Colin Biart, also called Colin Biard, Nicolas Biart or Colin Byart or Nicolas Byart, was a French master mason, master builder, and architect, born in

Amboise Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court. Geography Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about away f ...

in 1460, active until 1515.

Biography

Biart married at

Beaugency Beaugency () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, north-central France. It is located on the Loire river, upriver (northeast) from Blois and downriver from Orléans. History 11 March 1152 the council of Beaugency annulled ...

in 1479. He started working in Amboise where he participated in the realization of the sets for the entrance of Margaret of Austria. He also worked at the

Château d'Amboise The Château d'Amboise is a château in Amboise, located in the Indre-et-Loire ''département'' of the Loire Valley in France. Confiscated by the monarchy in the 15th century, it became a favoured royal residence and was extensively rebuilt. Kin ...

(1495–1496) with Guillaume Senault. He worked there again in 1508, and again in 1515. After the collapse of the

Pont Notre-Dame The Pont Notre-Dame is a bridge that crosses the Seine in Paris, France linking the ''quai de Gesvres'' on the Rive Droite with the ''quai de la Corse'' on the Île de la Cité. The bridge is noted for being the "most ancient" in Paris, in the se ...

in Paris in 1499, he was called as a master mason and participated in the commission that chose to rebuild the bridge with stones in 1500. , Marshal of France, asked him to intervene at the while working on the Louis XII wing of

Château de Blois 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 ...

, before 1510. It is possible that he was involved in the construction of the Longueville wing of Château de Châteaudun.

Georges d'Amboise Georges d'Amboise (1460 – May 25, 1510) was a French Roman Catholic cardinal and minister of state. He belonged to the house of Amboise, a noble family possessed of considerable influence: of his nine brothers, four were bishops. His father, ...

, the archbishop of Rouen, brought him from Blois to build the

Château de Gaillon The Château de Gaillon is a French Renaissance castle located in Gaillon, Normandy region of France. History The somewhat battered and denuded Château de Gaillon, begun in 1502 on ancient foundations was the summer archiepiscopal residence of G ...

from 1504, with his assistant, Guillaume Senault. At his request, he intervened on the Beurre (butter) tower of the

Rouen Cathedral Rouen Cathedral (french: Cathédrale primatiale Notre-Dame de l'Assomption de Rouen) is a Roman Catholic church in Rouen, Normandy, France. It is the see of the Archbishop of Rouen, Primate of Normandy. It is famous for its three towers, each in ...

in 1506. On the recommendation of the Archbishop of Rouen, he was summoned along with other master masons by the chapter of the

Bourges Cathedral Bourges Cathedral (French language, French: ''Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Bourges'') is a Roman Catholic church architecture, church located in Bourges, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Stephen and is the seat of the Archbishop of Bou ...

following the collapse of the north tower in 1508. In an investigation, he says that Baron Auguste de Girardot, ''Note sur la reconstruction de la tour neuve de la cathédrale de Bourges'', in ''Bulletin archéologique'', Comité historique des arts et monuments, Paris, 1842-1843, volume 2,
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/ref> In this period of change of taste in French architecture where the synthesis of the refinement of the gothic flamboyant with the appearance of the first Italianizing elements of the , he showed his ability to master the construction of various works.

References

Bibliography

* Auguste de Giradot, Hippolyte-Louis Durand, ''La Cathédrale de Bourges, description historique et archéologique, avec plan, notes et pièces justificatives'', chez P.-A. Desrosiers imprimeur-éditeur, Moulins, 1849,
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* Achille Deville, ''Comptes de dépenses de la construction du château de Gaillon publiés d'après les registres manuscrits des trésoriers du Cardinal d'Amboise'', Imprimerie nationale, Paris, 185
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* Joseph de Croy, ''Quelques renseignements inédits sur les maîtres maçons des châteaux de Chambord et d'Amboise'', Librairie H. Herluison, Orléans, 1902,
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* Louis de Grandmaison, ''Compte de la construction du château d'Amboise (1495-1496)'', in ''Congrès archéologique de France. 77th session held at Angers and Saumur. 1910'', , Paris, 1911
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* Pierre Lesueur, ''Colin Biart, maître maçon de la Renaissance'', in ''Gazette des beaux-arts '', July 1929, volume 2, ''Procès-verbaux et mémoires'',
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* Étienne Hamon, ''Le cardinal Georges d'Amboise et ses architectes'', under the direction of Fabienne Joubert, in ''L'artiste et le clerc: commandes artistiques des grands ecclésiastiques à la fin du Moyen Âge (XIVe-XVIe siècles)'', "Presses de l'université paris Sorbonne", Paris, 2006, * Étienne Hamon, ''Colin Biart'', under the direction of Pascale Charron and Jean-Marie Guillouët, in ''Dictionnaire d'histoire de l'art du Moyen Âge occidental'', Robert Laffont (series ''Bouquins''), Paris, 2009,

External links

Colin Biart
on Structurae
Colin Biart
on Encyclopédie Larousse {{DEFAULTSORT:Biart, Colin 1460 births Year of death missing People from Amboise Gothic architects 15th-century French architects 16th-century French architects