Maison dite de Saint-Yves
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison dite de Saint-Yves, located in Vannes (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
- Vannes, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.6538, -2.7597
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091795
The Renaissance jewel of Vannes, the façade of the Maison Saint-Yves features a continuous band of carvings of rare elegance, with pilasters, niches and corbels that reflect the refinement of 16th-century Brittany.
History
In the heart of the old town of Vannes, in the labyrinth of medieval streets that make up the charm of this Breton city, the house known as Saint-Yves stands out as one of the most precious examples of Renaissance civil architecture in Brittany. Built in the third quarter of the 16th century, this stone and timber-framed residence successfully combines local building traditions with the influence of the French Renaissance, which was flourishing in the provinces of the kingdom at the time. What immediately sets this building apart from its neighbours is its strikingly coherent facade. From the ground floor to the gable, a band of sculpted stone runs the full height of the building, creating a veritable work of lapicide. Plant motifs, finely chiselled pilasters, triangular pediment and niche housing the statue of the patron saint: each register responds to the other in a composition of remarkable unity. The sculpted corbels supporting the corbels add to the ornamental richness of the whole. Visiting Saint-Yves House means stopping for a long time in front of this façade to decipher its iconographic programme. The niche on the first floor, which houses a statue of Saint Yves - patron saint of lawyers and tutelary figure of Brittany - invites you to look up and discover a stone dialogue between faith, law and art. The wrought-iron balconies add a touch of lightness to this robust ensemble, reminding us that the residence was also a place of lively middle-class life. The building is set in a dense historic district, where each façade tells the story of several centuries of urban history. Vannes, the former capital of the Duchy of Brittany, has one of the best-preserved medieval centres in the Greater West, and the Maison Saint-Yves is one of its jewels. For visitors with a passion for heritage, it's a must-see on their tour of the half-timbered houses and Renaissance residences that line the streets of Noé, Saint-Salomon and de la Monnaie. Listed as a historic monument since 1929, the house is protected to ensure that this exceptional architectural heritage is passed on to future generations. Its remarkable state of preservation for a Renaissance building makes it a first-rate architectural document for anyone interested in the history of Breton art and 16th-century French civil architecture.
Architecture
The Maison Saint-Yves is a mixed stone and timber-frame building, a hybrid formula typical of 16th-century Breton civil architecture, combining the solidity of granite or shell limestone masonry with the constructive flexibility of half-timbering. The main facade has four storeys: a masonry ground floor and three progressively corbelled upper storeys, the last of which is integrated into the gable. Two bays of windows punctuate each level, crowned with slightly arched pediments in the Renaissance tradition. The building's major originality lies in the sculpted stone band that runs the full height of the façade, forming a continuous and coherent decorative register. On the first floor, a finely decorated niche houses a statue of Saint Yves, framed by mouldings and topped by a sculpted canopy. The second floor features a pilaster with a richly carved triangular pediment, borrowed from classical Renaissance vocabulary. The third level is distinguished by its sober but precise moulding. The sculpted corbels supporting the corbelled beams of the first two storeys also constitute a figurative or ornamental programme in their own right, while the top storey rests on beams without sculpted support, visually lightening the top of the composition. Wrought-iron balconies on the middle storeys add vertical lightness and recall the influence of metal ornamentation in Breton Renaissance urban architecture.
Related Figures
Saint Yves de Kermartin (1253-1303) — patron des avocats et figure tutélaire de la Bretagne, dont la statue orne la niche du premier étageArtisans lapicides vannetais du XVIe siècle — auteurs anonymes du programme sculpté de la façadeCommanditaire inconnu — probablement un juriste ou officier de justice vannetais du troisième quart du XVIe siècleInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques — responsables de l'instruction du dossier d'inscription de 1929
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison dite de Saint-Yves located?
Maison dite de Saint-Yves is located in Vannes, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Maison dite de Saint-Yves built?
Maison dite de Saint-Yves dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison dite de Saint-Yves open to visitors?
Maison dite de Saint-Yves is currently closed to visitors.