Château de Lignières (Cher)

Château de Lignières
View of the entrance front
Château de Lignières (Cher) is located in France
Château de Lignières (Cher)
Location within France
General information
Architectural styleClassical
Town or cityLignières (Cher)
CountryFrance
Coordinates46°45′00″N 2°10′45″E / 46.75007°N 2.17905°E / 46.75007; 2.17905
Construction started1654
Design and construction
Architect(s)François Le Vau

The Château de Lignières is a French château, located in the municipality of Lignières, in the département of Cher. It was built in 1654–1660 for the financier Jérôme de Nouveau to the designs of the French architect François Le Vau.[1][2][3][4] It was designated a monument historique on 27 June 1935.[5]

Design and construction

The feudal castle (château féodal) on the site was razed in 1653,[5] and the property sold by Brichanteau to Jérome de Nouveau, Surintendant Général des Postes,[6] who brought in the architect François Le Vau to design the new château.[5][7] The contract was signed on 9 May 1654.[8] Jérôme de Nouveau hired Michel [Le] Roy, a sculptor-contractor and master mason from Bourges, to supervise the work.[5][9] François Le Vau constructed the new building on the foundations of the old[5] and retained the old moat and its defensive wall (fausse braye).[7] His designs for the château are preserved in four engravings by Claude Olry de Loriande.[2]

The new corps de logis was built from 1654 to 1656.[5] It was connected to two end pavilions by curved façades, similar to what architect François Mansart had done for the Château de Berny [fr] (1623)[7][10] and his grand dessein for the Château de Blois (1635–1638),[7][11] and which François Le Vau's older brother, the architect Louis Le Vau, would use later.[7][12]

  • Architectural plan
    Architectural plan
  • Courtyard elevation showing the curved connecting façades
    Courtyard elevation showing the curved connecting façades

Notes

  1. ^ Feldmann 1996, p. 268.
  2. ^ a b Hautecoeur 1948, pp. 115–117.
  3. ^ Berger 1993, pp. 16–17.
  4. ^ Laprade 1960, plate III. 6 (facing p. 65).
  5. ^ a b c d e f Notice no. PA00096826, Base Mérimée.
  6. ^ Hautecoeur 1948, p. 115.
  7. ^ a b c d e Hautecoeur 1948, p. 116.
  8. ^ Laprade 1960, p. 85 (note 3).
  9. ^ Hautecoeur 1948, p. 115–116.
  10. ^ For Berny, see Commons:File:Vue perspective du château de Berny - Archives nationales.jpg.
  11. ^ For Blois, see Commons:File:François Mansart, project for Blois – Cosperec 1998 p. 160.jpg.
  12. ^ See Louis Le Vau's Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte (Commons:File:L'Architecture française (Marot) BnF RES-V-371 038r-f83 Vaux-le-Vicomte, Plan (adjusted).jpg).

Bibliography

  • Berger, Robert W. (1993). The Palace of the Sun: The Louvre of Louis XIV. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 9780271008479.
  • Feldmann, Dietrich (1996). "Le Vau", vol. 19, pp. 262–268, in The Dictionary of Art, 34 volumes, edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. ISBN 9781884446009. Also available at Oxford Art Online (subscription required).
  • Hautecoeur, Louis (1948). Histoire de l'Architecture classique en France. Tome 2: Le Règne de Louis XIV. Paris: J. Picard. OCLC 489711032, 476619163.
  • Laprade, Albert (1960). François d'Orbay: Architecte de Louis XIV. Paris: Éditions Vincent, Fréal. OCLC 562063179, 780531730, 1096782.