The fourth courtyard we present was actually the first we visited after trudging in from the bus stop: The White Horse Courtyard, so named because a plaster copy (long gone) of an equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius was placed there during Catherine de Medici's day. (Why that good Florentine queen would use a Roman work of art is beyond me). Over the centuries, the palace expanded from the west (Oval courtyard) to the East (White Horse) and covered more than 6 acres. Today this last-built entrance still impresses visitors as they walk through Napoleon's Gate of Honor. Napoleon tore down the westernmost building to make room for his gate.
As you walk into the courtyard, the Francois I wing is on the left, built by Francois's favorite architect, Gilles Le Breton:
To the right is the Louis XV wing; Louis tore down another Renaissance building (with some decorations by Primaticcio) so he could put this one up.
A famous horseshoe shaped staircase is at the center of the westernmost building:
This is actually the second horseshoe staircase here as Louis XIII, like most of his relatives, kept redoing what Francois I did. This staircase was the site of many famous court scenes but the most remembered is of Napoleon leaving for exile in April 1814 after his disastrous invasion of Russia and subsequent defeat by the combined European powers. Luckily our time machine was working and we captured M. Bonaparte as he was about to leave:
Actually Napoleon died at 51 so the guy in the picture is even older but has yet to conquer the world, even his own. Fontainebleau was one Bonaparte's favorite places and when he kidnapped the pope, he kept him here, again remodeling rooms to accommodate his important guest. Speaking of the pope, here is a totally gratuitous inclusion of our picture of us trading high 5's (maybe high V's?) with the current pope in September 1998. You will notice that Dick's hair hasn't changed much. (You will notice that that's all you see of Dick)
We have pictures of one more place at Fontainebleau, Diane's Garden. Please join us by clicking here.
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