The tale of the three beds from the château of Effiat

This is not a tale of cottages. No, the story begins in a certain château in Auvergne.

Wikicommons

It was a proud dwelling built between 1626-28 by the Marshal of Effiat, Antoine Coëffier de Ruzé, counselor to Louis XIII and close friend of Richelieu.
 His château held at three beds,
They were sold at auction in 1856, as were the rest of the furnishings that had managed to be keep intact until then.

Through my various explorations this way and that, I realized that I had seen all three of these beds and had photographed them, although my pictures aren't all of the same quality. I thought I would reunite the beds here and supplement better pictures where needed.
My story is a simple one. A document really. There are no indignant bears or sassy little girls  - unless Time itself could be said to hold the role of Goldilocks!

photo:RMN Louvre

The most famous of these beds is today in the département des arts décoratifs at the Louvre. It is the perfect example of the bed à la française or the lit en housse (covered bed) of the mid 17th century and one of the few beds to come down to us from the period with its original textiles. With its hangings of Genoa velvet down, it makes a cube and has the solemn air of a catafalque. Underneath all that exhuberant fabric, the bed posts are said to be uterly simple. The luxurious aspect of beds of this time owed entirely to their upholstery and trim. In fact if few of these marvelous beds have survived, it is because the precious textiles wore out and the plain wood, usually of no value in itself, was probably burned.

Abraham Brosse

This engraving by Abraham Bosse shows the cords for raising the curtains - the 17th century gradually left the expression courtines behind for rideaux.
Otherwise tie backs were used to attach the curtains to the posts.

photo Cluny via Chest of books

An early image shows the hangings parted but we don't see the headboard.

photo: jpbraud decoration

It may have been like this one, Effiat bed No. 2  at the chateau of Azay le Rideau whose hangings have been beautifully reconstitued here.

photo Marc Walter

These seem to be the original bed textiles found in Jacques Anquetil's book La Soie en Occident.

photo: Le style et la matière

To quote Bill Pallot,

"Beds were greatly prized pieces of furniture in the 17th century 

and as such described very precisely in inventories. Louis XIII had one 

covered with purple damask and adorned with large gold embroidery, Richelieu 

owned another with tapestry of white satin and gold embroidery and Mazarin 

possessed several. Beds accompanied their owners in their travels. They were 

taken apart and placed in leather trunks. Often monumental in size, they 

were set in a corner of the bedchamber. 

Abraham Brosse

The space between the bed and the 

wall was called the 'ruelle' (narrow street). This was where private 

gatherings were held as it was customary to receive company at home while 

lying in bed."

photo: Le style et la matière

photo: Le style et la matière

photo RMN

Finally, my visit to the Musée de la Renaissance at Ecouen a few weeks ago permited me to see Effiat bed No. 3. Made in the late 16th century, it is the oldest of the trio but retains some 19th century modifications.

photo: Le style et la matière

The hangings are not original and the curators plan to restore it to its 19th century state as it was presented by Sommerard at the Hotel de Cluny in what was called the
chamber of Francois I.

photo: Le style et la matière

This ornately carved bedstead
has fine detailing on the foot posts

photo: Le style et la matière

and military cariatides at the head of the bed.

image: RMN

This engraving of the Musée de Cluny depicts the brimming cabinet d'amateur atmosphere that reigned in 1840. There must have been some indecision as to how to assemble the posts. Here the cariatides have been installed at the foot of the bed rather than at its head. 

 I have seen other beds with four cariatides or atlantes, never only two as we see here. 

© Léon et Lévy / Roger-Viollet

Here, somewhat later but still at Cluny, the columns have been switched around in the way 

which is today believed to be the correct assembly of the bed.

Cluny is now specialized in art and artifacts of the middle ages, Ecouen is the place to go for the 

15-17th centuries which is why this bed is located there now.

photo: Le style et la matière.

No pomme , no panache naturally, on this 16th century bed from Effiat at Ecouen, 

but nearby in the textile department is displayed a vase-finial which looks very much like those on the later Effiat beds in the Louvre and at Azay. 

From this angle, in a case, we get a good close look at its construction 

and next to it is a charming miniature bed, once considered to be part of a doll house.

(C) RMN-Grand Palais Gérard Blot
(musée de la Renaissance, château d'Ecouen)  

It is now recognized as an upholsterer's or embroiderer's maquette. 

 This is a model of  a Duchesse bed 

which really only became popular at the end of the 17th century.

 Louis XIV himself prefered four posts.

****

For another article on beds and my own 17th century bed - 

look here

 It is carved with a commemorative date of 1601 and the initials I.V. and C.G.. 

The date probably refers to a wedding date.

One day I may find out just who I.V. and C.G. were...

The perils of an unmade bed

Le lit défait by Eugene Delacroix

Réunion des musées nationaux

I was intrigued to read some time ago a tale concerning Delacroix's youthful work, The Unmade Bed, which I have never come across elsewhere.

