At the dawn of new times

1453. The Hundred Years' War was drawing to a close, and peace was returning to the kingdom of France. In the realm ofcivil architecture, this was reflectedin an extraordinary vitality: the last fortified castles soon gave way to more amiable seigneurial residences. Later, thanks to the wars in Italy, these Gothic castles gradually incorporated an antique decor, the sign of an early Renaissance.

From defense château to pleasure château : architecture in the service of power

In the 15th century, increasingly powerful artillery and the strengthening of central power called into question the usefulness of fortified castles. Many of them were transformed into residential château . This was the case in Nantes, where the Duke of Brittany, François II, undertook major works from 1466 onwards. Defensive posts were sometimes abandoned or transformed into decorative elements, such as ditches that became pleasure gardens, or drawbridges replaced by fixed stone bridges. The trend was to demilitarize castles, which were gradually abandoned in favor of pleasure residences, a trend that became widespread with the Renaissance.

The movement began in Italy with the revolutionary change in the layout of urban stately homes. Hitherto organized as fortified houses, these were transformed into palaces featuring a square courtyard lined with arcades. Specimens were built in Florence (Palazzo Medici between 1446 and 1459). Roman antiquity influenced Italian architects such as Palladio. The modern architecture of the "Quatrocento" was discovered by kings Charles VIII, Louis XII and François I during the Italian wars.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Italian wars did not provoke an immediate conversion to Renaissance art. Only a few personalities in the service of the king began to show an interest in Italian art (nobles, ecclesiastics, financiers). The royal power of the time, Louis XII, remained relatively indifferent. No attempt was made to reproduce Italian buildings. Instead, the imported architectural forms were inserted and subjected to the pre-existing Gothic construction system, creating a synthesis.
A sign of the times, the facades of the buildings are monumental: there is a desire to dazzle and to mark the noble power regained at this time by borrowing from the architectural vocabulary of religious buildings. The durability of a military apparatus, deemed necessary for many reasons, dictates the opposition between the open, friendly world of the courtyard and the closed aspect of the exterior walls.

The Renaissance at château d'Ainay-le-Vieil

At château d'Ainay le Vieil,architectural changes are reflected in a number of characteristic transformations. The curtain walls lost their military function and a dwelling and apartments were built.

Aesthetic innovations further underline the upheavals to come: slender turrets topped by pepperpot roofs, a monumental spiral staircase with straight banisters replaces the narrow staircase. The staircase is placed in the center of the building and serves apartments on the upper floors, whose rooms are becoming larger. Theloggiaon the Logis facades introduces new notions of comfort, modernity and hygiene.

In contrast to its feudal architecture, the façade of the Logis "Neuf" at château d'Ainay-le-Vieil seeks harmony, balance and the right proportions. For example, the château 's facades are organized in a more regular fashion, with openings superimposed in bays. This new architecture was also characterized by a "three-way" distribution of ornamental elements on the facades: mullioned windows, loggias and dormers. A characteristic that would endure until the end of the Renaissance.

At the top of the "honor" tower is a "Tempietto" (small temple), inspired by the small temple by the architect Bramante in the courtyard of the church of San Pietro in Montorio in Rome.
In the early 16th century, the château d'Ainay le Vieil served as a kind of laboratory for new ideas in ornamentation, embellishment and decoration. The man of court succeeded the man of war, now concerned with aesthetic considerations to the detriment of defensive ones.

Sources and bibliography

Jean - Pierre Babelon , " Les châteaux en France au siècle de la Renaissance " , 1989 , Flammarion.
Jean Guillaume , " L'invention de la Renaissance " , 2003, Picard.
Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos : " Histoire de l'architecture française " , 1989 , Mengès.
Olivier Mignon : " Architecture des châteaux de la Renaissance " , Editions Ouest France.