Maison d'Adam et Eve ou de l'Arbre de Vie
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison d'Adam et Eve ou de l'Arbre de Vie, located in Angers (Maine-et-Loire), 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
- Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.4704, -0.5541
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108927
A masterpiece of Anjou's flamboyant Gothic style, the Maison d'Adam et Ève (House of Adam and Eve) stands in the heart of Angers, its carved half-timbering of rare finesse a veritable treatise on Creation in stone and wood.
History
In the heart of Angers' old cathedral quarter, the Maison d'Adam et Ève is one of the best-preserved medieval civil residences in the Loire Valley. Its nickname, inherited from the sculpted figure of Adam and Eve embracing around an apple tree in the corner of the façade, says a great deal about the decorative ambitions of its patrons: here, ornament is not a matter of coquetry; it is a theological and social language expressed in wood. What makes this house absolutely unique is the extraordinary density of its sculptural programme. Every post, every bracket, every eave overflows with figures - musical angels, saints, grotesque figures, stylised plant motifs - in a profusion typical of the late flamboyant Gothic style of 1480-1500, when Anjou craftsmen were still bringing the medieval tradition to its apogee before the Renaissance imposed its new rules. Visiting the House of Adam and Eve is all about looking up. The timber-framed facade juts out slightly over several levels, creating a constant dialogue between light and shadow depending on the time of day. In the morning, when the low-angled light reveals the relief of the sculptures, the figures seem almost animated. Those with a passion for medieval iconography will be able to decipher a complete cosmogony: the Fall, the Redemption and the daily life of 15th-century man. The setting itself is well worth a visit. Located on the corner of two cobbled streets in the historic centre of Angers, a stone's throw from Saint-Maurice Cathedral and the Château des Ducs d'Anjou, the house is part of a remarkably intact medieval urban fabric. It stands side by side with other old houses in the district, but dominates the whole with its stature and exuberant ornamentation.
Architecture
The House of Adam and Eve is a timber-framed building typical of late 15th-century civil construction in western France. The structure is based on an oak frame, with corner posts, runners and braces, each visible surface of which has been entrusted to a sculptor. The successive corbelling of the floors, slightly overhanging one another, creates an inverted pyramid effect typical of Gothic half-timbered houses, maximising the living space on the upper levels while protecting the façade from the elements. The sculpted programme is the building's most striking feature. At the corner, the group of Adam and Eve around the Tree of Knowledge visually dominates the composition. Across the façades, around a hundred figures and decorative motifs - angels in adoration, allegorical scenes, acanthus and vine foliage, expressive faces - bear witness to a workshop that perfectly mastered the flamboyant Gothic iconographic repertoire in its final phase, just before the influence of the Italian Renaissance profoundly transformed the Loire Valley's ornamental vocabulary. The infill between the wooden posts was traditionally made of cob or brick, rendered and whitewashed. The roofs, which were steeply pitched in accordance with Angevin custom, were covered in slate, an emblematic material of the Loire Valley extracted from quarries in the Trélazé region, very close to Angers. Inside, the rooms were probably organised around a central corridor, with sculpted mantelpieces on the main floors.
Related Figures
René d'Anjou (1409-1480) — duc d'Anjou dont le mécénat artistique avait insufflé un goût pour l'art raffiné à toute la société angevineCommanditaire anonyme de la fin du XVe siècle — bourgeois ou officier royal angevin ayant financé l'édificeArtisans charpentiers-sculpteurs de l'atelier angevin — maîtres inconnus auteurs du programme sculptéProsper Mérimée (1803-1870) — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques dont l'action nationale prépara la protection de tels édificesÉrudits de la Société des Antiquaires de l'Ouest — chercheurs angevins du XIXe siècle ayant documenté et défendu la maison
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison d'Adam et Eve ou de l'Arbre de Vie located?
Maison d'Adam et Eve ou de l'Arbre de Vie is located in Angers, Maine-et-Loire department, Pays de la Loire region, France.
When was Maison d'Adam et Eve ou de l'Arbre de Vie built?
Maison d'Adam et Eve ou de l'Arbre de Vie dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison d'Adam et Eve ou de l'Arbre de Vie open to visitors?
Maison d'Adam et Eve ou de l'Arbre de Vie is currently closed to visitors.