For Stanislas, former King of Poland and Duke of Lorraine, landscape architecture was a consuming passion. At Lunéville and in a series of smaller châteaux, he created innovative vistas and fanciful pleasure pavilions, all of which, sadly, have now disappeared, almost without trace.
There is a growing academic literature concerning Stanislas's sources of inspiration, his contribution to the history garden design and the possible wider philosophical agenda of his work. This post, and those which follow, are just a few basic notes on Stanislas's residences and gardens, and (where relevant) what remains today.
At Lunéville itself Stanislas's alterations to the palace were limited. The interior configuration changed little from the time of Leopold - though the furniture and most of the fittings had been carried off to Vienna, and needed replacement. Details of Stanislas's decor are difficult to reconstruct since the contents of the palace were systematically dismantled and sold at the time of his death. Only the a few inventories survive to provide clues. In addition a small number of items were pre-empted for the French crown and can be traced in French national collections.
The following description is translated from Pierre Boyé's Châteaux du roi Stanislas which was first published in the Revue Lorraine illustrée in 1907:
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| View of the Château de Lunéville from the courtyard in the mid-18th century (from the Recueil of Emmanuel Héré) |
The central part of the château is built on a slight eminence. It is reached from the west through two successive courtyards or from the east via the park and a spacious terrace. It is a single storey building with a mansard roof and a balustrade which runs its length. From whichever direction one approaches, the striking feature is the central avant-corps. Four columns, set in massive bases, support a triangular pediment adorned with the arms of Lorraine and of the Bourbon-Orléans. Above is a clock, with gold figures on a turquoise face... Two wings extend to the west, narrowing to form pavilions. At the corner of each is a monumental staircase which gives access to the first floor. Wrought iron railings delimits the cour d'honneur....
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| The palace from the gardens - 19th c. engraving [Archives municipales de Nancy ] |
The apartments reserved for the sovereign are not visible from the courtyards. As befits a calm and august retreat, they have been placed by the architect in the more pleasant setting of the park. The wing containing the prince's residence consists of a corps du logis with two secondary wings enclosing a flowered parterre. The theatre abuts on the south east side, facing towards the town....
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| The interior at the time of Stanislas. From the plan in Héré's Recueil [Wikimedia] |
From here we enter the Livery Room, decorated in red leather. Above the billiard table hangs a brass lamp with six branches; oaken cupboards contain the costumes for the liveried servants.
Grande Salle / Dining Room ("Trophy Room")
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| Wall clock from the Château Ill. Charles-Gaffiot (2003), p.141. |
An enormous furnace provides heating; on the mantelpiece a bust of Louis XV stands between two gilded vases. Among the richly upholstered chairs, Stanislas's armchair can be distinguished, as is the case wherever he is seated. It is of crimson velvet, braided in gold.
[See Jacquot (1907) p.4: The Dining room, contains "twelve superb paintings representing the History of Achilles, an astronomical clock, sculptured buffets, a tribune for musicians, chandeliers, crystal girandoles and vases of the greatest beauty"]
At the far end of this room, on the left, is the entry to the prince's private apartments and, to the right, the so-called "salle des suisses", the Queen's antechamber, where concerts are sometimes held. In Leopold's time Furon painted the Cardinal Virtues here.
Tapestries with the Leszczynski coat-of-arms continue the theme of the seasons.
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| "May" from the Mois Lucas series of Gobelin tapestries, featuring the arms of Stanislas Now in the collection of the Château de Pau https://pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/joconde/50170000798 |
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| Gobelin tapestry portière depicting Diana. One of a set of four which hung in the Assembly Room https://collection.mobilier-national.fr/objet/GMTT-209-000 |
Assembly Room
... To reach the chambres de parade and Catherine Opalinska's retreat, we must cross the great Assembly Room which is decorated in green taffeta, with four windows looking out onto the interior parterre.
The twenty-three small gaming tables mark this out as the famously beautiful room where the lords and ladies of the Court assemble to play cards and enjoy themselves.
