My first visit to Chantilly was in April 1904, when the Exhibition of the French Primitives at the Pavillon Marsan, following close on that at Bruges, raised interest and comment far outside the boundaries of France. I visited the MusÉe CondÉ with the intention of studying some more examples of the French fifteenth-and sixteenth-century art which had so much attracted me in Paris.

The high expectations I had conceived were not disappointed, and the result was that my studies in that marvellous collection were prolonged. Weeks grew into months. The Limbourgs, Jean Fouquet, and the Clouets held me in their spell; the ChÂteau of Chantilly, with the history of its famous owners, aroused my interest more and more.

Through the great courtesy of the late M. Anatol Gruyer and of M. Gustave Macon, Directors of the MusÉe CondÉ, I was given access to all the art-treasures within its walls and I was allowed to while away my time with the famous miniatures and drawings and with the pictures in which I was so much interested. Tranquil and undisturbed, often quite alone, meeting now and then only the furtive glance of one or other of the Museum attendants, who were always ready at hand to be of service, I was enabled to pursue my studies without interruption, owing to the great kindness of my friend M. Macon. The excellent Library, too, was at my disposal, as well as the manuscripts in the Cabinet des Livres.

Nor was that all. When at the end of the day the Museum doors were closed I could walk in the vast park of the ChÂteau along its shady avenues and watch the swans gliding on the silent waters, whilst the autumn leaves were the sport of the varying breezes. In that unbroken solitude Time, now long past, brought before me once more kings and queens, courtiers and warriors, ladies of beauty and fame: and amid my reveries I seemed to recognise the well-known faces whose representations I had just left in the galleries within. For was it not here, in these woods and on these lakes, that they had lived and feasted in the manner recorded in the chronicles of their time?

Thus, irresistibly attracted by degrees, I conceived the idea of writing about the history and the art at Chantilly: and I undertook a task which grew gradually in my hands to dimensions that at first I had not anticipated.

My chief study, as mentioned above, was intended to be on the French fifteenth-and sixteenth-century artists which the Duc d’Aumale so successfully collected. To the Italian and the Northern Schools and the later French periods at the MusÉe CondÉ I have purposely given but a passing mention, since they are equally well or better represented in other galleries.

The Bibliography which I have appended shows that much has been written on early French Art in France, especially during the last fifteen years; and I feel greatly indebted to authors such as Comte Leopold Delisle, Comte Paul Durrieu, MM. George Lafenestre, Anatol Gruyer, Louis Dimier, Gustave Macon, Moreau Nelaton, Sir Claude Phillips, Mr. Roger Fry and others, by whose works I have greatly profited, as also by my husband’s expert knowledge. But no book exactly covering this ground has as yet been written in the English language.

More than special acknowledgment and thanks are due to Mr. Robert H. Hobart Cust for his help and valuable suggestions. In the arduous task of revising the proofs of this book he was assisted by my son Mr. F. J. P. Richter. I have also great pleasure in expressing my deep gratitude to my dear friend Mrs. Ludwig Mond, whose constant encouragement was of inestimable value to me.

I am indebted to Mr. Murray for the personal interest he has so kindly shown in the many details which this work entails.

Louise M. Richter.

London, October 1913.