

Colonne Pascale is composed of 18 enamel pots piled on top of each other. Reaching a height of nearly 20 feet, the result is a totem of everyday objects, which transcends the prosaic nature of its materials.

 

Meurtrière

(Arrowslit, 2012) by Nicolas Milhe

 

 

 Arrowslit, from the opposite side of the mirror 

 

 

The medieval military architecture of fortified castles is the inspiration for this sculpture. Meurtières allow archers to see and shoot arrows at the enemy without being seen. This work echoes the ancient fortifications of the Louvre palace and is placed in the famous Historical Axis.

The continuation of the Historical Axis may be seen through the “arrowslit” in the sculpture. (I tried to get a photo of the axis through the arrowslit, but there were too many people around to get a clear shot.) The imaginary line of the Historical Axis starts in the Cour Napoléon and passes through the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the gardens of the Tuileries. Just beyond, the axis crosses the Place de la Concorde and its Egyptian obelisk before it runs down the Champs-Elysées and reaches the Arc de Triomphe. In modern times, the axis was extended past the city boundary to the Grande Arche de La Defense, a business district with high-rise office buildings. The Grande Arche is a twentieth century version of the Arc de Triomphe, but dedicated to humanitarian ideals rather than military victories.

Threshold Resign (2012)

 by Mircea Cantor

 

 

For this piece, one of Romania’s typical small wooden houses was dismantled and rebuilt, and a typical rope motif, symbolizing the life-line--or enslavement--was carved into the wooden facade. With the roof removed, the house is no longer functional: the result is a construction midway between cultural heritage and contemporary sculpture.

 

Threshhold Resign

 

 

Untitled (2012)

  by Philippe Ramette
This sculpture consists of a pole with road signs attached to it. However, the signs only suggest potential directions, since nothing is written on them – there is no indication of the distance to be covered in order to reach one’s destination. Placed in the Tuileries Garden, the work seems to be inviting visitors to continue their stroll.

 

 

The Exchange Library (2011)

 by Tadashi Kawamata

My first thought was, “What is a bookmobile doing in the Tuileries?” I had to check the list of art installations just to be sure it really was one. It was, and the books on the chair were real--people picked them up, looked them over and put them back on the chair. I’m not sure they realized that it wasn’t really a lending library.

 

 

Bookmobile book exchange information

 

 

The Exchange Library

 

    Debris clôturé  (Fenced in Debris, 2012)

I didn’t know if this was an art installation or not, but I took a couple of pics just in case. What do you think?

Debris

I had to check to be sure this was an art installation. It wasn‘t --it’s only debris, nothing else.

Blatantly Bronze Landscape (2011)

 by Tom Burr

 Blatantly Bronze Landscape is part of an ongoing series of mirrored folding screens. It maintains the aspect of a personal dressing room, but reflects both the viewer and the environment. The work blurs the boundary that exists between the personal space of dressing and undressing and the outside world.

 

 

Maison bulle à six coques

(The Bubble House, 1968) by Jean Maneval

The Bubble House was constructed of six interlocking, reinforced polyester shells that could be easily transported to and set up at the chosen home site. It is 36m² or a little less than 400 square feet. Maneval's houses came in white, green, and brown—colors that would blend easily into the landscape. This design was used to equip an experimental holiday village in Gripp, in the Pyrenees Mountains. The production of these bubbles stopped around 1970 and remained limited to approximately thirty models.

 

 

The Bubble House was a very clever-looking little house, but there was nothing inside, so I couldn’t get an idea of how it would be equipped or furnished. Also, I don’t think the Pyrenees Mountains was the right environment for this little house.

On Patrol

Holding their formidable-looking weapons, French infantry soldiers walked three abreast along the main pathway of the garden. It was a sobering sight, as if they were doing a sweep of the garden.

 Look over the right shoulder of this soldier. You can see two points on the Historical Axis--the obelisk on the Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees. They look close together, but there is actually more than a mile between the obelisk and the arch.

 

Fire Walker (2010) by William Kentridge

The sculpture is based on a drawing of a street vendor, known locally as a “fire walker” because of the brazier of hot coals they carry in order to sell roasted corn or meat to passers-by. The sculpture consists of steel plates composed in a 3-dimensional collage. When viewed from the front, there is a coherent image, but becomes disjointed and unrecognizable as the viewer moves around it.

 

 

Fire Walker, viewed from the side

 

 

A manicured garden is in the foreground, the “horseshoe terrace” is in the background to the left, and the art installation, “Sinfonietta of Light” is in the octagonal basin on the right. The Tuileries end here, adjacent to the Place de la Concorde.

 

Sinfonietta of Light (2012) by Susumu Shingu
A ‘sinfonietta’ can be a small symphony orchestra, especially one consisting of stringed instruments only.

 

This installation consists of ten pairs of wings mounted on a vertical axis and attached to floating cones placed on the surface of the water. The white wings dance with the wind, as if they were delicately fluttering birds. Absolutely charming and mesmerizing as you watch the “birds” bob up and down in the breeze.

 

 

Close-up of a ‘bird’

 

 

'Birds' with a view of the Orangerie Museum

The boundary of the Tuileries is marked by a terrace on each side. Two famous museums stand on either side, the Musée de l’Orangerie (overlooking the Seine) and the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume (bordering Rue de Rivoli). The Orangerie houses the famous Nymphéas from Monet, a series of eight water-lily murals displayed in two oval rooms of the museum.

 
 
'Birds' in the basin with the Eiffel Tower in the background