DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45257#0178
112 CHANTILLY DURING THE REVOLUTION
they were the first to be redecorated and exquisitely
panelled. During the four remaining years of his
life he was continually occupied in restoring his
ancestral palace to that dignity which he re-
membered so well in the past. He also succeeded
in recovering the larger number of the works of art
which the Montmorencys and the Condes had accu-
mulated, not only at Chantilly but also at Ecoueu
and the Palais Bourbon in Paris. Most of these
treasures had fortunately fallen into good hands,
for during the worst horrors of the Revolution there
had been men in France who had succeeded in pre-
serving the art treasures belonging to the old family
mansions which their proprietors had been compelled
to abandon. Alexander Lenoir was one of these
faithful guardians, and it is certainly due to his
efforts that so many of these monuments and works
of art in France were not destroyed. Conspicuous
amongst them were the valuable collections at
Chantilly.
But after the long exile of the owners no more •
entertainments were held at Chantilly such as had
been given so lavishly in happier days. After the
great reverses which Louis Joseph and his son
had undergone they seemed to indulge in one
pleasure only, namely, that of the chase—the single
luxury which they allowed themselves. They kept
a splendid pack of hounds—the descendants of
which still survive and are lodged in a corner of the
great stables—and in spite of his great age the
Prince himself appeared on horseback almost daily ;
they were the first to be redecorated and exquisitely
panelled. During the four remaining years of his
life he was continually occupied in restoring his
ancestral palace to that dignity which he re-
membered so well in the past. He also succeeded
in recovering the larger number of the works of art
which the Montmorencys and the Condes had accu-
mulated, not only at Chantilly but also at Ecoueu
and the Palais Bourbon in Paris. Most of these
treasures had fortunately fallen into good hands,
for during the worst horrors of the Revolution there
had been men in France who had succeeded in pre-
serving the art treasures belonging to the old family
mansions which their proprietors had been compelled
to abandon. Alexander Lenoir was one of these
faithful guardians, and it is certainly due to his
efforts that so many of these monuments and works
of art in France were not destroyed. Conspicuous
amongst them were the valuable collections at
Chantilly.
But after the long exile of the owners no more •
entertainments were held at Chantilly such as had
been given so lavishly in happier days. After the
great reverses which Louis Joseph and his son
had undergone they seemed to indulge in one
pleasure only, namely, that of the chase—the single
luxury which they allowed themselves. They kept
a splendid pack of hounds—the descendants of
which still survive and are lodged in a corner of the
great stables—and in spite of his great age the
Prince himself appeared on horseback almost daily ;