Thursday, November 29, 2012

Stained glass at Chaumont

This is one of the stained glass windows in the chapel of the Château de Chaumont. The chapel is built into the end of the northeastern wing overlooking the river. It's very small with ceilings high enough that there is a small balcony on the second level that provided a private worship space when needed.

I suspect (but am not at all certain) that the balcony was provided for members of the royalty so that they wouldn't have to mix with other members of the household. On a nice sunny day like the one we had, the windows are magnificent.

I believe that the red and yellow coat of arms at the bottom of the window belongs to the House of Amboise that occupied the castle for more than four centuries. The coat of arms often includes interlaced letters "C" at the top, although they're not shown in this version. The letters can also be seen carved in stone on the exterior walls of the castle. They represent Charles I and Charles II (father and son) de Chaumont d'Amboise, the lords of the castle and its lands.

Charles I was counselor to the king in the mid fifteenth century and served as governor of Champagne and Burgundy. His son became the lord of Chaumont in his turn and served as a royal knight as well as the king's ambassador to Milan.

The castle tower that you see at the top of the window looks similar to, but not exactly like, the actual castle towers, so I wonder if it is indeed a representation of the Chaumont castle or of some other place.

As to who the people depicted might be, I have no idea. I will have to go back one day to get the brochure, which might tell me. I looked in my large collection of brochures from local attractions and, curiously, I could not find one from Chaumont. But I do have several from Cheverny, Chambord, and Chenonceau.

6 comments:

  1. That is a great photo. I struggle to take stained glass window photos. I never can get the light right! have a good day. Diane

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  2. The creator of this beautiful window would surely be surprised that so many people are now able to see his work via the internet. We live in amazing times.

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  3. Great photo. The colours have come out really well.

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  4. I would be surprised to learn that the riff-raff was permitted entry to the chapel.

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  5. Catherine de Medici also used the interlocked Cs monogram.

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  6. GORGEOUS! all these years later, and this window is still beautiful.

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