Summer tips: the Fontainebleau’s Imperial Theatre restored thanks to His Highness Al Nahyan

 

Last May, after 18 months of restoration, the Château de Fontainebleau had its XIX century Imperial Theatre back. It would not have happened without the kind support of the United Arab Emirates. His Highness Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan sponsored the renovation, which started in 2007, with 5million euros. Other 5million was given at that time by Al Nahyan to France for the new Louvre in Abu Dhabi, that will open to the public in 2015.

 

The Imperial Theatre, now renamed the Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s Theatre, was originally designed by architect Hector Lefuel under the commission of Napoleon the III, in order to replace the obsolete theatre in the Belle Cheminée wing. It took three years to construct it, from 1853 to 1856, and it was inspired by Maria Antonietta’s small theatre in Versailles. As reported also by the Château de Fontainebleau’s official web site, since the time of its construction, only about fifteen performances have been held there.

 

As the marble plaque at the entrance of the site remembers, Al Nahyan is just the last not-French man of power who has supported this extraordinary site. After World War I David Rockefeller gave a substantial amount of money to restore the palace. In 1979 Prince Napoleon and Princess Marie-Clotilde donated many objects from their ancestor’s collections. A museum entirely devoted to Napoleon Bonaparte was then created in Fontainebleau. Moreover, in 2005 some pieces from the collection of Napoleonic art of Mrs. Audrey B. Love, the daughter of Edyth Guggenheim, have also been donated to Fontainebleau after her death.

The plaque mentions some private companies too, such as Crédit Agricole SA, Insead, Bayer, 2S3R, and Rolex. In 2008 this latter has contributed to the restoration of 27 clocks.

 

More then five hundred years after Francesco I made Fontainebleau the door to France of the Italian Renaissance, inviting artist such as Leonardo da Vinci, Sebastiano Serlio, Primaticcio and Rosso Fiorentino to represent with their extraordinary talent his political and economic power, his idea of greatness is still valid. Unfortunately for France, the power has shifted to other hands, and other countries – as the plaque clearly tells you. However, rather considering Fontainebleau as a kind of trophy for the capital, or indeed a sophisticated marketing device, we would prefer to look at it for what it really stands: a monumental evidence that money and power may change hands, yet real masterpieces last forever.

September 7, 2014