Maison du 15e siècle, appelée Maison de la Truie qui file, ou Maison des Singes
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison du 15e siècle, appelée Maison de la Truie qui file, ou Maison des Singes, located in Malestroit (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
- Malestroit, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.8097, -2.3825
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091421
In Malestroit, the Maison de la Truie qui file (House of the Spinning Sow) fascinates visitors with its medieval half-timbered sculptures: a spinning sow and grotesque monkeys have been taunting visitors since the 15th century.
History
In the heart of Malestroit, a Breton town with cobbled streets running alongside the Nantes-Brest canal, stands one of the most unusual half-timbered facades in the whole of Brittany. The Maison de la Truie qui file - or Maison des Singes, depending on the period - is not just a fine example of medieval civil architecture: it's a veritable theatre of sculpture, where stone gives way to wood carved with a finesse that confounds the eye. What makes this monument absolutely unique is the very nature of its decoration. Where other 15th-century bourgeois residences display plant motifs or coats of arms, this one has opted for humour and derision. A sow spinning her cattail - an inverted and satirical image of the human world - monkeys in human posture, grotesque and hybrid figures: this fantastic bestiary makes up a rare iconographic programme, inherited from the tradition of the illuminated margins of medieval manuscripts, transposed here onto the façade of a town house. Strolling past this façade is like taking an open-air art history course. The sculptures occupy the runners and corner posts with a generosity that betrays the prosperity of the person who commissioned them: a wealthy bourgeois or merchant from Malestroit, no doubt keen to display both his success and his spirit. The finesse of the carpentry, the care given to each figure and the complexity of the narrative make this one of the best-preserved examples of secular woodcarving in France. The setting is even more enchanting: Malestroit is a well-preserved town of art and history, with other remarkable façades in its medieval centre. But the Maison de la Truie qui file is in a class of its own, a masterpiece that is both popular and learned, at the crossroads of peasant wisdom and clerical erudition. It's a must-see on any Breton traveller's itinerary.
Architecture
The Maison de la Truie qui file is a fine example of medieval half-timbered civil architecture, a construction technique that dominated inland Brittany in the 15th century. The oak frame - the wood of choice for Breton carpenters - rests on a floor made of local cut stone, a combination that ensures both solidity and insulation against the dampness of the Armorican climate. The half-timbering forms a regular grid, reinforced by scarps and reliefs, the spaces between which are filled with cob or brick. But it is the sculpted treatment of the roof timbers that radically sets this house apart from its contemporaries. The runners - horizontal pieces of wood that run the length of the façade - are entirely carved with figures and animals in relief. The corner posts and gallows are carved with figures in high relief, almost in the round in places: a sow spinning a distaff, monkeys in anthropomorphic pose, and other grotesques whose workmanship reveals the hand of a highly skilled woodcarver. The style of these sculptures is in keeping with the flamboyant Breton tradition, with an almost caricature-like expressiveness that heralds the excesses of the Renaissance. The steeply pitched roof, typical of Breton architecture, is covered in local slate - a material that is ubiquitous in the region. The façade opens onto the street through mullioned windows whose modest proportions contrast with the generosity of the sculpted decoration framing them, creating a permanent dialogue between structure and ornament. The interior layout, typical of medieval bourgeois houses, is probably based around a common room on the ground floor and bedrooms upstairs, served by a wooden staircase.
Related Figures
Prosper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments historiques, figure tutélaire de la redécouverte du patrimoine médiéval français au XIXe siècleCommanditaire anonyme du XVe siècle — bourgeois ou marchand malestroitien, probable instigateur du décor sculpté satiriqueSculpteur sur bois anonyme — maître charpentier-sculpteur breton dont l'identité reste inconnue mais dont le talent transparaît dans chaque figure
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison du 15e siècle, appelée Maison de la Truie qui file, ou Maison des Singes located?
Maison du 15e siècle, appelée Maison de la Truie qui file, ou Maison des Singes is located in Malestroit, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Maison du 15e siècle, appelée Maison de la Truie qui file, ou Maison des Singes built?
Maison du 15e siècle, appelée Maison de la Truie qui file, ou Maison des Singes dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison du 15e siècle, appelée Maison de la Truie qui file, ou Maison des Singes open to visitors?
Maison du 15e siècle, appelée Maison de la Truie qui file, ou Maison des Singes is currently closed to visitors.