I mentioned how the images on this site were made from pictures I took at Château Fontainebleau in France, but I think they deserve a little further explanation.

Fontainebleau was the castle of kings since the Middle Ages. They did not live there at all times, but used it more as a hunting lodge or a place to "get away from it all." François I, Henri II, and even Napoleon are a few of the kings who called Fontainebleau "home." (Note: Louis XIV didn't care for Fontainebleau...he chose to build his own palace: Versailles.) Now of course, each king had to sate his own ego a bit: He simply could NOT live in some other king's castle. So each one built his own wing in his own style to suit his own tastes...and to leave his mark. Usually a king would build a wing onto the castle using his initial as the centerpiece. François I put large "F"'s all over the place with his symbol, the salamander. (Yes, for all you Pagans, we *are* talking about the Fire elemental.) Napoleon had "N"'s with Roman decor, etc. Henri II was no different.

Henri II filled his section with a Mythology motif. In particular, he used the Goddess, Diana, as his focus. In a castle known for its hunting grounds, this sounds very much reasonable. The fireplace looked like this:

You can see his use of crescent moons and twisted vines to symbolize Diana. In the picture on the right, you can see the "H" for Henri in the middle on the bottom, with the vines twisted around it. Here is a close-up:

You may also notice another set of H's in the fireplace in this close-up (I have highlighted it on the right):

Of course, if you look at it again, there are two D's linked together. Here's the highlighted version of the close-up (I did the curve freehand with the mouse...so sue me if it's not neat!):

You can assume it stands for Diana, right? Well, it does on a way, but not the one you'd think. The French name for "Diana" is "Diane." No big deal. But it should be mentioned that the kings occasionally put the initials of their wives into the decor. Henri II was married to Catherine di Medicis...but he was not fond of her and he flaunted his mistress in front of her. Who was his mistress? Diane de Poitiers.

So by using the motif of the goddess, Diana, he was really putting Diane de Poitiers' name in his wing of the castle as if to say, "I married Catherine for politics. If I had my choice, it would be Diana."

But hey, I liked the style and took the pictures knowing I would eventually be showing them on this site. *grin* I guess you see I have!