Château d'Écouen: Interior detail, polychrome chimney-piece of the Grand Salle

The frenzied relief of Fame on the polychrome chimney-piece of the Grand Salle is close to Goujon’s stone Fame Blowing a Trumpet on the pavilion of Henry II at the Louvre, Paris, and is doubtless based on his specification. [Grove] The château was built for Anne Montmorency, Constable of France, between 1531 and 1563, and it is the first example in France of a four-wing plan, with corner pavilions, around a central court. It is sited on a hill, with façades corresponding to the four points of the compass and the entrance wing (destr. 1787) on the east. The château was almost certainly built by at least two architects in two campaigns. The architect of the first phase (ca. 1532-1550) was probably Pierre Tâcheron; Jean Goujon is another likely candidate. The pilasters are continued on the internal façade of the north wing, which belongs to the second phase (1551-ca. 1563). This was executed by an architect working in a style directly influenced by Roman and Italian Renaissance architecture, almost certainly Jean Bullant, who is recorded at Ecouen in 1553. It now houses the “Musée de la Renaissance”, comprising the Renaissance objects of the collections of the Musée de Cluny, in sympathetic surroundings.