Château de Villattes
CastleHidden Treasure
Aux confins du Berry, le château de Villattes déploie une façade flamboyant-Renaissance des années 1500 d'une rare cohérence, couronnée d'une tour d'escalier polygonale et d'un oratoire aux trompe-l'œil baroques époustouflants.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
Nestling in the peaceful bocage of Léré, on the northern fringes of the Berry region, Château de Villattes is one of those seigniorial residences which, without seeking the splendour of the great royal residences, have managed to concentrate within themselves the essence of a pivotal period. Built at the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by the Louzeau family, it embodies with sober elegance the transition between the flamboyant Gothic aesthetic and the first stirrings of the French Renaissance, which historians associate with the so-called "Louis XII" style. What immediately sets Villattes apart is the exceptional quality of its main courtyard façade. The large, flamboyantly-decorated cross-timbering, timidly interspersed with a few Italianate motifs, forms a remarkably coherent whole, an authentic example of the architecture of the 1500s. The free-standing polygonal stair tower, grafted onto this façade like a stone jewel, offers a succession of sculpted details of a finesse that compels admiration. Its trussed rafters, preserved in their original state, bear witness to a level of construction care that is rare for a residence of this size. But it is perhaps inside that Villattes holds its greatest surprise: the oratory in the north-east corner tower houses an absolutely unique late 17th-century painted decoration. In a feigned marble architectural setting, the Lords of Villattes had their invocation to the Holy Spirit depicted, surrounded by trompe-l'œil perspectives of a sophistication worthy of the great Parisian decorators of the time. A Baroque gem nestled in the heart of a late Gothic building. The château also boasts a precious visual memory: a canvas painted on the overmantel of a bedroom recreates what Villattes looked like at the end of the 18th century, with its wide moats, entrance pavilion and outbuildings, all of which have now disappeared. This image within an image lends an almost melancholy dimension to the visit, inviting visitors to superimpose the present and a partially erased past.
Architecture
Château de Villattes comprises a massive, squat, rectangular main building flanked by two round towers at the north-east and south-east corners. On the main façade facing the courtyard, an imposing polygonal staircase tower breaks the regularity of the plan and concentrates most of the decorative scheme. This facade, which is wide open thanks to large mullioned windows, features decoration that is characteristic of the so-called "Louis XII" style: flamboyant infills with agitated contours, niches with shells, and here and there a few early Italian Renaissance motifs that herald the great turning point of the 16th century. An earlier medieval wing closes the courtyard on the right; its facades were rebuilt in the 18th century. The main building's original interior rafter and truss frame is in itself an excellent example of late 15th-century carpentry techniques. The oratory in the north-east tower is the most remarkable interior space: its trompe-l'œil painted decoration, simulating feint marble architecture enhanced by perspective views, bears witness to sophisticated pictorial skills, rare in a rural residence of this size. The moats, some of which have been preserved, still underline the original defensive character of the complex, while the dovecote and covered well, preserved beyond the eastern moat, complete the picture of an ancient seigneurial estate.
Related Figures
Guillaume Louzeau — écuyer, seigneur de Villattes en 1546, issu de la famille bâtisseuse du châteauFamille de Louzeau — plus anciens possesseurs connus, commanditaires de la construction à la fin du XVe sièclePropriétaires anonymes du XVIIe siècle — commanditaires du décor peint en trompe-l'œil de l'oratoirePropriétaires du XVIIIe siècle — responsables de la modernisation des toitures et de la repercée des façades secondairesPropriétaires du XIXe siècle — commanditaires de l'adjonction du pavillon carré et responsables des démolitions post-1812
