Troubadour style
Encyclopedia
Taking its name from medieval troubadour
s, the Troubadour Style was a French artistic movement across multiple media aiming to regain the idealised atmosphere of the Middle Ages
. It can be seen as a reaction against Neoclassicism
, which was coming to an end at the end of the Consulate
, and became particularly associated with Josephine Bonaparte and Caroline Ferdinande Louise, duchesse de Berry. A comparable phenomenon in the United Kingdom and the USA was the Gothic Revival
Even while exhuming the remains of the kings and putting on the market a multitude of objects, works of art and elements of medieval architecture, the revolutionaries brought them back to life, it could be said. The 'Musée du monument français' (Museum of French Monuments), established in the former convent that would become Paris
's École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts
, presented all this glorious debris of the Middle Ages as subjects of admiration for the public and as models of inspiration for students of the departments of engraving, painting and sculpture, but not those of architecture since teaching of this subject had been dissociated from the "beaux-arts" and placed in the École centrale des travaux publics under the direction of J.N.L Durand, a harsh promoter of the neoclassical architecture that characterized the styles of the Convention and Consulate
. Later, from the Bourbon Restoration
and under the impulse of Quatremère de Quincy
and Mérimée
, a new tradition of teaching architecture put it back under the fine arts umbrella, in the margins of the declining official school, beginning with private workshops that behaved as diocesan architects working for historic monuments that would give rise to the Société Centrale des Architectes and make Troubador-style architecture possible.
The resurgence of Christian feeling and in Christianity in the arts, with the publication in 1800 of Le Génie du Christianisme ('the Genius of Christianity'), played a major role in favour of edifying painting, sculpture and literature, often inspired by religion.
Artists and writers rejected the neo-antique rationalism of the French Revolution
and turned towards a perceived glorious Christian past. The progress of the history and archaeology in the course of the 18th century began to bear fruit, at first, in painting. Paradoxically these painters of the past were unaware of the primitives of French painting, finding it too academic and not sufficiently filled with anecdote.
Napoleon himself did not disdain this artistic current: he took as his emblem the golden beehive on the grave of the Merovingian king Childeric I
, rediscovered in the 17th century, and saw himself as the heir of the French monarchy. He also gave official recognition to the Middle Ages in the forms of his coronation, and tried to profit from other trappings of the medieval French kings, perhaps even their miraculous curative powers (Bonaparte visiting the plague-victims of Jaffa
by Antoine-Jean Gros
was read as a modern re-envisgaing of the thaumaturgical
kings).
(1707–1783) in his Bibliothèque des romans, and in England with the first fantastical romances, like the Castle of Otranto. These English romances inspired late 18th century French writers to follow suit, such as Donation de Sade
with his Histoire secrete d'Isabelle de Baviere, reine de France
.
In painting, the troubadour style was represented by history painting
portraying edifying historical episodes, borrowing its smoothness, its minute and illusionistic description of detail, its rendering of fabrics, the intimate character of its familiar scenes and its other technical means from 17th century Dutch painting. It was brought to an end by the onset of Romanticism
and the Revolution of 1848
.
The first troubadour painting was presented at the Salon of 1802, under the French Consulate
. It was a work by Fleury-Richard
, "Valentine of Milan weeping for the death of his wife", a subject which had come to the artist during a visit to the "musée des monuments français", a museum of French medieval monuments. A tomb from this museum was included in the painting as that of the wife. Thanks to its moving subject matter, the painting was an enormous success - seeing it, David cried "This resembles nothing anyone else has done, it's a new effect of colour; the figure is charming and full of expression, and this green curtain thrown across this window renders the illusion complete". Fleury-Richard's descriptions and those of his contemporaries inform us the light filtered through the window was again filtered by the green curtain. David had judged right, the subject and the technique were new.
Fragonard's painting of François Premier
reçu chevalier par Bayard (Francis I
knighted by Bayard
, Salon of 1819) has to be read not as a rediscovery of a medieval past, but as a memory of a recent monarchic tradition.
After the Troubadour style disappeared in painting, it seems to have continued (or re-emerged) in architecture, the decorative arts, literature and theatre.
Troubadour
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
s, the Troubadour Style was a French artistic movement across multiple media aiming to regain the idealised atmosphere of the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. It can be seen as a reaction against Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
, which was coming to an end at the end of the Consulate
French Consulate
The Consulate was the government of France between the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire in 1804...
