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.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

Sept 30: Stairs

When I was working, before retiring in 2017, I used FrenchKate as my metric of life balance. I figured if I could do my job and still post daily on FrenchKate, my life was sufficiently in balance. Work was not all-consuming; I still had time to learn about French history and culture (one site at a time.) 

...and yet, since July, 2021, I have posted just twice. Life balance has been definitely off! Family responsibilities--a memorial for my mother, cleaning her house for sale, visiting with my extended family, supporting my son on several 100-mile runs--have demanded all my attention. It has been a longer, more labor intensive period than I remember Psy 1001 ever being. But I am hopeful that all these responsibilities have been fulfilled, and that I can once again study French history and culture.

Strange to think that it has been nearly two years--the pandemic years-- since my husband and I travelled to France. We do not know when we will return. We don't even know when we will know that we can travel again. Perhaps in Spring of 2022? Perhaps Fall of 2022? We just don't know.

So this is just a little post on French stair architecture to get back into practice. I haven't established a focus yet. 

Image 1: From a medieval building in Pérouges, a spiral stair in the tower. 

Image 2: An "Italian" staircase in the 18th century grain market in Vienne, France. Two flights of stair straight up--a huge innovation--with a landing dividing them.

Image 3: An upscale staircase in the 18th century monastery at Cluny with its beautiful wrought iron handrail.

Image 4: An early 19th century winding staircase in the 19th century wing of the château de Cormatin in Burgundy. 

Image 5: The grand staircase--dating to 1624--in the château de Cormatin. This is the largest surviving example of a square staircase around a central well, and a fine example of 17th century conspicuous consumption. It was modeled on the staircase in the Luxembourg Palace in Paris.

 

 

 

August 28: Abbaye Saint-Sauveur in Figeac

In my virtual compostelle Saint-Jacques, I have reached Figeac, and, as is my custom, I began to scout the sites and history of the town.

Several things struck me.  

Figeac grew up around the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Sauveur founded by Pepin I of Aquitaine in 838.

According to a 19th century French historian, this abbey was built on the site of an earlier abbey. Vikings had destroyed this abbey and massacred sixty monks and refugees who had sought shelter in the church prior to 838AD. I am skeptical about this account. Its specificity gives me pause--sixty monks and refugees murdered by Vikings prior to 838--but I wonder how--if-- the Vikings could have gotten so far into the heart of France. In fact, why would they bother? Much richer pickings were more easily available. To reach the Abbey of Saint-Saveur in Figeac, the Vikings would have to travel up the Garonne (Toulouse was attacked in 844AD), then up the Lot, and then finally up the Célé. If I were in Figeac, I would try to learn more about this.

As I delved into google's resources on Viking raids in France to see what I could find from home, I came upon a surprisingly hot research controversy. An independent French historian--Joel Supery--argues that the Vikings had more extensive settlements in southwestern France than previously acknowledged. In fact, Supery points out that French scholarship has never researched the possibility of Viking settlements south of the Loire; for French historians, the Vikings settled in Normandy only. 

However, Supery noted that in Normandy, place names classified as Norman have Scandinavian names as their roots--Bjorn, Asgeir, Stein--with the Latin "ville" tacked on at the end. For example, the modern Benneville can be understood as the modern French form of Bjorn-ville, the lands of Bjorn. He applied the same logic to placenames that end in "-os." These placenames are found uniquely in southwestern France (or ancient Gascony,) and they have stumped linguists; maybe the names were Basque? Maybe Indo-European? Maybe a sign of resistance to the Roman occupiers? However, Supery pointed out that because French historians and linguists ignored the possibility of Scandinavian settlements south of the Loire, they never thought to examine at the possibility that "os" might indicate a word of Scandinavian origin. In particular, Supery observed that the Scandinavian parallel to "ville" is "hus." From "hus" to "os" is an easy jump.

When Supery looked at southwestern place-names ending in "os," he found that nearly 100% took the same form as the names that were identified as Norman: a Scandinavian name name plus "os" (rather than ville.) Thus, Bayonnes derived from "Bjorn-hus", the lands of Bjorn. 

The controversy arose because French academic historians did not take kindly to Supery's insight. They rejected Supery's basic argument--that the Vikings had more extensive settlements and trade routes in southwestern France than previously understood--and ridiculed his methodology and training. It was heated, but by 2018, evidently the credentialed academics were admitting that someone with the proper training should look at the possibility. 

The first photo shows the abbey church of Saint-Sauveur today. Like most churches in France, this one has sustained damage--of the original 12th century monastery, only the church and the chapter house remain--but unlike most, the damage was inflicted during the 16th century Wars of Religion rather than during the 19th century, post-revolution.

The second image is a map of Vikings activity from wikipedia. Figeac is nowhere on that map, but neither is Toulouse so the map is too general. Supery's argument is that the Vikings had settlements in southern France that would trade with Vikings in southern Italy, and looking at the map, you can see his point.

July 23: Monument aux Morts, Decazeville

As you know, I am fascinated by the Monuments aux Morts that one finds throughout France, and Decazeville has a fantastic, very place specific one. It commemorates both the victims of war and the victims of labor, and, uniquely, does not list the names of the victims. Those are recorded on a plaque in the church. So the placement of the monument in front of the church is significant.

Originally commissioned in 1920, its installation was delayed until 1934 because the architect and the company hired to construct  were fighting. Eventually the city had to intervene to get the project back on task. The bronze decorations were cast by André Léon Galtié.  In 2018, it was listed as an historic monument along with 41 other monuments aux morts in southwestern France.

