Fontaine de la Clarté
MonumentHidden Treasure
Fontaine de la Clarté, located in Baud (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
- Baud, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.8761, -3.0154
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091020
Nestling in the Morbihan region, the Fontaine de la Clarté in Baud is a 16th-century Gothic gem: a sacred pool, a shell archway and a gable decorated with fern-leaf hooks of rare delicacy.
History
In the heart of the village of Baud, in Morbihan, the Fontaine de la Clarté is one of those discreet monuments that you discover with sincere emotion. Far from the ostentation of the great cathedrals, it embodies a spirituality of stone carved in Breton sobriety, an intimate dialogue between water, faith and time. Listed as a historic monument since 1925, it belongs to that precious category of fountains with both devotional and practical purposes that dot inland Brittany. What makes this building unique is the precision of its architectural composition. The small shell niche housed beneath a finely-moulded archway sits alongside the archivolt topped by its finial, creating a surprisingly elegant lapidary setting for a rural monument. The gable, crowned by its gable and its brackets carved with fern leaves - an eminently Breton motif - gives the whole a verticality that transcends mere utility. The pool, the functional and symbolic heart of the fountain, bears witness to the importance of water in the religious and daily life of Renaissance Brittany. The presence of a wash-house covered by a canopy nearby is a reminder that these structures were more than just decorative objects: they set the pace for community life, a meeting point between the sacred and the profane. The visit offers an experience of contemplation and attentive observation. Cultured visitors will find much to contemplate in the sculpted detail, while those with a passion for Brittany's heritage will be able to read the influences of the late flamboyant Gothic style that marked so many buildings on the Armorican peninsula at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. The green setting of Baud, a small town in central Morbihan, adds to the charm of the visit.
Architecture
The Fontaine de la Clarté belongs to the late flamboyant Gothic style, as interpreted by 16th-century Breton craftsmen with a pronounced local flavour. The ensemble is built around a pool - a masonry basin that collects spring water - in front of which rises a small stone aedicule structured according to a vertical logic characteristic of Armorican votive fountains. The central element of the composition is a shell niche, a Renaissance motif of Italian origin that made a remarkable entry into the Breton decorative repertoire in the 16th century, housed beneath a finely-coursed arcade. This arcade is framed by an archivolt crowned with a sculpted finial, marking the axis of symmetry of the façade. Above, the gable rises up into a gable profile, raised by hooks sculpted from fern leaves - a typically Gothic plant decoration and particularly representative of Breton monumental art, which found in the fern a recurring motif that gave it its identity. The whole structure rests on granite masonry, a building material used almost exclusively in inland Morbihan, whose grainy texture contrasts with the relative finesse of the sculptures. The adjoining wash-house, protected by a wooden or stone canopy, bears witness to the functional evolution of the site. Although its architectural vocabulary is more restrained, it blends harmoniously with the rest of the site, highlighting the composite nature of this type of monument, which in Brittany as elsewhere combines devotion and domestic life around the same water source.
Related Figures
Anne de Bretagne — duchesse de Bretagne et reine de France, dont le règne coïncide avec l'épanouissement du gothique breton tardif et la construction de nombreuses fontaines votivesLes artisans kersantiers et granitiers morbihannais — sculpteurs anonymes responsables des décors végétaux caractéristiques de la régionLes fabriciens de la paroisse de Baud — commanditaires probables de la fontaine, garants de son entretien sous l'Ancien RégimeLes lavandières de Baud — usagères quotidiennes du lavoir attenant, actrices de la vie sociale autour du monument
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Fontaine de la Clarté located?
Fontaine de la Clarté is located in Baud, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Fontaine de la Clarté built?
Fontaine de la Clarté dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Fontaine de la Clarté open to visitors?
Fontaine de la Clarté is currently closed to visitors.