As Sacha Guitry tells it, he had his sights set on purchasing the painting when it came up at auction. He fully intended to do his utmost to acquire the work, until he was dissuaded by a  friend in-the-know who explained that no one had been able to keep the painting, and if Guitry were to buy it, he would surely get rid of it in a month's time. Five times already, the friend explained, the watercolor had changed owners in recent years.  The reason? Hidden in the tousled folds of the bed's crumpled sheets - wherein lies all the painting's considerable charm - appears a head of Medusa. 'Once you have noticed it, you won't be able to look at anything else,' claimed the expert. Guitry heeded his friend's advice and did not even bid on the painting. He realised that, very quickly, such a feature would become an obsession and that he would no longer be able to relish the sensuous composition with his eyes returning over and over to that one irresistible form.

It took me some time to find the head. Now I see at least two.

Room for Catherine de Medicis at Chenonceau

A few steps away,

the passage of Catherine de Medicis at Chenonceau...

Education of Cupid by Correggio

is commemorated in this room on the second story of the chateau.
Supremely intelligent, patient Catherine had her way with things after the death of husband, Henri II. Catherine rid the place of mistress Diane de Poitiers, reclaiming at the same time the crown jewels. No more was she the tolerant spouse. As mother to three kings, she was the veritable ruler for approximately 30 years.

With her 'diabolical Florintine ambition', she brought Chenonceau to the height of its glory, further developing its architecture, decoration, gardens, vineyards, land revenues, even creating its own silk production - and all this in the midst of the turbulence of the Wars of Religions. She was, after all, the daughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent.  She was a builder and had many projects, but Chenonceau was her residence of choice, where no blood had stained its stones.

If Catherine became more austere in her mise after Henri's death, according to Benedetta Craveri, it was to better project an image of majesty for the political role she had determined for herself. Since her authority was derived from her state as a widow and mother, she forced respect by permiting herself no feminine vanity.  Nothing was left to chance.

Seen through the window is the gallery designed by Jean Bullant that Catherine had built to top, literally and figuratively,  Diane's bridge. 

Both it and the surrounding gardens were to become the sites for spectacular celebrations. 

Catherine gave one of the most memorable of fetes here on the 15th of May 1577 in honor of two of her sons, Henri III and the Duc of Anjou. It seems that the party had ambiguity for theme, since the men dressed as women and the women as men, if dressed at all. Performers of the commedia dell’arte were brought in from Venice and performed among the revelers. A chronicler at the time reported that "at first glance everyone was perplexed, 

not knowing whether there stood before them a woman king or a man queen."

The abbey Chevalier wrote in his Histoire abregé de Chenonceau,

"It has never been involved with sad political events,  no, everything about it speaks only of art, beauty, festivities, 
and pleasures."


further reading: Chenonceau by Jean-Pierre Babelon

dreams and realities in decoration

When I found my own four-poster bed from the Burgundy region, I researched the details and the general

subject - naturally! I discovered that, according to Peter Thornton, Carpaccio's 1490 painting the Dream of St Ursula is perhaps the first representation of a posted bed . There isn't much resemblance between my bed and St Ursula's, but both do have blazons on the headboard. Hers is her own shield. I've never uncovered the associations on mine.

detail

Sometimes life imitates art. Why should interior decoration be any different? Carpaccio's magically peaceful painting that sends me into raptures. It has a lightness and quirkiness to it that is very Venitian, but an interest in interior detail and light along with the suspended time quality found in Flemish painting. This image is among my favorites stocked in my imaginary museum of ideal interiors.  The bed is so very graceful without its curtains; lightness and charm abound here, so that we end up with a very modern ornamental aesthetic. No wonder this scene inspired several interpretations by early 20 th century interior decorators.

The child princess has placed her crown at the foot of her bed, but golden braids encircle her head as a substitute. One would never imagine that St Ursula, neatly tucked into her bed and pensive even in her sleep, is dreaming of her choice between marriage and martyrdom. The room's pure and peaceful atmosphere may be said to be a kind of portrait. Ruskin wrote, "Carpaccio has taken the pains to explain to us, as far as he can, the kind of life she leads, by completely painting her little bedroom in the light of dawn, so that you can see everything in it." His text in Fors Ciavigea goes on to describe the room in minute detail.

Ruskin's praise of the Carpaccio painting did not go unheard and several real life versions came to be.  Edwin Lutyens used certain elements found in the composition (see post by The Blue Remembered Hills), but the room that most interestingly reproduces the painting is by Geoffrey Scott. Scott was part of Bernard Berenson's circle in Florence, a Renaissance scholar known for his book, The Architecture of Humanism. He was also a great friend of Edith Wharton. The room was created for his friend William Haslam's Florence home in 1914, the bed of which is today found in the Victoria and Albert Museum. This illustration from 1917 Vogue shows yet another version created by Scott for the Vanderbilt home in which proportions were enlarged to suit the client's dwelling. Yes, it is more theatrical, but then maybe it too is the portrait of its owner.

see Wikipedia for Geoffrey Scott