The collections of the Château de Pierrefonds

Introductory room Viollet-le-Duc

The work of Viollet-le-Duc

During your visit, you will discover an exhibition dedicated to the reconstruction of the castle and the work of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. You will find drawings, plans, photos and sketches by the architect, presenting his ideas for the future imperial castle and other famous construction sites...  

You will also discover a cabinet of archaeological curiosities, from the excavations he himself directed in 1858 at Pierrefonds. You will therefore be able to observe small dishes, or even elements of harness for horses dating from the Middle Ages to modern times. These vestiges of the past were dear to the heart of the architect who wrote in his Dictionnaire raisonné du Meubles Français that “these vulgar products, […] are however the most instructive manifestations of the state of a civilization.” At the end of the course, you will also have the opportunity to attend a short documentary of about ten minutes tracing the history of the reconstruction of the castle.  

The collection of Monduit workshops

Once in the entrance to the guest wing, you will discover several lead or copper works from Monduit workshops. This company was born in the 1820s and quickly became known for a very particular working technique: repoussé metal. Thus, all the replicas that you will find within the castle of Pierrefonds are hollow! This method makes it possible to considerably lighten the weight of the works and thus facilitates their transport, as during the construction of the buildings of the Universal Exhibitions in which the Monduit workshops participated several times, in particular in 1867, 1889 and 1900.  

The workshops have very often worked in partnership with Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, which is why some thirty of these works were donated to the château in 1969 by Gabrielle Pasquier-Monduit, granddaughter of Philippe Monduit, co-founder of the workshops. Among them, you will find the winged lion at the entrance to the corridor, the Archangel Saint Michael slaying the dragon in the chapel, and even a small replica of the Statue of Liberty...  

The Ball of the Recumbents

Do not be afraid, no body rests in the cellars of the Château de Pierrefonds. This mysterious exhibition was born thanks to the work of the Skertzó scenography agency in 2009. Lights in blue-violet tones and funereal poems surround the ninety-six plasters of famous recumbent figures and praying figures, of which we find most of the originals in the basilica of Saint-Denis. However, the story of these casts begins much earlier...  

In 1833, Louis-Philippe, King of the French, decided to make Versailles, a former royal residence, a museum dedicated “to all the glories of France”. The collection of recumbent figures and praying figures is revealed to the 1953th century public alongside paintings, sculptures and engravings that the king chose for their nationalist spirit. It was then moved to the Gothic cellars of the Château de Pierrefonds in XNUMX, where it is still present today.