The Dream of Vaux

Aesthetes, collectors, admirers of the Grand Siècle, rarely unanimous, all agree on this: Vaux-le-Vicomte is the most beautiful château in France. It was built for 17th-century finance minister Nicolas Fouquet, not only the richest man of his era but also the most ambitious. In Brittany, a fouquet is a squirrel; the treasurer took the small animal as his emblem, and for his motto chose Quo non ascendet?—What heights will he not scale?

Under the aegis of his patron Cardinal Mazarin and helped along by the propitious (indeed rather shady) climate that reigned during Louis XIV’s youth, Fouquet rose to a dizzying summit of power. Using his immense fortune, he decided to symbolize his success with a dream castle of stone, marble and golden paneling, topiary gardens and fountains. The minister gathered together the most brilliant artists that a century devoted to perfection had to offer: Louis Le Vau for architecture, Charles Le Brun for interior decor, André Le Nôtre for landscaping. With Vaux, Fouquet paved the way for Louis XIV and furnished him with the model for Versailles—but a model that remains more inspired, more gracious, more accomplished perhaps—and certainly more refined.

No one can claim to have tasted the true essence of the French spirit, no one can have any idea of that extreme 17th-century douceur de vivre, allied with so much nobility, so much grace, if they have not, on a lovely August evening beneath a star-strewn sky, meandered through the salons, the bedrooms and apartments of Vaux by candlelight. On those candlelit nights, the flickering amber light of more than two thousand small flames illuminates the painted and carved putti, the foliage, the garlands of flowers and fruit, against a backdrop of gilded ceilings, vaults and shutters. Ghosts of the past are not far: La Fontaine, or Madame de Sévigné, who was a frequent visitor, or Corneille, the genial mentor.

The finest hour

A single day, August 17, 1661, was Vaux’s golden moment. On that evening, with his château still not quite finished, the plaster still fresh and the murals barely dry, the treasurer received the king, the queen mother and the entire court. Four thousand guests, stunned by the barrage of splendors, had come to behold what poet La Fontaine would call Le Songe de Vaux (The Dream of Vaux).

It is hard to imagine today the pantheon of geniuses to whom Fouquet entrusted the festivities. The public certainly knew the famous François Vatel, who not only served as maître d’hôtel and chef de cuisine, but was responsible for organizing the entire affair, and excelled as none other might. But Vatel was only the overseer of a vast enterprise. The festive decorations, so essential for such galas, were produced by the masters of trompe l’oeil and perspective Giraudon et Legendre, under the direction of the great painter Le Brun. Prou was in charge of the interior lighting effects. As for entertainment, the minister had again called upon the finest of the fine: music composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully and performed by the Gardes Françaises; speeches and eulogies by Pellison; theater by Molière and his troupe; and of course, ballet by Beauchamp. Lastly, fireworks expert Torelli, the “grand sorcerer,” took charge of the pyrotechnics.

Along with his courtiers, the king—with Mademoiselle de La Vallière at his side—visited the grounds and enjoyed the fountains from a cortege of cozy one-horse carriages, strolled through the densely gilded, richly colorful salons and took part in an opulent lottery before the company sat down to an extraordinary collation. Molière’s Les Fâcheux was performed on an outdoor stage set up just below the Allée des Sapins. When the fireworks began, an enormous whale of fire appeared on the Grand Canal before the awestruck onlookers. The courtiers acclaimed the ingeniousness of the display; the ladies applauded wildly. Then, as the king turned back to the château, “speaking of all this and expecting nothing more,” the entire estate erupted with light: A burst from the cupola turned the sky into a dome of fire, while along the walkways 400 fleurs de lys “as tall as men” lit up at the same moment.

“Vaux would never be more splendid than it was that evening,” concluded La Fontaine.

The fastest fall

Of course, the Tarpeian Rock—where ancient Roman traitors were hurled to their death—was never far from the seat of power on Capitoline hill…. Fouquet’s shining hour was to trigger his downfall. Dazzled, but also incensed, by the showy luxury—paid for by what source? he surely wondered—and scandalized to see his own primacy purloined, Louis XIV decided that his minister must fall. He was soon arrested, convicted of embezzlement and imprisoned for the rest of his life; his furniture, tapestries, statues and paintings were confiscated and sent to Versailles. Work on the château was never finished. The vast oval cupola crowning the Grand Salon was halted in mid-construction; the poets, musicians, the artisans of fountains and fireworks deserted the enchanted domain. Still grandiose but in a state of semi-neglect, Vaux, later called Vaux-le-Vicomte, would traverse centuries too small for it, epochs too imperfect.

The current owners, the de Voguë family, have for the last quarter-century made an enormous effort to bring Fouquet’s masterpiece back to life, and since 2007 occasionally to evoke—if not completely recreate—the fantastic night of August 17. Amid pyramids of fire and gold-and-white Roman candles, actors, musicians, jugglers and acrobats do their best to revive the dream, so that the Vaux of the 17th century can continue, in these drab times, to send its message of beauty and esprit.

 

NOTEBOOK

The château is open mid-March to mid-November and during the Christmas season. Candlelight soirées run from early May to mid-October. For details on these and other events at the château, visit the website.

The most convenient way to get to Vaux, and back, is by car. For those without wheels, the SNCF train from the Gare de Lyon to Melun connects to a shuttlebus in high season; at other times taxis are available at the station in Melun. More information on the website.

Originally published in the June 2008 issue of France Today; updated in November 2011