Maison datée de 1538
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison datée de 1538, located in Josselin (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
- Josselin, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.9550, -2.5477
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091317
In the heart of Josselin, this half-timbered house dating from 1538 impresses with its Renaissance spindle-shaped pilasters decorating the stone ground floor, topped by an elegant carved wooden panel - a Breton civil jewel listed as a Historic Monument.
History
Nestling in the cobbled streets of Josselin, a medieval town in Morbihan dominated by its famous Château des Rohan, this house, dated 1538, is one of the most refined examples of Breton Renaissance civil architecture. Far from the grand aristocratic residences, it embodies the discreet prosperity of a merchant bourgeoisie or a local notable, anxious to display his modernity in a context that was still profoundly Gothic. What immediately distinguishes this residence is the harmonious cohabitation of two building styles. The ashlar ground floor features spindle-shaped pilasters - a typically Renaissance, Italian-inspired decorative motif - giving the façade a humanist elegance. This skilful ornamentation contrasts with local tradition and testifies to the active circulation of artistic models in 16th-century France, even in Armorican Brittany. The timber-framed first floor is reminiscent of the medieval building traditions still alive in Breton towns. The pieces of wood, often carved or assembled using traditional techniques, form a decorative repertoire in their own right. This duality of stone and wood, far from being a contradiction, reveals the genius of the craftsmen of the period, who were able to blend local heritage and the newness of the Renaissance into a coherent and visually striking synthesis. Visiting this house also means taking in a whole remarkably well-preserved historic quarter. Josselin has one of the densest concentrations of timber-framed houses in inland Brittany, and this 1538 house is the jewel in its crown. Take the time to walk around it, to observe the modenature of the pilasters, the rhythm of the windows and the articulation of the levels, to understand how the Renaissance filtered through, adapted and reinterpreted itself on the fringes of the Kingdom of France.
Architecture
The 1538 house has an elevation in two superimposed registers, a faithful reflection of building practices in the first half of the 16th century in Armorican Brittany. The ground floor, built of local granite or schist stone - typical Morbihan materials - is punctuated by spindle-shaped pilasters, an ornamental motif of Italian origin enthusiastically adopted by French Renaissance craftsmen. These spindle-shaped pilasters, swollen at the centre and tapering at the ends, are a regional variation on the antique fluted pilasters, adapted to local tastes and skills. They frame the ground floor bays and give the whole a decorative rhythm that is highly sophisticated for a provincial civil building. The upper storey adopts a radically different construction style, with oak-framed panelled walls whose load-bearing elements are probably decorated with sculpted motifs: interlacing, foliage, grotesque figures or geometric patterns, a common repertoire in Breton timber-framed houses of the period. This slightly corbelled structure on the ground floor, a technique inherited from the Middle Ages, is integrated here into an overall composition that skilfully combines with the Renaissance style of the lower floor. The steeply pitched roof, in keeping with Breton tradition, is covered in slate, a material extracted in abundance from quarries in Morbihan and neighbouring Loire-Atlantique.
Related Figures
François Ier — roi de France ayant favorisé la diffusion de la Renaissance en Bretagne après l'union de 1532Jean II de Rohan — seigneur de Josselin ayant contribué au prestige architectural de la ville au XVIe siècleLe commanditaire anonyme de 1538 — bourgeois ou notable josselinais, bâtisseur de cette demeure RenaissanceLes artisans-maçons et charpentiers locaux — transmetteurs des nouvelles formes renaissantes en Bretagne intérieure
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison datée de 1538 located?
Maison datée de 1538 is located in Josselin, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Maison datée de 1538 built?
Maison datée de 1538 dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison datée de 1538 open to visitors?
Maison datée de 1538 is currently closed to visitors.