Chateau Saumur
Chateau Saumur 1411, Limbourg Brothers
I became familiar with Château Saumur, or at least its image, in college many, many years ago (1972) while training to be an art teacher. I saw it in a library copy of the duke of Berry's Book of Hours, Les Très Riches Heures.*
It shows an idealised grape harvest with the fairy-tale Château rising in the background. Peasants are cutting bunches of grapes, women wear blue tunics, men wear grey. One woman is pregnant and one man is tasting a grape.
I can also see what must be the first depiction of what the English call 'builder's bum'.
I never dreamed I would ever have the good fortune to walk into that painting and see the Château in the flesh so to speak.
I assumed the painting was idealised, dreamed up by the artists, the Limbourg Brothers, of how they thought a château should look.
I was wrong.
It is exactly how it looked when my all time heroine, Yolande of Aragon** the Spanish Princess who saved France, lived there (the Guide in the Château said very few French people have heard of Yolande).
Chateau Saumur 2025, Mark Playle - PhotographFrance.com
Here's a thing.
The painting of Château Saumur was not commissioned by its proud owner, Louis I, duke of Anjou**, but by his brother and rival, John. They were two of four brothers all trying to outdo each other in a classic power struggle.
By creating this architectural icon, Louis intended Château Saumur to outshine the lavish projects of his brothers, particularly those of John.
That John included the glorious depiction of Château Saumur in his treasured and very costly Book of Hours was a public acknowledgment that it was (still is) one of the most visually stunning of all the French Châteaux.
Yolande married Louis II. This is where she raised their children Louis III, Marie and her fiancé the Dauphin Charles (VII), René, Yolande (married duke of Brittany), Charles and their grand-daughter Margaret (married Henry VI of England)
Yolande did not die in her magnificent Château but that's a subject for another blog post.
* The original purpose of a Book of Hours was so that the owner was reminded to pray in private several times day. It was a status symbol. Owning a book was a sign of wealth.
It included; prayers for the souls of the deceased, to specific saints asking for their intercession and for private devotions; a calendar of saints' feast days; extracts from the New Testament and psalms.
As for The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry, it was rich in every sense. The Limbourg brothers used vast amounts of gold leaf (the pages literally glitter) lapis lazuli (more valuable than gold) and other rare minerals.
Magnificent paintings for each month depict the duke's life and that of his workers. The Chateau depicts September.
** Read more about Yolande's husband Louis II and his failed claim to the throne of Naples in Leonardo da Vinci The Amboise Connection.
** Read more about Yolande in A Royal Childhood In The Loire Valley.
Post by Pamela (BA History of Art). Photography by Mark Playle.
Leonardo da Vinci
The Amboise Connection
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A Royal Childhood In The Loire Valley
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