Maison du 16e siècle
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison du 16e siècle, 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
- 47.8094, -2.3824
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091425
In the heart of Malestroit, this 16th-century Renaissance house boasts a granite facade adorned with naive sculptures, pedimented dormer windows and a semi-circular niche of rare Breton elegance.
History
Nestling in the medieval streets of Malestroit, one of the best-preserved towns in Morbihan, this 16th-century residence is an exceptional example of Breton civil architecture at the dawn of the Renaissance. Its façade of local granite, as sober and robust as the stone of this region is known to be, is nevertheless enlivened by a surprising decorative vocabulary that betrays the influence of the humanist currents then in full spread throughout France. What immediately strikes visitors is the harmonious coexistence between the rigour of the material - a grey granite with bluish reflections characteristic of the Vannes region - and the controlled imagination of the sculpted ornamentation. The local craftsmen, imbued with the new fashions coming from Italy via the great royal building sites on the Loire, have transposed the Renaissance canons here in their own way, with a frankness and spontaneity that are precisely the charm of the building. The façade reads like a real stone book: on the ground floor, the door framed by a pediment invites you to cross the threshold; on the first floor, two rectangular windows with finely carved columns punctuate the composition. The attic, crowned by two dormer windows with triangular pediments, completes this remarkably coherent elevation for a building of this scale. Malestroit, with its timber-framed houses, Gothic arcades and Renaissance mansions, is an ideal setting for this residence. Strolling along its cobbled streets is like effortlessly traversing several centuries of Breton history. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1933, this house is a key part of the heritage identity of a town that has preserved its soul throughout the centuries.
Architecture
The façade, clad entirely in grey granite, is arranged over three levels: a ground floor with a monumental door topped by a pediment, a first floor with two rectangular windows framed by moulded colonnettes or tori, and an attic with two triangular pediment dormers. This vertical tripartition, inherited from the compositional principles of the French Renaissance, gives the building a legibility and nobility that transcends its modest dimensions. The most unusual feature is the semi-circular niche immediately above the entrance door. Intended to house a devotional statue, it is a typical motif in 16th-century Breton civil architecture, where the sacred was even present on the façades of private homes. The colonnettes or tori framing the windows on the upper floor, meanwhile, bear witness to a knowledge, albeit indirect, of the ancient vocabulary brought up to date by Renaissance architects. The sculptures scattered across the façade, no doubt medallions, grotesques or stylised plant motifs, provide a fresh, provincial iconographic programme. The use of granite - a material that is difficult to carve but ubiquitous in Brittany - explains the sometimes sketchy nature of the ornamental work, which nonetheless has genuine expressive power. Finally, the triangular pediment dormers are a reminder of the classical influences that were spreading from the great royal building sites to the provincial towns.
Related Figures
Commanditaire bourgeois anonyme du XVIe siècle, probable marchand enrichi par le commerce régionalArtisan tailleur de pierre breton, auteur des sculptures naïves de la façadeSeigneurs de Malestroit, fondateurs de la cité médiévale et initiateurs de son développement urbainInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques ayant instruit le dossier d'inscription en 1933
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison du 16e siècle located?
Maison du 16e siècle is located in Malestroit, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Maison du 16e siècle built?
Maison du 16e siècle dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison du 16e siècle open to visitors?
Maison du 16e siècle is currently closed to visitors.