A sofa upholstered in Gobelins tapestry and a portrait of Marie Leszczynska holding the three-year-old Dauphin command our attention.
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| Alexis-Simon Belle, Marie Leszczynska, Queen of France, and the Dauphin Château de Versailles (Wikimedia) |
Green is also the dominant colour - in velvet and damasks, trimmed with gold - in the apartments of Stanislas's wife, should you have the luck to penetrate them.
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| Apartments of Queen Catherine Opalińska - a glimpse of the enfilade as it is today |
Chambre de parade / State room
Let us return to the dining room to enter the King's antechamber and thence his chambre de parade. The panels in this room are separated by gold pilastres and hung with vibrant crimson velvet. Crimson too - and festooned with gold - are the great imperial couch, the curtains, drapes and upholstered chairs. Here again we see depicted the Dauphin, this time a sweet child of six months, and the melancholy Marie, dressed as a vestal.
[See Jacquot (1907) p.5: "The chambre de Parade du Roi and the salle du Throne impress even sovereigns and the most illustrious visitors. The chambre de Parade has a wall hanging of leaf patterns ("à ramages") on a gold background; between the pilasters hangs crimson velvet trimmed with gold. The curtains over the doors, the lit de Parade, with its Imperial-style back, are of the same fabric, and the curtains are in silk of a similar colour. Here can be seen superb portraits of the Queen of France as a vestal, in pastel, the Dauphin as a child, the king and the Mesdames de France; all these master canvases were sent to France on the death of Stanislas. A huge Turkish carpet covers the parquet. Five Sèvres porcelain vases adorn the chimney piece. A commode in Chinese wood and a bureau of gold bronze with moulded figures hold assorted objets d'art, including a clock decorated with bronze figures."]
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| Oil sketch for a portrait of Marie Leszczyńska as vestal, attributed to Jean Girardet Acquired by the Musée du Château de Lunéville in 2016. The Musée Lorrain has a version of this portrait in pastel by Stanislas himself https://www.actu-juridique.fr/culture/un-bottin-mondain-du-xviiie-siecle/ |
Council Chamber
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| Gilded picture frame with arms of Stanislas Musée du Château de Lunéville |
Five Saxe porcelain vases adorn the chimney piece. Among the furniture is a bronze-embossed bureau topped by a silver writing case, together with a gilded table, and an ormolu clock. Four mirrors multiply the numerous portraits, in which are frozen in time: the King and Queen of France, the Duke and Duchess of Orléans, Louis XIV and Frederick-William of Prussia, the Spanish sovereigns and the master of the house himself, plus, more surprisingly, Mme de La Vallière.
Let us count the windows: the eighth, ninth and tenth open onto the terrace from the corner of the main building. In this historic room, grand audiences take place, and important cases are pleaded. ...
[Jacquot (1907) p.5: "The Throne room has its walls adorned with crimson velvet edged with gold; the dais and door curtains are in the same velvet, the drapes in crimson silk. There are paintings over the doors; eight fine pictures alternate with the velvet hangings in the panels of the walls ...The gilded and sculpted consoles are decorated with cupids and eagles."]
Royal bedchamber
It is strikingly symbolic that the Council Chamber, where Louis XV's ministers rule, communicates directly with the room where Stanislas rests and sleeps. The wall hangings in the prince's bedchamber are white velvet, with green stripes and silver trimmings. The bed, in matching fabric, features a silver bolster. The mantelpiece is decorated with six Dutch porcelain vases. Between the two windows, a commode of rosewood marquetry holds a second bust of Louis XV in porcelain. Rosewood corner cabinets serve as bookcases.
On the walls hang pictures of Stanislas's family - his material grandparents, his father Raphaël and his mother Anne Jablonowska, his wife, his daughter and son-in-law, together with four of his grandchildren, the Dauphin, Mesdames Elisabeth, Adélaïde and Victoire; his cousins, the Duke and Duchess Ossolinski, the princesse de Talmont.