The monument is made of concrete faced with stone, and consists of an obelisk resting on a raised pedestal. A long vertical groove was hollowed out on the front and back of the obelisk, and a meter-tall bronze miner's lamp stands at front on a plinth that records the years of the World War I: 1914 - 1918. Around the base are bas-relief allegories--war and peace--as well as smaller images of a dead soldier and a trapped miner.

The obelisk and base are placed on a square platform; the monument is reached from any side by climbing five steps.

A decade ago, the city had planned to move the monument as part of street improvement program. It was--and still is (so you know how this tale turns out)--in the center of Decazeville on Place Wilson in front of the Notre-Dame church. Its location is bordered by traffic lanes, and the city planners felt that "the commemorations at the foot of the current monument do not always obtain the solemnity they deserve,"  due to the noise of automobile traffic. In addition, since this monument does not record the names of the dead, the town fathers thought adding the names and relocating the monument would give Decazeville "a real war memorial."

 These discussions took place under the heading of the "preservation of collective memory."

They left the final decision to veterans of previous conflicts, and the veterans raised objections. Said one, “Personally, I think this pacifist war memorial has its place in the place it occupies. On each of its faces, we find the symbols of miners, of peace and of war. These powerful symbols give this monument a special character. For the transmission of the values ​​expressed by these symbols, the monument must retain the place it occupies. It would be a mistake to move it. "

For another, “For me, this monument, established for the victims of war and labor, occupies an ideal location, and its displacement would take away a lot of its character, not only in terms of the memory we owe to those who died for the homeland, but also to the long and often tragic history of our former miners. In expressing this feeling, I am speaking not only on my own behalf, but also for a large number of people who are hostile to this displacement. They have shared with me their feeling that the monument should remain where it is--in the heart of the city and near the church, inside of which is the plaque in memory of our soldiers who gave their lives for our Fatherland."

The monument is still in front of Notre Dame so the nays carried the day. 

I find this discussion of the "preservation of collective memory" fascinating in light of our homegrown arguments about statues that were raised to celebrate heroes of the confederacy, those traitors who fought the USA to preserve slavery. While the American arguments also speak of preserving our collective memory, our heritage, the difference is in what the statues commemorate: they were installed to reinforce the supremacy of white Americans and terrorize black Americans. We must never to forget that dark history, but we must never celebrate or honor it.  Americans must move forward to a more perfect union.

July 21: Is this la Découverte open air mine?

I wonder if this is a before view of the open air mine, la Découverte, that is now a pleasant place for a walk?

The second photo doesn't show the town in the distance, but that could just be the angle from which it was taken. I speculate that the old photo was taken from the south, looking north to Decazeville. The current photo was taken from the east side of the mine, looking to the terraces on the west. The mine has filled up with water so what looks like a lawn in the second photo is actually a lake.

la Découverte mine is easy to spot on google maps--that great green O just south of town.

July 19: Decazeville

Our next stop, Decazeville, is 10 miles from Conques; the GR 6 and the GR 65 diverge after Conques so we will need to choose to follow one or the other.

The GR65 is the traditional route taken by most pilgrims. It is shorter than the GR 6 trail--9.6 miles for the GR 65 versus 10.9 for the GR6 trail--but three of those miles are on a departmental road.  It passes a hamlet, Noaillac, which has a pretty little chapel dedicated to St Roch.

The GR 6, however, though longer, is prettier...and hillier. The route follows trails and forest roads. 

I am curious about Decazeville, Most of the towns we have passed through are primarily agricultural. Decazeville, however, was, and is, industrial. Coal had been mined there from the 17th century--in fact, the French kings gave the mines to their mistresses--but production expanded in the 19th century when the Duc de Decazes, who had inherited the mines, created  "Houillères et Fonderies de l'Aveyron" (Mines and Foundries of Aveyron.) His investments put Decazeville on the map, so much so that the name of the town was changed to honor him. It had been La salle and became Decazeville, a major coal mining center; the population grew from 2700 to 15,000 over the course of the 19th century and early 10th century. At at its peak in 1936, roughly 9,000 workers produced a million tons of steel. However, since its peak, the population has declined to just 5,400 people. The last mine closed in 2001, but the town had been suffering from the decline of the mining industry--and the strikes that accompanied that decline--for decades. Today it has diversified its economy to metallurgy, woodworking, metal fabrication, and the production of steel tubing.

Tourism has not been neglected. A museum in a former industrial building showcases the equipment, machines, the documents and plans, and vehicles of the local industrial activities: mining coal, iron, steel, zinc, cast iron, producing glass and brick. In addition, the open-pit mine La Découverte is open to the public and makes for beautiful walks. 

So I am curious about this little town. As far as I can figure out from the internet, Decazeville basically started in the first part of the 19th century. Even the church is 19th century,  So I expect to find that most of the buildings and houses are no older than 19th century.  In addition, since this was a coal-mining town, I expect most of the houses to be modest, working class homes. Unlike most towns in France, I won't find there the relicts of the feudal era--the chateaux and monasteries--nor the classical buildings that mark the ancien regime. Finally, since the population is now one-third of what it was 100 years ago, I imagine we will see abandoned buildings and areas of urban renewal.

I took some screenshots from google maps streetview of the kinds of architecture I expect to find--Second Empire establishments, modern buildings, The aerial view is from the tourist bureau.