Château d?Amboise: Interiors by von.otter
?Love works in miracles every day: such as weakening the strong, and strengthening the weak; making fools of the wise, and wise men of fools; favoring the passions, destroying reason, and in a word, turning everything topsy-turvy.?? Marguerite d?Angoulême (1492-1549)
LOVE IS IN THE AIR Marguerite d?Angoulême, her younger brother François and their widowed mother, Louise of Savoy, arrived at Chateau d?Amboise in 1500. This royal castle was their new home because François was now heir presumptive of his cousin, Louis XII, who had not sired sons with any one his of three wives.
Marguerite and François were educated at Château d?Amboise in the humanist traditions of the Renaissance. Marguerite would become one of the most learned women of her generation, an authoress and a skilled diplomat. She negotiated her brother?s release from captivity at the hands of his rival, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who held François for two years in Spain once he had defeated the French king at the Battle of Pavia in Italy.
François I began his reign in 1515, after being crowned in the cathedral at Reims. Château d?Amboise became the primary focus for his court over the first three years of his reign. It?s at this time that Amboise shone. Court life was organized around splendid festivals, balls, tournaments, and masquerades. Many of the decorations for these festivities were designed by Leonardo da Vinci, whom the young French king invited to Amboise in 1516 on the advice of his sister, Marguerite d?Angoulême. François I was mad for art, and especially art of the Italian Renaissance. He completed building the wing of the castle, which had been started by his predecessor, Louis XII.
The personal emblem of François I is the salamander (see photo #1). There are some examples of this curious creature around this castle.
A lovely tapestry hangs in the Cupbearers? Room (see photo #2), so named for the officers who served drinks at the king?s table.
There are two fireplaces at opposite ends of the Council Room (see photos #3 and #4), where the sovereign received guests and met with advisors. Angels hold the coat-of-arms of France and Brittany above one of them.
