Renaissance for the Renaissance

PARIS, London, Amsterdam and New York are only some of the cities that house treasure-filled museums that deserve to be higher up on any “must see” list. Over the course of the summer, this column will highlight more of these gems, beginning with one of France's best-kept secrets: the National Museum of the Renaissance at the Chateau d'Ecouen.

The museum is only 20 minutes from the Gare du Nord in Paris; entry is included in that city's museum pass. Even so, it remains obscure, as attendance figures suggest: in 2005, Ecouen had only 5,000 visitors. The number last year reached 85,000, but this remains a low figure for a museum of Ecouen's calibre. The Musée de Cluny in Paris, for example, which is France's National Museum of the Middle Ages, had almost 400,000 last year. (New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art drew 4m.)

Yet Ecouen offers a rich experience that would be hard, if not impossible, to duplicate elsewhere. In its 36 vast public rooms, arranged over three floors, “there is a link,” in the words of its director, Thierry Crépin-Leblond, “between collections, decoration and architecture, that the visitor will not find at the Louvre or the chateaux of the Loire.”

Légende

The turreted chateau, built in the 16th century, sits on a hill surrounded by 400 acres of woodland. Even today, ringed by suburbs, it still feels like a fairy-tale castle. It was designed as a hunting lodge for the Duc de Montmorency, right-hand man to kings François I and Henri II. Yet there is nothing rustic about Ecouen. To give some idea of how de Montmorency's wealth, cultivation and connections found expression here, a portico was added in around 1550 to the castle to shelter Michelangelo's “Slaves”. The statues were a gift from Henri II, who often stayed there with his Italian queen Catherine de' Medici. Today the originals are in the Louvre; copies have taken their place.

Much was lost in the revolution, but 12 immense fireplaces, exuberantly painted mainly with Old Testament scenes, have survived. They are fabulous works of art in themselves. Many rooms have beamed ceilings and inlaid parquet floors. In them are sculptures, painted leather, majolica, Limoges enamels, stained glass and elaborately carved wood panels. In a wax tableau, a pearl-draped Leda looks lovingly at the swan she embraces.

A room at the top of the chateau shows off the exquisite, imaginatively designed jewels left to the French state in 1922 by Baroness Salomon de Rothschild. Among these is an enamelled camel pendant studded with rubies. (Ask to see the room when you arrive; guard shortages may mean it is temporarily closed.) Perhaps the most stupendous art work at Ecouen is the enormous suite of David and Bathsheba tapestries. Some speculate that these once belonged to England's King Henry VIII.

In 2005, when Mr Crépin-Leblond became director, he grasped that special exhibitions would attract more visitors. His programme is clearly succeeding. The current show, “Bath and Mirror”, about Renaissance cosmetics, is a well deserved hit. (Its partner at the Cluny focuses on cosmetics in the Middle Ages.)

So far the director has focused on increasing French attendance at Ecouen. When that reaches 100,000, he will start looking toward foreign visitors. Texts, labels and audio guides will appear in other languages, too. There is talk of a bus direct from the Louvre. Nevertheless, getting millions through the door is not his goal. “If galleries are too crowded you cannot appreciate Ecouen. It is a place to be discovered peacefully.” Peaceful it is, and glorious, too.