FrenchKate

October 20: Renaissance influences in Toulouse

To give you an idea of the influence of Sebastiano Serlio's designs, here are some views from Toulouse. One of the great 16th century French architects, Nicolas Bachelier (1485–1557)--celebrated for his sophistication and culture--built many hotêl particuliers in Toulouse. These images place buildings in Toulouse with Renaissance elements and drawings from the works of Serlio side-by-side for comparison. These  were prepared by Frederick Neupont and posted on wikipedia.

October 18: Sebastiano Serlio

Sebastiano Serlio, an Italian architect lured to France by François I to work on Fontainebleau, was the architect of the château d'Ancy-le-Franc; it is the only other example of his work to survive.

However, Serlio was hugely influential not because of his buildings, but because starting in 1537 he published what would eventually be an 7 or 8-volume set on architecture, "All the works of Architecture and Perspective." His books catered to the needs of architects, builders and craftsmen, and pioneered the use of high quality illustrations--over 300 woodcuts--to supplement the text.  In fact, the illustrations were as important as the text.

Using Roman architecture as its ideal, the volumes laid out the principals of architecture: geometry, perspective, the monuments of antiquity, and the various Orders (Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite)  as found in antique ruins and the text of Vitruvius, and then applied these orders to the design of doors, fireplaces, facades, churches and house design. The last book illustrated a range of common design problems such as how to remodel Gothic facades.

Because of Serlio's volumes--which were quickly translated into French, English, Dutch, Flemish and Spanish-- the Italian Renaissance style became the standard architectural model in France, England and the Netherlands. His illustrations of Roman buildings provided a repertory of classical images, and were often reprinted.

Serlio's books influenced later architects.  Sir Christopher Wren and Inigo Jones had copies in their libraries, as did John Wood the Elder, the entrepreneur who laid out Bath. Today, Serlio's original volumes are carefully preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Columbia University, the British library, but copies are available digitally.

The first image shows the woodcut of the five orders.

The second image illustrates the elevation and floorplan of a beautiful house in the country from book 6, (which had been lost. The manuscript was only found in the twentieth century and published in 1966.) The similarity to the floorplan and facade of Château d'Ancy-le-Franc is clear.

Images three and four are those I posted several days ago of the floorplan and entrance facade of d'Ancy-le-Franc. As the Italian styles leaked into France, one adaptation was the roofs. The northern clime needed steeper roofs.

 

 

 

 

 

October 14: views of Château d'Ancy-le-Franc--part 2

d'Ancy-le-Franc is a perfect square. Its four equal wings are anchored in the corners by four square pavilions. According to wikipedia, the design is "elegant, sober and harmonious....the symmetry of the spaces, the harmony of the facades, the use of squares, the coherence and rigidity of the whole gives witness to the genius of Serlio."

Image 1 is an aerial view from the Château website.

Image 2: plan of the interior of the château from Jacques Ier Androuet du Cerceau, "Les plus excellent bastiments de France." 1576. 

Image 3: The château seen on google street view from the west. Its style is exactly the same as the view of the château from the north that I posted yesterday.

Image 4: The château seen on google maps from on high.

 

 

October 13: Château d'Ancy-le-Franc

We visited the château d'Ancy-le-Franc on a hot afternoon in August, 2018. We were en route to Nancy, and we did not spare enough time to give this château its due. The chateau--built for Antoine III of Clermont, brother-in-law of Diane de Poitiers--was designed by the Italian architect of Fontainebleau, Sebastiano Serlio. Construction began in 1554.

Château d'Ancy-le-Franc is considered one of the foremost examples of the second French renaissance (approximately 1540 - 1564). Its style is a step  towards classicism in French architecture.

 

 

 

October 4: Fountain art at Hôtel de Ferrari

Another notable feature of the Hôtel de Ferrari is a large fountain in a niche at the back of the courtyard. Its art comes from another era, a theatrical, over-the-top era that looks rather tacky in our modern eye. When the gates of the mansion open, the effect was imagined to be like the opening of a theatre curtain; the visitor would be transported to a richly painted grotto where Neptune straddles a seahorse

Once upon a time, the statue of Neptune was accompanied by two scultpures of children at play, but these were sold in 1927 to someone in the USA. Where these sculptures are today is unknown. The fountain was also listed as a historic monument in 1927.  It makes one curious about the timing. When was the sale and when was the listing as historic monument?

