The Hôtel de Bagis in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, France, is a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

hôtel particulier An ''hôtel particulier'' () is a grand townhouse, comparable to the Townhouse (Great Britain), British townhouse or mansion. Whereas an ordinary ''maison'' (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side an ...

'' (''palace'') of the 16th century. It is a listed

historical monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

since 1889. Hôtel de Pierre, dit aussi hôtel Jean de Bagis It is also called Hôtel de Clary, after the owner who carried out the second campaign of works at the beginning of the 17th century, or Hôtel de pierre (meaning «stone hotel») because of its spectacular stone façade on the street.

History

The Hotel de Bagis is a mansion located at 25 rue de la Dalbade, in the historic center of Toulouse. The Toulouse people call it the Hôtel de Pierre (stone mansion), because its façade is entirely made of stone, which was unique in Toulouse in the 17th century. It is an exceptional ensemble of the Renaissance of Toulouse. The construction of a first hotel begins in 1537 under the direction of the famous Toulouse architect Nicolas Bachelier. The hotel was modified in 1611 by the architect

Pierre Souffron Under the name Pierre Souffron are two brother architects from Périgord, sons of Jean Souffron. It is quite difficult to distinguish them because they have worked in the same region, perhaps together and curiously have the same first name. Can ...

, who built the new façade on the street, entirely in stone. The sculptured decoration was only completed in the 19th century.

Facade

The hotel opens onto the Dalbade Street with a majestic facade. Composed of eight bays, its axis of symmetry is formed by the two central bays, identical, of which the one on the left only houses the gateway. The monumental facade was erected between 1609 and 1616 at the request of Gabrielle Guerrier and her husband François de Clary by the architect Pierre Souffron, assisted by several sculptors and stone-cutters who succeed each other on the building site: Pierre Bouc, Thomas Heurtematte, Pierre Monge and Arthur Legoust. The facade is richly decorated with a carved stone decoration: pilasters, trophies of arms, garlands, fruits. François de Clary placed on the capitals of acanthus, eagles and suns which recall his coat of arms. His weapons are also placed above the gates, but they are hammered at the French Revolution. In 1855, Calvet-Besson completed the sculptures on the façade and placed the coat of arms of François de Clary and his monogram above the doors. He entrusted the realization to the architect Urbain Vitry and the sculptor Calmettes. Hotel de Pierre - Toulouse.jpg Hôtel de Pierre 5.JPG Hôtel de Pierre 4.JPG Clary_(2).jpg Clary-facade-fenetre.jpg

Courtyard

Nicolas Bachelier, according to the lease passed in 1537, designs four building blocks arranged in quadrilateral, open on a central courtyard. The elevations on the courtyard, where the stone and the brick are mingled, are richly ornamented. The work of Bachelier is still visible on the west elevation, which is the one which has been least altered by the campaigns of successive works. Similar openings are nevertheless found on the south and east facades. Between 1609 and 1616, François de Clary caused the façades of the south buildings to be modified and was built on a courtyard by the construction of porticos. He also affixed stone veneers with pilasters, mascarons and capitals intended to support statues Bagis-façade.jpg Bagis-etage-0.jpg Bagis-etage-1.jpg Bagis-etage-2.jpg Clary-façades-cour.jpg Hôtel de Pierre 1.JPG Hôtel de Pierre 2.JPG Hôtel de Pierre 6.JPG Hôtel de Pierre 7.JPG Hôtel de Pierre 8.JPG

The door of the Atlanteans

Historians are still debating the age of this emblematic portal of the Toulouse Renaissance: dated 1538 and attributed to Nicolas Bachelier for some, from the beginning of the 17th century and from the workshop of Pierre Souffron for others, a more recent publication now suggests the decade 1550 and a resemblance with engravings of the fireplaces of the

Château de Madrid The Château de Madrid was a Renaissance building in France. It was built in Neuilly, on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, near Paris in the early 16th century. It fell into disuse in the 17th and 18th centuries and was almost completely demolishe ...

(destroyed).Collective work directed by Marion Boudon-Machuel, «La sculpture française du XVIème siècle» (“French sculpture of the 16th century”), article by Pascal Julien. Editions Le bec en l'air, 2011.Colin Debuiche, «Citations et inventions dans l'architecture toulousaine à la Renaissance» ("Quotations and inventions in Toulouse architecture during the Renaissance"), in Mémoires de la Société archéologique du Midi de la France, tome LXXVIII (2018), p. 223-252. Link (in French): http://societearcheologiquedumidi.fr/_samf/memoires/t_78/2018_SAMF_memoires.pdf The door opens on a staircase with a straight ramp (1538), one of the first examples of this type of staircase in Toulouseː the spiral staircases gradually disappear from Toulouse hotels, under the influence of Renaissance architecture. Hotel de Bagis - Porte des vieillards.jpg Hôtel de Pierre 9.JPG Hôtel de Pierre 10.JPG Hôtel de Pierre 12.JPG Hôtel de Pierre 11.JPG

The interior

The interior of the hotel has painted ceilings and a monumental fireplace, designed by Nicolas Bachelier. The interior decor of the Gaston Virebent manufacture completes the interior decoration. Its grand staircase is one of the first straight staircases of the Toulouse Renaissance, along with that of the

Hôtel d'Ulmo The Hôtel d'Ulmo in Toulouse, France, is a Renaissance ''hôtel particulier'' (''palace'') of the 16th century. It is a listed historical monument since 1925. Hôtel dit de Jean de Ulmo History The Hotel d'Ulmo is located at 15 rue Ninau, in the ...

. Toulouse - Hôtel de Bagis - Grand escalier Renaissance.jpg, Straight staircase. Toulouse - Hôtel de Bagis - Sommet du grand escalier Renaissance.jpg, Top of the grand staircase. Toulouse - Hôtel de Bagis - Porte Renaissance au pied du grand escalier.jpg, Renaissance interior door. Toulouse - Hôtel de Bagis - Chapiteau dorique dans le grand escalier.jpg, Doric capital in the staircase. Bagis-cheminée.jpg, Monumental fireplace.

Bibliography

* Jules Chalande, « Histoire des rues de Toulouse », ''Mémoires de l'Académie des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Toulouse'', 11e, série, tome II, Toulouse, 1914, p. 220-224. * Michèle Éclache, ''Demeures toulousaines du s-, XVII : sources d'archives (1600-1630 environ)'', Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail, collection « Méridiennes », Toulouse, 2006 * Christian and Jean-Michel Lassure and Gérard Villeval, ''Fouilles de l'Hôtel de Clary (dit Hôtel de pierre) à Toulouse (Haute-Garonne). Découverte de trois fosses à poterie'', rapport de fouilles, 1964. * Bruno Tollon, « Hôtels de Toulouse », ''Congrès archéologique de France. 154e session. Monuments en Toulousain et Comminges. 1996'', Société française d'archéologie, Paris, 2002, p. 303-310

References

External links

* Nathalie Prat, Laure Krispin and Louise-Emmanuelle Friquart, « Fiche d'information détaillée Patrimoine Architectural: IA31116347 », websit
Urban-Hist
Archives de Toulouse, 1996 and 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel Bagis Buildings and structures in Toulouse Renaissance architecture in Toulouse Hôtels particuliers in Toulouse