CHANTELOU, PAUL FRÉART DE

(1609-1694)

   French collector, connoisseur, and writer who served as steward to King Louis XIV of France. Chantelou is important to the history of art in that the king asked him to escort Gian Lorenzo Bernini through Paris in 1665 when the artist arrived to finalize the details of the east façade of the Louvre commission. On the occasion, Chantelou kept a diary recording the details of Bernini's visit as well as discussions they had on the master's working methods, commissions, and artistic philosophy. For this, the diary is a pivotal document to the history of Baroque art. Also pivotal is a letter Nicolas Poussin wrote to Chantelou, one of his patrons, in 1647 comparing the various expressive means he used in one of his works to the ancient Greek musical modes. The remarks Poussin made in this letter became the basis for his Theory of Modes and his Grande Maniera.