# Exterior view [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [ARCHITECT, French]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary The château was built for Thomas Bohier, Chamberlain to King Charles VIII between 1515 and 1521 on the site of a demolished castle, though its 15th-century keep was left standing. The part of Chenonceau built at this period consists of a square block with a turret at each corner and a corridor through the middle. The photo shows the view of the château from the edge of the formal gardens to the west of the residence. The medieval keep to the left is the last vestige of the previous château, located in what is now the forecourt, still surrounded by moats. View the <a href="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/support/plans/zzzarchi/16c/2/chenonceau1.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=400,height=600'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return false">ground plan</a> of the building. From 1535 the château belonged to the French Crown. In 1547, Henry II offered the château as a gift to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who commissioned Philibert Delorme to build the arched bridge joining the château to its opposite bank. She also oversaw the planting of extensive flower and vegetable gardens laid out in four triangles. In the 1570s, as Regent of France, Catherine de' Medici further extended the château. ## Related artworks - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Bird's eye view]() - [Burial lantern]() - [Castle]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()