, and became particularly associated with Josephine Bonaparte and Caroline Ferdinande Louise, duchesse de Berry. A comparable phenomenon in the United Kingdom and the USA was the Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
History
The rediscovery of medieval civilization was one of the intellectual curiosities of the beginning of the 19th century, with much input from the Ancien Régime and its institutions, rites (the coronation ceremony dated back to the 16th century) and the medieval churches in which family ceremonies occurred.Even while exhuming the remains of the kings and putting on the market a multitude of objects, works of art and elements of medieval architecture, the revolutionaries brought them back to life, it could be said. The 'Musée du monument français' (Museum of French Monuments), established in the former convent that would become Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
's École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.The École des Beaux-arts is made up of a vast complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près,...
, presented all this glorious debris of the Middle Ages as subjects of admiration for the public and as models of inspiration for students of the departments of engraving, painting and sculpture, but not those of architecture since teaching of this subject had been dissociated from the "beaux-arts" and placed in the École centrale des travaux publics under the direction of J.N.L Durand, a harsh promoter of the neoclassical architecture that characterized the styles of the Convention and Consulate
French Consulate
The Consulate was the government of France between the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire in 1804...
. Later, from the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
and under the impulse of Quatremère de Quincy
Quatremère de Quincy
Antoine-Chrysostome Quatremère de Quincy was a French armchair archaeologist and architectural theorist, a Freemason, and an effective arts administrator and influential writer on art....
and Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
, a new tradition of teaching architecture put it back under the fine arts umbrella, in the margins of the declining official school, beginning with private workshops that behaved as diocesan architects working for historic monuments that would give rise to the Société Centrale des Architectes and make Troubador-style architecture possible.
The resurgence of Christian feeling and in Christianity in the arts, with the publication in 1800 of Le Génie du Christianisme ('the Genius of Christianity'), played a major role in favour of edifying painting, sculpture and literature, often inspired by religion.
Artists and writers rejected the neo-antique rationalism of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and turned towards a perceived glorious Christian past. The progress of the history and archaeology in the course of the 18th century began to bear fruit, at first, in painting. Paradoxically these painters of the past were unaware of the primitives of French painting, finding it too academic and not sufficiently filled with anecdote.
Childeric I
Childeric I was a Merovingian king of the Salian Franks and the father of Clovis.He succeeded his father Merovech as king, traditionally in 457 or 458...
, rediscovered in the 17th century, and saw himself as the heir of the French monarchy. He also gave official recognition to the Middle Ages in the forms of his coronation, and tried to profit from other trappings of the medieval French kings, perhaps even their miraculous curative powers (Bonaparte visiting the plague-victims of Jaffa
Bonaparte Visiting the Plague-Victims of Jaffa
Bonaparte Visits the Plague Stricken in Jaffa is an 1804 painting commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte from Antoine-Jean Gros to portray an event during the Egyptian Campaign...
by Antoine-Jean Gros
Antoine-Jean Gros
Baron Antoine-Jean Gros , also known as Jean-Antoine Gros, was both a French History and neoclassical painter.-Early life and training:...
was read as a modern re-envisgaing of the thaumaturgical
Thaumaturgy
Thaumaturgy is the capability of a saint or magician to work miracles. It is sometimes translated into English as wonderworking...
kings).
Literature
Public interest in the Middle Ages in literature first manifested itself in France and above all England. In France, this came with the adaptation and publication from 1778 of ancient chivalric romances by the Comte de TressanLouis-Élisabeth de La Vergne de Tressan
Louis-Élisabeth de la Vergne, comte de Tressan was a French soldier, physician, scientist, medievalist and writer, best known for his adaptations of "romans chevaleresques" of the Middle Ages, which contributed to the rise of the Troubadour style in the French arts.- Biography :Aged...
(1707–1783) in his Bibliothèque des romans, and in England with the first fantastical romances, like the Castle of Otranto. These English romances inspired late 18th century French writers to follow suit, such as Donation de Sade
Marquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
with his Histoire secrete d'Isabelle de Baviere, reine de France
Histoire secrete d'Isabelle de Baviere, reine de France
Histoire secrète d'Isabelle de Bavière, reine de France is an unpublished medieval-set 1813 historical novel by the Marquis de Sade. Its inception is recounted in a note at the end of the manuscript...
.
Painting
History painting
History painting is a genre in painting defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, depicting a moment in a narrative story, rather than a static subject such as a portrait...
portraying edifying historical episodes, borrowing its smoothness, its minute and illusionistic description of detail, its rendering of fabrics, the intimate character of its familiar scenes and its other technical means from 17th century Dutch painting. It was brought to an end by the onset of Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
and the Revolution of 1848
French Revolution of 1848
The 1848 Revolution in France was one of a wave of revolutions in 1848 in Europe. In France, the February revolution ended the Orleans monarchy and led to the creation of the French Second Republic. The February Revolution was really the belated second phase of the Revolution of 1830...