Oct 2: More on the Hôtel de Ferrari.

A French hôtel particulier was the urban residence--a mansion--of an aristocratic family. The term "hôtel" was defined by 17th century historian, Nicholas Catherinot, as "houses less beautiful than palaces and more beautiful than simple lodgings" (Traité d’Architecture,  1688.) and that seems to be a workable definition. Space permitting, the canonical hôtel particulier was a free standing property. A grand gate would open onto a courtyard at the back of which stood the principal residence, away from the street. Other sides of the courtyard would hold the stables and service areas, and behind the corps de logis would be a private garden. 

The hôtel de Ferrari did not have the luxury of land; it was built on a trapizoidal plot of land--narrower on one side than on the other, and with no room at the back of the property for the corps de logis or a garden. Nevertheless, Architect Germain Boffrand's design was masterful; he incorporated the symmetry and proportions of classical style while ensuring the essentials of an aristocratic dwelling: private rooms for the family, a courtyard and public rooms for entertaining, and functional rooms (kitchen, stables and carriages, staff accommodations.)

The house has a remarkable trompe-l'oiel ceiling above the grand staircase. This was painted by an Italian artist, Giacomo Barilli around 1723. There evidently was once a weather vane in the roof just above and in the same shape as the dove in the center of the ceiling.

The hôtel de Ferrari today houses the agency that oversees the inventory of regional heritage. A very precise inventory was made of the house and its furnishings when Mme Ferrari died in 1754, which is invaluable to the modern conservateurs of the house.

 

October 1: Hôtel de Ferrari, Nancy

While exploring Nancy, France, in 2018, we came upon the Hôtel de Ferrari, a hôtel particuliére built between 1717 - 1722 by Louis, Comte de Ferrari, (1685-1733), a nobleman who was a chamberlain to the Emperor of Austria and grand-chamberlain and advisor to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine (1679-1729). The timing is intriguing.

Some context...the duchy of Lorraine and Bar was hotly disputed during this period. France badly wanted it, but it was technically an independent duchy of the Holy Roman Empire. Not to be denied, after various wars, France occupied Lorraine from 1634 -1661 and again from 1670 - 1697; the Dukes of Lorraine lived under the protection of the Holy Roman Emperor in Austria.

However, in 1697, the treaty of Ryswick restored the Duchy to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, on condition that he marry Elizabeth Charlotte d'Orleans, the niece of Louis XIV. The marriage was basically a political arrangement to bind the Duchy more tightly to France, but it proved to be a happy arrangement. Elizabeth Charlotte brought a dowry of 900,000 livres to the penniless duke, and was a loving mother to their fifteen children.

France still wanted the Duchy of Lorraine and Bar, however. Although Leopold would rule from Nancy between 1697 and 1714, after the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714), France would again take possession of Lorraine, and Leopold would "rule" from his country seat at Château de Luneville. After Leopold's death in 1729, Louis XV installed his father-in-law, Stanislaw Leszczynski, as Duke of Lorraine and Bar (1737) and upon Stanislaw's death in 1766, France annexed Lorraine and Bar for good. 

So the noble establishment was built just after the French took possession of Nancy again, and the family Ferrari would live there until 1754. 

Image 1: An exterior view of the hôtel--a group was doing a guided tour of Nancy architecture.

Image 2: A google street view of the passage to the courtyard of the hôtel particuliére. The deep passage visible here is very characteristic of hotel particuliére. 

Image 3: Immediately to the right in the entrance passage is a grand staircase in the "Italian style." The architect for this residence was Germain Boffrand, 

Image 4 & 5: The interiors of the house were under renovation, so we were given photographs of the interiors. One photo showed the left wing enfilade. another showed a room decorated around 1800.

Classical French style.