Download depliant guide - Château de Chareil

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Dual influence
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Information
Architecture and painting
The dual influence of Classicism
and Mannerism
From 1540 onwards architects started travelling to
Italy to study the Ancient ruins. They took inspiration
from Classical architectural treatises as well as from
the latest works on the subject. The facades of the
château combine the three Classical orders* placed
one above the other, each represented by a certain
sort of capital around the windows. On the ground
floor there is the Doric order, on the first floor the
Ionic order, and on the second floor the Corinthian
order. This principle of placing the orders one above
the other is repeated inside the building (with the
hearths of the fireplaces and the doors on
the landings).
History
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Dual influence
Bucrane or bucranium: ornamental motif depicting
an ox skull.
Caryatid: statue representing a female figure serving
as a vertical architectural support.
Honor, virtus et gloria: honour, courage and glory.
Non nobis domine non nobis sed nomini tuo da gloriam:
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy
name give glory.
Order: with its proportions and ornamentations,
this defines a style of building in Ancient and
Classical architecture.
Ovid: Latin poet of the first century A.D., author of
the Metamorphoses, a set of Greek and Oriental
legends written in poetic language.
Patera: a small, shallow, circular libation bowl.
Putto: figure of a chubby little cherub, putti in the
plural.
*Explanations overleaf.
Visitor information
Average length of visit: 50 minutes.
Guided tours in French.
Centre des monuments nationaux
Château du Bas-Chareil
03140 Chareil-Cintrat
tél. 04 70 56 94 28
www.monuments-nationaux.fr
History
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Glossary
Mannerism
Mannerism is the term applied to artistic works
created in Europe between 1515 and 1580, based
on a rejection of the Classicism and Naturalism of
the first Renaissance. The decors at Chareil present
certain typical characteristics of Mannerism, with
elongated bodies and serpentine shapes presenting
figures from several different angles, and the
mannered postures and fabulous creatures found
in the grotesques. These grotesques were inspired
by those discovered at Nero’s Domus Aurea in Rome,
of which the buried remains resembled grottoes. In
the 16th century artists incorporated fantastical
figures into these Classical models, giving rise to
the pejorative meaning of the word “grotesque”.
Information
crédits photos © Pascal Lemaître / Centre des monuments nationaux. conception Plein Sens, Anders. réalisation Marie-Hélène Forestier. traduction InPuzzle. impression Stipa, avril 2014.
History
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Dual influence
Information
Chareil-Cintrat
Château
English
Amidst the vines
The château of Claude Morin
Western facade
Standing at the foot of a vine-covered hill,
the château was originally
one of the fiefs of the
Bourbon family. In the
mid-16th century it was
acquired by Claude Morin,
Superintendent in Ordinary of the Wars. He had
a new building erected against the enclosure of
the mediaeval castle, of which only the towers still
remain. In all probability his duties took him to Italy
where Ancient ruins and Italian Renaissance buildings
may well have inspired certain decors. During the
Wars of Religion, the Protestants laid siege to the
château but no damage was done to the building.
The château passed into the hands of the Monamy
family by marriage, before being inherited by the
Langlois de Ramantière family. In 1815 it became
the property of the Thonnier family, and remained
so until 1923. The Schneider steelworks then
acquired the château but never occupied it.
Unique decoration
The château was listed as a historic monument
in 1958 when it was bought by the state. Major
restoration works were undertaken, enabling part
of its painted decoration to be revealed.
History
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Dual influence
Information
Chareil château is remarkable for its interior
decoration, which is characteristic of the second
phase of the French Renaissance. Classical influences
are combined with references to Roman architecture
and the Mannerist style.
The ground floor
1 The room houses a monumental fireplace. The lintel
is supported by columns and decorated with a Doric
frieze with alternating ornamental bucranes* and
patera* . The mantelpiece is ornamented with a
caryatid* at either end and a central decoration
showing masks and putti* placed around the
inscription “honor, virtus et gloria”* .
2 The vaults in the vestibule, the ceilings of the
flights of stairs, and the walls on the landings are
ornamented with a decor of grotesques. In the frieze
running along the bottom of the vault in the vestibule,
an elegant hybrid figure may be seen, composed of
the bust of a woman, the wings of a butterfly, and
a corolla of flowers.
3 Along the central axis of the first flight of stairs
there are three birds representing Roman divinities,
with the owl representing Minerva, the peacock Juno,
and the eagle Jupiter. Along the edge of the flight,
near the peacock and eagle is a misshapen,
hermaphrodite figure. The whole flight is
decorated with objects, plants and so on.
The first floor
This floor, which received the most elaborate
decoration, is the stately floor of the château.
4 The corner tower houses a decoration of
grotesques and two scenes telling the well-known
legend of Adonis, from Ovid’s* Metamorphoses.
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ground floor
first floor
second floor
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4
6
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5
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The first scene shows the birth of Adonis. His mother
Myrrha, half-woman and half-tree, is giving birth
with the assistance of the goddess Lucina. The second
scene depicts Adonis at rest in the arms of Venus.
5 In the North room the myth is continued on the
mantelpiece where Adonis, having been wounded
by Mars metamorphosed into a wild boar, is dying
in the arms of Venus.
6 The room features a fireplace whose hearth is
framed by pilasters doubled with columns and
topped by scrolled capitals typical of the Ionic style.
The mantelpiece bears the inscription “Non nobis
domine non nobis sed nomini tuo da gloriam”* , taken
from Psalm 115 of the Bible.
7 The room has a vault ornamented by grotesques
that encircle astrological decors placed within
medallions. Each decor shows a planet represented
by a divinity, with for instance the sun in the centre,
symbolised by Apollo. The wheels of the chariots
bearing the divinities contain the signs of the zodiac.
On the mantelpiece there is a gallant scene of Mars
and Venus accompanied by Cupid. Two interior scenes
above the door complete the painted decoration.
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The second floor
8 On the landing the capitals with acanthus leaves
are in the Corinthian style.
9 and 10 Here there is access to the attics where the
upper roof timbers may be seen. They have been
restored but retain original elements dating from
1548 to 1552.
On leaving the château, the path follows the building
and then turns left at the far end of the courtyard.
The door leads to the vineyards of the conservatory
for old vine varieties from the Chareil and
Saint-Pourçain regions.
The conservatory for old vine varieties
In addition to enhancing the monument, the purpose
of the conservatory is to present traditional varieties
of vine (such as Romorantin, Melon, Saint-Pierre Doré,
and Gamay Fréault) and to teach skills and techniques
relating to the vine lifecycle.
Since 2004 the conservatory has made a cuvée
with its ten white grape varieties.
*Explanations overleaf.