.
History
French Consulate
The Consulate was the government of France between the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire in 1804...
. It was a work by Fleury-Richard
François Fleury-Richard
Fleury François Richard , sometimes called Fleury-Richard, was a painter of the École de Lyon...
, "Valentine of Milan weeping for the death of his wife", a subject which had come to the artist during a visit to the "musée des monuments français", a museum of French medieval monuments. A tomb from this museum was included in the painting as that of the wife. Thanks to its moving subject matter, the painting was an enormous success - seeing it, David cried "This resembles nothing anyone else has done, it's a new effect of colour; the figure is charming and full of expression, and this green curtain thrown across this window renders the illusion complete". Fleury-Richard's descriptions and those of his contemporaries inform us the light filtered through the window was again filtered by the green curtain. David had judged right, the subject and the technique were new.
Fragonard's painting of François Premier
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
reçu chevalier par Bayard (Francis I
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
knighted by Bayard
Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard
Pierre Terrail LeVieux, seigneur de Bayard was a French soldier, generally known as the Chevalier de Bayard. Throughout the centuries since his death, he has been known as "the knight without fear and beyond reproach"...
, Salon of 1819) has to be read not as a rediscovery of a medieval past, but as a memory of a recent monarchic tradition.
Examples
- Pierre-Nolasque Bergeret, Aretino in the studio of Tintoretto, Salon of 1822.
- Madame Cheradame, née Bertaud, The Education of Saint Louis.
- Michel Martin DröllingMichel Martin DrollingMichel Martin Drolling was a neoclassic French painter , painter of history and portraitist.-Biographie:He was born in Paris. There he began painting under the supervision of his father, the painter Martin Drolling, then after 1806 he studied with Jacques Louis David. For his Colère of Achilles...
, The Last Communion of Marie-Antoinette, Paris, Conciergerie. - Louis DucisLouis DucisLouis Ducis was a French painter and student of Jacques-Louis David.-Biography:Louis Ducis was instructed by David, whom he partly imitated in his historical pieces, besides which he devoted himself also to genre and portrait painting. His 'Mary Stuart' and 'The Début of Talma' were formerly in...
, Le Tasse reading a passage from his poem Jerusalem Delivered to Princess Éléonore d’Este, formerly in the collection of the Empress Joséphine. Arenenberg, Musée Napoléonien. - Alexandre-Évariste FragonardAlexandre-Évariste FragonardAlexandre-Évariste Fragonard , son of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, was a French painter and sculptor in the troubadour style...
, Don Juan, Zerlina and Lady Elvira, Clermont-Ferrand, Musée des Beaux-arts. - Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard, The time approaches.
- Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard, François Premier armé chevalier par Bayard (Francis IFrancis I of FranceFrancis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
knighted by BayardPierre Terrail, seigneur de BayardPierre Terrail LeVieux, seigneur de Bayard was a French soldier, generally known as the Chevalier de Bayard. Throughout the centuries since his death, he has been known as "the knight without fear and beyond reproach"...
), Meaux, Musée Bossuet. - Baron François GérardFrançois GerardFrançois Pascal Simon, Baron Gérard was a French painter born in Rome, where his father occupied a post in the house of the French ambassador. His mother was Italian. As a baron of the Empire he is sometimes referred to as Baron Gérard.-Life:François Gérard was born in Rome, on 12 March 1770, to...
, The Recognition of the Duke of Anjou as King of Spain, Château de ChambordChâteau de ChambordThe royal Château de Chambord at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture which blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Renaissance structures.The building, which was never...
. - Hortense de BeauharnaisHortense de BeauharnaisHortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte , Queen Consort of Holland, was the stepdaughter of Emperor Napoleon I, being the daughter of his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais. She later became the wife of the former's brother, Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, and the mother of Napoleon III, Emperor of...
, The Knight's Departure c.1812, Château de CompiègneChâteau de CompiègneThe Castle of Compiègne is a French château, a royal residence built for Louis XV and restored by Napoleon. Compiègne was one of three seats of royal government, the others being Versailles and Fontainebleau...
