Project Description

Oil on canvas for forming

Dimensions : 27 cm x 42 cm

Signed lower right : Borms Léo

The Chateau d'If Marseille

Léo Borms

the château d’If is a French fortress built on the orders of King François I^is, between 1527 and 1529 on the islet of If in the Frioul archipelago, near the islands of Ratonneau and Pomègues in the center of the harbor of Marseille.

A construction

It is a three-storey square building measuring 28 meters on each side, flanked by three towers, pierced with wide embrasures. The rest of the island, whose dimension is only 3 hectares, is strongly defended ; high ramparts with artillery platforms top the cliffs.

It essentially served as a prison during its 400 years of official use. Made famous by the novel by Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte-Christo, it is one of the most visited sites in the city of Marseille (close to 100 000 visitors per year). It was listed as a historical monument on 7 July 1926.

royal fortress

The Château d'If is the first royal fortress of Marseille. The second is Fort Notre-Dame built after 1536 always on the order of François I^is. This became the constitutive site of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Guard.

Building a fortress is a political act. It is part of the case of the Château d'If in a larger project to control the Provençal coasts : Marseilles is at XVI^e century "the most beautiful window of the kingdom of France in the northern Mediterranean". The main asset of the building is its location in the center of the northern bay of Marseille on the busiest shipping routes.

Construction of the Château d'If began in mid-April 1529, delayed due to bad weather. The end date of the project is not known.. The first garrison and its governor are in place from 1531. Part of the building materials come from the siege of Marseilles by the Spaniards in September 1524. The link between the headquarters of 1524 and the construction of the Château d'If is not established.

Another work by the artist forming a pendant.