Philibert DeLorme has built the Chateau d'Anet…
1552 CE
Philibert DeLorme has built the Chateau d'Anet for Henry II’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers, between 1547 and 1552.
A gift from the king, it has been built on the former château at the center of the domains of Diane's deceased husband, Louis de Brézé, seigneur d'Anet, Marshal of Normandy and Master of the Hunt.
The château is especially noted for its exterior, notably the statues of the proprietress as Diana, goddess of the hunt, by Jean Goujon and the relief by Benvenuto Cellini over the portal.
Anet is the site of one of the first Italianate parterre gardens centered on the building's facade in France; the garden-designer in charge is Jacques Mollet, who at Anet trains his son, Claude Mollet, destined to become royal gardener to three French kings.