Maison dite Hôtel de Bretagne ou Hôtel de la Capitainerie
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison dite Hôtel de Bretagne ou Hôtel de la Capitainerie, located in Blois (Loir-et-Cher), 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
- Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.5848, 1.3300
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00098386
Facing the royal chateau, this Renaissance town house hides behind its sober façade a turret with a canted staircase and a rib-vaulted gallery, a silent witness to Anne de Bretagne's time in Blois.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
Just a stone's throw from the Royal Château of Blois, the Hôtel de Bretagne - or Hôtel de la Capitainerie - stands like a stone sentinel in the heart of a district steeped in history. Built at the turn of the 16th century, at a time when the French court chose Blois as its favourite residence, this building embodies the elegant discretion of the Loire Valley's civil architecture, far removed from the ostentation of the châteaux but not devoid of refinement. What distinguishes the Hôtel de Bretagne from so many other Renaissance residences is precisely this tension between sobriety and sophistication. The courtyard façade is free of unnecessary ostentation, with just the right proportions and a canted staircase turret - a characteristic signature of the workshops in Blois in the early 16th century. At the back, the rear façade opens onto a terrace through four large bays with low, light and airy arches, reminiscent of the Italian-inspired loggias that attracted the court's patrons at the time. Inside, the attentive visitor will find a number of architectural nuggets that have rarely been equalled in the region's civil housing: an entrance vestibule covered with ribbed and arched vaults, betraying late Gothic craftsmanship mixed with new Renaissance influences. A gallery overlooking the terrace completes this intimate and personal picture. To visit the Hôtel de Bretagne is to plunge into the day-to-day life of a high-ranking officer gravitating around Anne of Brittany, far removed from the spectacular reconstructions and crowds of some neighbouring sites. The building speaks to those who know how to read a stone, a moulding, an arch - and who are looking for more in Blois than just a stop-off on the way to the Loire châteaux.
Architecture
The Hôtel de Bretagne is in the Loire Renaissance style of the first half of the 16th century, characterised by the sobriety of the volumes and the quality of the sculpted details rather than by decorative exuberance. The well-ordered and well-proportioned courtyard façade is flanked on the right by a canted stair turret - a typical feature of private mansions in Blois during this period, allowing a spiral staircase to be housed in a polygonal exterior volume that enlivens the façade without weighing it down. The rear façade, overlooking a terrace, is more open and luminous: four large bays with low arches punctuate the wall, evoking the influence of the Italian loggias that architects in the Loire had assimilated through contact with the transalpine masters who had come to work for the French court. A recessed gallery extends the interior space outwards in a spirit of gentle transition between inside and outside, characteristic of the taste of the early French Renaissance. The interior reveals the coexistence of the two architectural grammars that defined the period: an entrance vestibule covered with both rib vaults - a legacy of the Gothic tradition that is still alive - and antique-style arched vaults, testifying to the gradual acceptance of the new formal repertoire. The materials used are those of classic Loire construction: white tuffeau, a soft, easy-to-cut limestone, abundantly quarried throughout the Loire Valley, which gives the façades the luminous cream colour so characteristic of the region's monuments.
Related Figures
Anne de Bretagne — reine de France (1477-1514), dont le séjour répété au château de Blois est à l'origine de la dénomination de l'hôtelLouis XII — roi de France (1462-1515), dont Blois était la résidence de prédilection et qui attira autour de lui les officiers commanditaires de tels édificesCharles VIII — roi de France (1470-1498), premier époux d'Anne de Bretagne, sous le règne duquel Blois commença sa grande métamorphose RenaissanceOfficier anonyme d'Anne de Bretagne — commanditaire présumé de l'édifice, figure emblématique de la noblesse de service gravitant autour de la cour itinérante
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison dite Hôtel de Bretagne ou Hôtel de la Capitainerie located?
Maison dite Hôtel de Bretagne ou Hôtel de la Capitainerie is located in Blois, Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Maison dite Hôtel de Bretagne ou Hôtel de la Capitainerie built?
Maison dite Hôtel de Bretagne ou Hôtel de la Capitainerie dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison dite Hôtel de Bretagne ou Hôtel de la Capitainerie open to visitors?
Maison dite Hôtel de Bretagne ou Hôtel de la Capitainerie is currently closed to visitors.