Grande Singerie
Château de Chantilly, France

The glorious Grande Singerie, or "Monkey Room," known for its whimsical murals of costumed monkeys imitating humans, is located in the heart of the “Grands Appartements” of the Château de Chantilly.

Its interior was commissioned in 1737 by the Château's owner, Louis Henri de Bourbon-Condé (1692-1740), Duc de Bourbon, who became Prince de Condé in 1710 and was Prime Minister of Louis XV from 1723 to 1726. The artist was Christophe Huet (1700-1759), a student of Claude Gillot, who painted in the style of Bérain and Watteau. This room, which originally housed the prince's collection of porcelain and East Asian objects, is one of the few by Huet that survives in its original location.

Neglected for decades, the Grande Singerie was seriously damaged by water infiltration, which created cracks in the painted stucco ceiling, cornice, and wood panels. WMF cleaned and consolidated the painted and gilded boiseries and ceiling. 19th-century paint and gilding were removed; luckily, much of the 18th-century gilding had been preserved intact. Work began in June 2007 and the restored room was presented to the public in January 2008. View pre-restoration panoramas.

Project led by WMF's European office and supported by the Fondation pour la Sauvegarde et le Développement du Domaine de Chantilly; matching funding from the Robert Wilson Challenge to Conserve Our Heritage.

WMF's first project at the Château was the Galerie des Actions de Monsieur le Prince, on the 1998 World Monuments Watch.