The Château de Domecy-sur-le-Vault is a

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

located in Domecy-sur-le-Vault close to

Sermizelles Sermizelles () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. Located close by is the Château de Domecy-sur-le-Vault. See also *Communes of the Yonne department The following is a list of the 423 ...

in the

Yonne Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is lo ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

, north-central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

History

Chateau de Domecy-sur-le-Vault is first mentioned in texts dating back to 1316. At that time, the stronghold was in the hands of the family d'Ostun, in whose possession it remained for over a century. In 1440, the lordship and castle passed by marriage to Edme de Salins, and in 1478, to his son Jean. The son also owned a house in

Avallon Avallon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in central-eastern France. Name Avallon, Latin ''Aballō'', ablative ''Aballone'', is ultimately derived from Gaulish languag ...

in front of the church of Saint Lazarus, which was known as hôtel des Sires de Domecy. In 1507 Domecy was sold to Louis de Robert. Claude Longueville, Lord of Santigny, brought Domecy into his family in 1537, when he married Philiberte de Robert. In 1569, the fortified house was burned down by troops of

Frederick Louis, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken Frederick Louis (german: Friedrich Ludwig; 27 October 1619 – 11 April 1681) was the Duke of Landsberg from 1645 until 1681, and the Count Palatine of Zweibrücken from 1661 until 1681. Life Frederick Louis was born in Heidelberg in 1619 ...

. The land was sold in 1748 to Michel-Auguste de Denesvre, whose family occupied the first ranks of society in Avallon. They undertook the reconstruction of the south wing of the castle to give it the current appearance.

Panels by Redon

Baron Robert de Domecy (1867–1946) commissioned the artist

Odilon Redon Odilon Redon (born Bertrand Redon; ; 20 April 18406 July 1916) was a French Symbolism (arts), symbolist painter, printmaker, Drawing, draughtsman and pastellist. Early in his career, both before and after fighting in the Franco-Prussian War, he ...

in 1899 to create 17 decorative panels for the dining room. He also commissioned Redon to do portraits of his wife and their daughter Jeanne, two of which are in the collections of the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

and the

Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fe ...

in California. Most of the paintings remained in the family collection until the 1960s. Fifteen of the panels are located today in the Musée d'Orsay, which entered the museum in 1988. Redon created large decorative works for private residences in the past. The panels he painted for the château de Domecy in 1900–1901 were his most radical compositions. They mark the transition from the ornamental to abstract painting. The landscape details do not show a specific place or space. Only details of trees, twigs with leaves, and budding flowers in an endless horizon can be seen. The colours used are mostly yellow, grey, brown and light blue. The influence of the

Japanese painting is one of the oldest and most highly refined of the Japanese visual arts, encompassing a wide variety of genres and styles. As with the history of Japanese arts in general, the long history of Japanese painting exhibits synthesis and competitio ...

style found on folding screens ''

byōbu are Japanese folding screens made from several joined panels, bearing decorative painting and calligraphy, used to separate interiors and enclose private spaces, among other uses. History are thought to have originated in Han dynasty C ...

'' is discernible in his choice of colours and the rectangular proportions of most of the up to 2.5 metres high panels.

Literature

* Françoise Vignier. ''Dictionnaire des Châteaux de France, Bourgogne et Nivernais''.

References

External links

Historical image of the château de Domecy-sur-le-Vault

{{DEFAULTSORT:Domecy-sur-le-Vault, Chateau de Châteaux in Yonne