Maison dite Maison des Archers
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison dite Maison des Archers, located in Quimperlé (Département 29), 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
- Quimperlé, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.8730, -3.5458
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090389
Joyau de l'architecture civile médiévale bretonne, la Maison des Archers dresse à Quimperlé ses encorbellements successifs et ses culs-de-lampe sculptés, témoignage rare du XVe siècle en pays cornouaillais.
History
In the heart of Quimperlé, a town nestling at the confluence of the Ellé and Isole rivers, the Maison des Archers stands out as one of the most eloquent examples of timber-framed civil architecture in southern Brittany. Its distinctive silhouette, with its progressively corbelled storeys jutting out above the street as if to listen to passers-by, epitomises the urban aesthetic of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. What fundamentally sets this residence apart is the remarkable balance between the structural rigour of the timber panelling and the ornamental generosity of its sculpture. The carved wooden culs-de-lampe supporting the corbels betray the hand of skilled craftsmen, heirs to a Breton tradition of rare finesse. The central door on the ground floor, topped by a moulded arch, is a piece of Flamboyant Gothic anthology, the sinuous and elegant decorative vocabulary that the 15th century favoured for its most noble openings. The experience of visiting the building begins as soon as you step into the street: you have to stop and look up to grasp the ballet of projecting volumes, each level slightly overhanging the previous one, creating a sensation of almost organic upward movement. The stair turret, set against the south-west corner and reinforced by a buttress, adds a dramatic verticality to the whole, evoking the great houses of note in Hanseatic cities or contemporary Flemish merchant towns. Inside, the house is full of surprises: on the first floor, sumptuous Louis XV panelling bears witness to a long history of living and rearranging. The finely carved panelling, with its rocaille motifs and generous curves, testifies to the fact that the house was still lived in and pampered in the 18th century, long after it was built. This layering of styles - flamboyant Gothic on the façade, Rococo on the interior - makes the Maison des Archers a veritable compendium of French decorative history. Quimperlé itself, an ancient town founded around the Benedictine abbey of Sainte-Croix in the 11th century, provides an ideal backdrop. Visitors will arrive ideally from the lower town, following the well-preserved medieval streets, to discover the Maison des Archers as the natural culmination of a heritage walk.
Architecture
The Maison des Archers is an accomplished example of the timber-framed civil architecture practised in southern Brittany in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its facade comprises a large main body flanked by a projecting section, an arrangement that breaks the monotony of the rectangular plan and creates an expressive interplay of volumes. The ground floor opens onto a central doorway with a moulded brace arch, the undisputed signature of the flamboyant Gothic style: this sinuous shape with its double convex-concave curve was the height of architectural elegance in towns in the kingdom of France and the duchy of Brittany. The most spectacular feature of the façade is the progressive corbelling of the upper storeys: each level rises above the previous one, supported by corbels that are in turn supported by carved wooden lantern caps. This construction system, both structural and decorative, made it possible to gain more living space on each floor while freeing up the street space at ground level. The quality of the carving on the lantern bases - probably decorated with plant motifs, human figures or fantastical animals in the Breton tradition - testifies to the skills of the local carpenters and sculptors, heirs to a long tradition of craftsmanship. In the south-west corner, the staircase turret is a remarkable architectural feature, reinforced by a buttress that ensures its stability while accentuating the verticality of the composition. This turret, typical of large medieval bourgeois residences, served the upper floors via a spiral staircase and signalled the owner's high social status. On the first floor, the interior still features a fine collection of Louis XV panelling: panelling panels with moulded profiles, door and fireplace surrounds with rocaille curves typical of the mid-eighteenth century, forming a striking and harmonious contrast with the Gothic shell of the building.
Related Figures
Commanditaire bourgeois inconnu (XVe siècle) — probable marchand ou officier aisé de Quimperlé, commanditaire de la demeure originelleCapitaine ou officier des archers (XVe-XVIe siècle) — figure hypothétique liée à la tradition du nom de la maisonMaître charpentier breton (XVe siècle) — artisan anonyme auteur de la façade en pans de bois et de ses culs-de-lampe sculptésPropriétaire du XVIIIe siècle (inconnu) — commanditaire des boiseries Louis XV du premier étageProsper Mérimée (1803-1870) — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, initiateur de la politique de recensement du patrimoine civil dont bénéficia ce type de demeure
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison dite Maison des Archers located?
Maison dite Maison des Archers is located in Quimperlé, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Maison dite Maison des Archers built?
Maison dite Maison des Archers dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison dite Maison des Archers open to visitors?
Maison dite Maison des Archers is currently closed to visitors.
