A Royal Visit to a Lost Château

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Notes

1. Spotted by a former V&A colleague at the Paris-tableaux fair in 2010, the painting was acquired thanks to the support of the Friends of the V&A, a gift in memory of Melvin R. Seiden, the Art Fund (with a contribution from The Wolfson Foundation), the John Webb Trust Fund, the Coral Samuel Charitable Trust, the John R. Jones Bequest, the Finnis Scott Foundation, the American Friends of the V&A through the generosity of the Ruth Covo Family Foundation, the John S Cohen Foundation, Mrs Kirsty Maxwell Stuart and many other generous donors.

2. The garden of the Villa Lante, near Viterbo, together with Villa Garzoni near Lucca (Italy), two of the greatest examples of the Mannerist phase of the Italian Renaissance, feature cascades to fountains and dripping grottoes as well as a square parterre enlivened with sculptures. The Villa Lante’s design is attributed to the architect Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola (1507–1573).

3. See Charles Perrault, Les hommes illustres, pp. 122–123; Lacour, Mémoires d’Audiger, p. 12.

4. Pierre-Denis Martin was probably a pupil and a close collaborator of the more famous Jean-Baptiste Martin (1659–1735), with whom he specialized in highly detailed topographical views.

5. It was described as follows: "Notable among other things is the layout of the château and the park, which is highly regarded for its beautiful detail." (On remarque entre autres le plan du château et du parc, lequel est fort estimé pour ses beautés de détail.) Voyage pittoresque des environs de Paris.

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Ana Debenedetti

Ana Debenedetti joined the V&A in 2009 and is currently Curator of Paintings, responsible for the collections of paintings, drawings, watercolors and miniatures. She was a member of the curatorial team for Europe 1600–1815. She has written and published on Renaissance art, philosophy and poetry and holds a PhD in History of Art focusing on the artistic and cultural milieu of Quattrocento Florence. She was co-curator of the exhibition Constable: The Making of a Master (V&A, 2014–2015) and of Botticelli Reimagined, as well as co-author of the accompanying catalogue (V&A, 2016). Current projects include the catalogue of the French drawings in the V&A and a book on Botticelli [email protected]