Castle Chenonceau. France. 24 x 9 x 7 cm.

Description

Model of the Château Chenonceau, made of marble reconstituted with resin.

Size: 24 x 9 x 7 cm.

Chenonceau Castle, France. The most original of the Loire castles belonged successively to three great historical characters: in 1513 a rich banker, Thomas Bohier, bought the old castle and its mill and had them destroyed, except for the keep; then Diana de Poitiers received it as a gift from Henri II; finally the castle returned, after the death of Henri II, to his widow, Catherine de Medicis.

There are three successive parts to the construction of the castle: firstly the feudal keep, isolated on the mainland (the only remains of the old medieval castle), the castle itself, flanked by angular towers, built by Thomas Bohier on the pillars of the old mill, and the bridge over the Cher river, built from 1556 to 1559 by Diane de Poitiers, and crowned by a double gallery, built by Filbert Delorme in 1580, commissioned by Catherine de Medici.