, originally at the château de Pierrefonds. - Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Francesco da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta, frame designed by Claude-Aimé ChenavardClaude-Aimé ChenavardClaude-Aimé Chenavard, a French decorative painter and draughtsman, was born at Lyons in 1798. He published Nouveau Recueil de Decorations intérieures, 1833-1835, and Album de L'Ornemaniste, 1835. He died in Paris in 1838.-References:...
, (1789–1838), Angers, musée des Beaux-arts. - Jean-Baptiste IsabeyJean-Baptiste IsabeyJean-Baptiste Isabey was a French painter born at Nancy.At nineteen, after some lessons from Dumont, miniature painter to Marie Antoinette, he became a pupil of Jacques-Louis David...
, A couple descending the staircase of the tourelle at the château d’Harcourt, Salon de 1827. - Alexandre Menjaud, Francis I and "la Belle Ferronnière", 1810.
- Nicolas-André MonsiauNicolas-André MonsiauNicolas-André Monsiau was a French history painter and a refined draughtsman who turned to book illustration to supplement his income when the French Revolution disrupted patronage...
, Saint Vincent de Paul welcoming the exposed children, Paris, church of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois, copy at Toulouse, musée de la Médecine. - Pierre RévoilPierre RévoilPierre Révoil was a French painter of the Troubadour style. He was the elder brother of the poet Louise Colet and friend of François Fleury-Richard.- Bibligraphic reference :...
,- René d’Anjou passing the night at the château of Palamède de ForbinPalamède de ForbinPalamède de Forbin , seigneur of Solliès, nicknamed "the Great", was president of the Chambre des comptes and counsellor to René d'Anjou. He helped this prince decide to cede his estates to Louis XI. Louis then became his master, and made him governor of Provence in 1481-Source:...
, commissioned by the comte de Forbin, a descendent of René d’Anjou. - The Tourney, 1812, Lyon, musée des Beaux-arts;
- The convalescence of Bayard, 1817, Paris, musée du Louvre;
- René d’Anjou passing the night at the château of Palamède de Forbin
- Fleury-RichardFrançois Fleury-RichardFleury François Richard , sometimes called Fleury-Richard, was a painter of the École de Lyon...
, Jacques Molay, Grand Master of the Templars, Acquired after the 1806 Salon by the Empress Joséphine. Inherited from Hortense de Beauharnais. - Louis RubioLouis RubioLouis Rubio was a French painter. His works harked back to the Troubadour style twenty years earlier.His major painting Paolo and Francesca was a highly-finished and detailed canvas exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1833, whose colours harked back to those of the turn of the 19th century...
, The unlucky Loves of Francesca da Rimini, 1832. - Marie-Philippe Coupin de la CouperieMarie-Philippe Coupin de la CouperieMarie-Philippe Coupin de la Couperie was a French painter of the Troubadour style. He was a friend of the painter Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson. Among his patrons were Joséphine de Beauharnais, who bought his The Tragic Love of Francesca da Rimini for her gallery at Château de...
, The Tragic Love of Francesca da Rimini, 1812.
Architecture
A fashion for medieval architecture may be seen throughout 19th century Europe, originating in England, and a blooming of the Neogothic style, but in France this remains limited to certain 'feudal' buildings in the parks surrounding châteaux.After the Troubadour style disappeared in painting, it seems to have continued (or re-emerged) in architecture, the decorative arts, literature and theatre.
Troubador buildings
- Château de Maulmont at Saint-Priest-de-Bramefant, architect Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, formerly a hunting lodge on the royal domain of RandanRandan, Puy-de-DômeRandan is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-References:*...
which was one of Louis-Philippe of FranceLouis-Philippe of FranceLouis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
's residences. - Gallerie Saint-Louis, Palais de justice de Paris, built in 1835 by Gisors (1796–1866), in place of a gothic gallery he had demolished.
- Château de PierrefondsChâteau de PierrefondsThe Château de Pierrefonds is a castle situated in the commune of Pierrefonds in the Oise département of France. It is on the southeast edge of the Forest of Compiègne, north of Paris, between Villers-Cotterêts and Compiègne....
, Eugène Viollet-le-DucEugène Viollet-le-DucEugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was a French architect and theorist, famous for his interpretive "restorations" of medieval buildings. Born in Paris, he was a major Gothic Revival architect.-Early years:...
architect. - Château d'AulteribeChâteau d'AulteribeThe Château d'Aulteribe is a castle located in Sermentizon, in the Puy-de-Dôme département, Auvergne, central France.Built at the end of the Middle Ages, it was altered and restored in the second half of the 19th century. Many of the medieval-style features of the building were added at this time...