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| The comte de Caraman, soldier and diplomat, made a pictorial diary of the "Happinesses and Dangers" of his life (published in L'Illustration in 1934) In 1750 he married the princesse de Chimay, grand-daughter of Marc de Beauvau-Craon, at Lunéville. In this picture, the "Tenth Happiness" he receives the office of chamberlain from Stanislas. It is a precious record of the palace's interior. See: Pascale Debert, "Le Marquis de Caraman se dessine!" Couleur XVIIIe, post of 23rd September 2015. |
Here too are the men who have made the most lasting impression on Stanislas: Charles XII and, over the mantelpiece, Frederick of Prussia, as the exiled King of Poland remembered him from 1735 in Koenigsberg. In a pastel two cupids frolick; but there are also less profane subjects - the Virgin; an Assumption; the Disciples at Emmaus; the patron saints of the royal couple, St. Stanislas and St. Catherine.
Stanislas's Dayroom and private apartments
Beyond a Turkish wall hanging is the great Dayroom, known familiarly as the "Cabinet boisé" since its walls are entirely covered by carved panels. The dominant note is struck by the amusing eclecticism of the paintings. We find Christ and the Virgin, the martyrdoms of St. Peter and St. Andrew, but also the Polish dwarf Boruwłaski carried by a Haiduk. The King's dog Griffon and his pet monkey, to whom Bébé offers a biscuit, serve as a pendant to the martyred Franciscan fathers, Agatangel and Cassian.
On the east side, ranged along the private terrace, with its vases and statues, by which Stanislas enters Les Bosquets, are three other remarkable rooms. The first, known as the Cabinet des découpures, is panelled with Vernis Martin and the furniture upholstered in yellow silk; the second, with its Chinese laqueur screens and alcove containing white satin cushions, resembles the boudoir of a pretty woman; The third, this time adorned with Gobelin tapestries and crimson upholstery, contains no less than twenty-eight gilded consoles, laden with ivories, porcelain bowls, exotic boxes, teacaddies... There are a host of further portraits - Louis XIII, Marie Leszczynska in winter dress, the Dauphin etc. etc. Here Stanislas's private apartments end and, beyond a final door onto the terrace, the petits appartements of Catherine Opalinska begin. They continue as far as the Comédie...
During his promenade, the visitor will no doubt enter the Chapel, which is separated from the Livery Room by a vestibule which can be entered directly from the town.... He will also see the Salle de spectacle with its lodges by Bibbiena, transported from the Opéra in Nancy in March 1738 on the orders of the Dowager Duchess. The Mercure reports that the King himself has greatly embellished this theatre, which is now one of the finest in Europe.
Reference
Pierre Boyé, Les châteaux du roi Stanislas (1910)
The text of Pierre Boyé's book is available as a series of articles in Revue Lorraine illustrée, which may be accessed on Internet Archive: Vol. 2 (1907): p. 25-40: Lunéville.
Additional resources:
Albert Jacquot, Le mobilier, les objets d'art des chateaux du roi Stanislas (1907)
Publishes the text of various inventories. See, in particular, Appendix: "Inventaire Général des meubles et effets des Salles et appartements du Château Royal de Luneville, 16 mai 1764" (p.37)
Jan K. Ostrowski, L'oeuvre architectural du roi Stanislas en Lorraine (1737-1751) doctoral thesis, Nancy II, 1972 [On Academia]
Includes an appendix giving details of surviving or documented paintings from Lunéville.
Jacques Charles-Gaffiot, "Les emplettes du roi Stanislas",
Fastes du Versailles lorrain. Vol. II: décors intérieurs, mobilier, objets d'art (2003), p.127-143. [Available for loan on Internet Archive]
Château de Lunéville website (musée virtuel): Highlights of the Exhibition "Stanislas Leszczyński, de l'homme à la légende" (2016)
"The decors which surrounded Stanislas at the château are evoked by a boudoir decorated with paintings from the château de la Galaizière, which the museum has restored. The various items of furniture evoke the tastes of Stanislas, who attached, then detached, himself from the rococo style." [L'Est-Républicain, 07.08.2016]
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