View of the Grand Cascade at Saint Cloud Castle

This view of the Grand Cascade of the château of Saint-Cloud must have been painted - by the date on the canvas by the same artist, View of the SeineThe palace was built around 1804, the year of the proclamation of Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor of the French, a ceremony which took place in this palace. The building in the upper right-hand corner was built around 1570 and renovated after its acquisition by Louis XIV for his brother Philippe, Duke of Orléans, in 1658. Nationalised during the Revolution, the Emperor made it his second residence. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian war, a shell caused a fire that was the first act of its demise, perfected by the controversial government order of 1891 to demolish its ruins. Today, only its gardens remain, including the Grand Cascade, a work by Antoine Le Paultre executed between 1660 and 1665.