, at Semantizon, rebuilt by Henriette Onslow, daughter of the musician George Onslow. - Château du Barry, at LévignacLévignacLévignac, also known as Lévignac-sur-Save, is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.-Population:-Transportation:...
, a Neo-Gothic wing, by the brothers Auguste Virebent and Pascal Virebent (1745–1831), architects in Toulouse. - Château de la RochepotChâteau de la RochepotChâteau de la Rochepot is a chateau in the Côte d'Or département in Burgundy, France. It lies on the N6 to the south west of the town of Beaune....
, reconstruction by Marie Pauline Cécile Dupond-White (1841–1898), widow Sadi-Carnot. - Château de Clavières-Ayrens, at AyrensAyrensAyrens is a commune in the Cantal department in the Auvergne region in south-central France.-Population:-Personalities:*Duke of la Salle of Rochemaure French félibrige writer...
, built by Ernest de La Salle de Rochemaure
Decorative arts
- Horloge au troubadour, in the Empire-troubadour style, 1810, by Masure à ÉtampesÉtampesÉtampes is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the center of Paris . Étampes is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department....
- Service à chocolat Du Gesclin, Manufacture de Sèvres, cartoon by Alexandre-Évariste FragonardAlexandre-Évariste FragonardAlexandre-Évariste Fragonard , son of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, was a French painter and sculptor in the troubadour style...
(1780–1850)
Painting
- Exhibition catalogue, Le Style Troubadour, Bourg-en-Bresse, musée de Brou 1971.
- Marie-Claude Chaudonneret, La Peinture Troubadour, deux artistes lyonnais, Pierre Révoil (1776-1842), Fleury Richard (1777-1852), ArthénaArthénaArthéna is a French Association pour la diffusion de l'histoire de l'art which regularly publishes art history books and most particularly catalogues.-Members:...
, Paris, 1980. - Marie-Claude Chaudonneret, "Tableaux Troubadour", Revue du Louvre, n° 5/6, 1983, pages 411-413.
- François Pupil, Le Style Troubadour ou la nostalgie du bon vieux temps, Nancy, Presses. Universitaires de Nancy, 1985.
- Guy Stair Sainty (editor), Romance and Chivalry: History and Literature Reflected in Early Nineteenth-Century French Painting, Stair Sainty Mathiesen Gallery, New York, 1996.
- Maïté Bouyssy (editor), "Puissances du gothique", Sociétés & Représentations, n° 20, décembre 2005, edited by Bertrand Tillier.
Literature
- Comte de TressanLouis-Élisabeth de La Vergne de TressanLouis-Élisabeth de la Vergne, comte de Tressan was a French soldier, physician, scientist, medievalist and writer, best known for his adaptations of "romans chevaleresques" of the Middle Ages, which contributed to the rise of the Troubadour style in the French arts.- Biography :Aged...
, Oeuvres choisies de Tressan, corps d'extraits de romans de chevalerie , 1782–1791, 12 volumes, chez Garnier, à Paris, hôtel Serpente, comprising Amadis de Gaule, Rolland Furieux, Flore et Blanchefleur, Histoire du petit Jehan de SaintréAntoine de la SaleAntoine de la Sale or la Salle was a French writer.-Family and Early Years:He was born in Provence, probably at Arles, the illegitimate son of Bernardon de la Salle, a celebrated Gascon mercenary, mentioned in Froissart's Chronicles. His mother was a peasant, Perrinette Damendel.-At the Court of...
, Cléomade et Claremonde, Le Roman de la RoseRoman de la RoseThe Roman de la rose, , is a medieval French poem styled as an allegorical dream vision. It is a notable instance of courtly literature. The work's stated purpose is to both entertain and to teach others about the Art of Love. At various times in the poem, the "Rose" of the title is seen as the...
, Arthus de BretagneChrétien de TroyesChrétien de Troyes was a French poet and trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. Perhaps he named himself Christian of Troyes in contrast to the illustrious Rashi, also of Troyes...
, Fleurs de batailles, Dom Ursino de Navarin et Dona Inès d'Ovidéo, Gérard de Nevers, etc.. Its accompanying illustrative engravings, showing decorated and figured troubador scenes, were a great success. - Horace Walpole, The Castle of OtrantoThe Castle of OtrantoThe Castle of Otranto is a 1764 novel by Horace Walpole. It is generally regarded as the first gothic novel, initiating a literary genre which would become extremely popular in the later 18th century and early 19th century...
Architecture
- Guy Massin-Le Goff, Châteaux néo-gothiques en Anjou, Edition Nicolas Chaudun, Paris, 2007.