Fontaine de Gorvello
MonumentHidden Treasure
Fontaine de Gorvello, located in Sulniac (Département 56), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Sulniac, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.6391, -2.5961
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091748
On the edge of a Breton lane, the Gorvello fountain displays its Renaissance elegance: open colonnades, dentil cornice and winged pediments, a sculpted treasure from the 16th century in the heart of the Morbihan countryside.
History
At the bend in a quiet road in the commune of Sulniac, in Morbihan, the Gorvello fountain appears like an unexpected apparition: a small monument of rare architectural grace, lost in the middle of the Breton moors and hedgerows. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1946, it bears witness to a pronounced taste for Renaissance ornamentation which, by the end of the 16th century, had spread to the remotest Armorican countryside. What immediately sets Gorvello apart from the ordinary votive fountains of Brittany is its structural sophistication. Where local tradition is content with a simple kersanton canopy or a niche carved into the granite, the Gorvello fountain is a veritable small portico with columns, organised with an almost learned rigour. The interplay between the engaged columns and the isolated columns creates a surprising visual depth for such a modest building, giving the illusion of an interior space and a multi-tiered façade. The monolithic slab crowning the whole, treated as a cornice with its carefully rhythmic dentils, evokes the architectural treatises that were circulating in the workshops of Breton master builders at the time. The fin-silhouetted pediments - the characteristic scrolls of Mannerism - and the cabochons adorning the corners complete a decorative programme of real ambition, which contrasts with the functional humility of a roadside fountain. To visit the Gorvello fountain is to take a step back in time. The place invites silent contemplation, far from the crowds. The water still flowing at the foot of the structure, the moss gently growing on the granite, the discreet murmur of the surrounding countryside: everything contributes to making this visit an intimate experience, almost medieval in atmosphere, despite the clearly Renaissance aesthetic of the building.
Architecture
The architectural composition of the Gorvello fountain is highly original for a building of this type and size. Its organisation is based on a system of columns at two levels of depth: a central pedestal or dosseret, flanked by two engaged columns, in front of which stand two isolated columns. This arrangement creates a triple-plane façade that evokes, on a reduced scale, the elaborate porticoes of the clerical and noble architecture of the French Renaissance. The ensemble is crowned by a monolithic slab - carved from a single block of Breton granite - the edges of which are sculpted into a dentilled cornice, a motif inherited directly from the ancient repertoire handed down in Italian architectural treatises. At the top of the slab are pediments whose fin or foliate silhouette is reminiscent of the Mannerist vocabulary in vogue in the second half of the 16th century. Cabochons adorn the corners, adding a further decorative touch to an already remarkably well-crafted ensemble. The material used is local granite, typical of Morbihan buildings, which gives the fountain its blue-grey hue and exceptional robustness. Despite the constraints inherent in this material - which is difficult to shape with a chisel compared with Touraine limestone or tufa stone - the stonemasons were able to create a truly fine programme of ornamentation, testifying to Breton craftsmanship of the highest order in the late Renaissance period.
Related Figures
Seigneur local de Sulniac (commanditaire probable, fin XVIe siècle)Maître tailleur de pierre breton (auteur inconnu, dernier quart XVIe siècle)Fabrique paroissiale de Sulniac (commanditaire institutionnel possible)Inspecteur des Monuments Historiques (auteur de l'arrêté d'inscription de 1946)
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Fontaine de Gorvello located?
Fontaine de Gorvello is located in Sulniac, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Fontaine de Gorvello built?
Fontaine de Gorvello dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Fontaine de Gorvello open to visitors?
Fontaine de Gorvello is currently closed to visitors.