Jean Chen
This monumental watercolour belongs to a series of views of Bourges in the middle of the 16th century made between 2014 and 2016, after several years of historical research.
The artist-researcher Jean Chen was born in 1970 in Taiwan. His interest in fortified cities dates back to childhood where, from his moves between town and country, he kept a fascination for historical monuments. The island of Taiwan is full of many remains of a colonial past.
He graduated from the École Nationale d'Art de Taipei and moved to Bourges in 1997 where he studied at the École Supérieure d'Arts. He then became passionate about the rich past of the Berruyère city, whose structure he carefully studied over time. A work that leads him to a reconstruction of the city over the centuries, then surrounding cities.
He is currently working on the cities marked by the Chevauchée of Jeanne d'Arc. His works can be admired in many museums and in his Galerie Art Tension, located 5 Place Saint Bonnet
The bird view
In front of this majestic painting with soft hues like a spring afternoon, one is struck first by the buildings that have disappeared, such as Nation's amphitheatre or the fortifications of the city. Then the look is on the faithful representation of the buildings that are recognized, the Cathedral of Saint Etienne, the Palais Jacques Coeur.... What a technical feat to obtain such watercolor details at the same time as an impression of lightness and fluidity!
The bird view and the rigorous mastery of the art of perspective invite us to project through the maze of the medieval city in search of links with the contemporary city. Are you ready for this walk in search of medieval remains?
Jean Chen & Anissa Sadar (VAB)
South-West view of Bourges in the 16th century
Watercolor on wooden panel: 250 x 121.5 cm
2015
Private collection
Artist: Jean Chen
When the walls tell...
With Jean Chen we designed a course for those curious to learn more about the city's past. Once you have found the place, a QR code will allow you to discover its history.
*Legends texts by Philippe Goldman © Philippe Goldman, Bourges over the centuries, Editions La Bouinotte, Châteauroux, 2017
South-West view of Bourges in the 16th century
St. Stephen's Cathedral
The Gothic cathedral was raised from the end of the XIIe century, in 1195 maybe, location of several successive shrines. The two side Romanesque portals may have belonged to an earlier building, or they were reused despite the change of architectural party. A pillar has come to support the tower south to the XIVe. Then were created side chapels to the XIVe and XVe centuries.
The North Tower collapsed in 1506 and was rebuilt with the gates that it surmounted before 1540. In XVIe One still saw a small arrow above the cross of the false transept. The restorations of the XIXe added pinnacles and guards to the upper parts to do more « Gothic ». Bourges Cathedral is remarkable for its unique interior volume, without transept, and for the five majestic portals of its facade, extended by five naves. It has magnificent XIII stained glass windowse, XVeand XVIe centuries. In the lower church are presented the remains of the Gothic Jube demolished in XVIIIe, and the tomb of the Duke Jean de Berry from the Sainte-Chapelle, as well as stained glass of the same origin.
Very beautiful wall paintings of XVe century were discovered recently in the chapel Saint-Jean-Baptiste. One of the first UNESCO World Heritage sites, it is the most beautiful monument in Bourges, with its unique architecture and magnificent stained glass windows. By its situation, its volume and its elevation, it dominates the whole city. « in the shadow of the cathedral ».
The Ducal Palace
The Duke Jean built one of the most beautiful French palace ensembles between 1380 and 1410. It was composed to the south of a small palace housing the living rooms (location of the Prefecture), then two halls of appartment, of which remains, strongly restored, the room of the Duke Jean.
Then came the Great Hall, of gigantic dimensions, 52 m long and perhaps 35 high under frame. It was accessed by a monumental walk up to the Galerie du Cerf, which opened on the Grande Salle but also, perpendicularly, on the Sainte-Chapelle built like that of Paris. This architectural masterpiece was destroyed in 1757 following a hurricane.
The Holy Chapel
Like the one in Paris she inspired, the Sainte-Chapelle de Bourges was very largely glazed. Some of the windows are now visible in the crypt of the cathedral. Between the windows, statues of prophets were placed on columns. Some are at the Berry Museum. In the center was the tomb of Duke John, who was also transported to the cathedral.
The base was decorated with forty weeping, a first series carved in marble by Jean de Cambrai during the duke's lifetime, the others in alabaster, 40 years later, by Bobillet and Mosselman. There remain 26, scattered in museums around the world, as far as New York and St. Petersburg.
The Palais Jacques Coeur
No doubt the most famous building in Bourges with the cathedral, « large house » Jacques Coeur represents the most beautiful example of French urban architecture of the XVe century. Raised in the middle of the century precisely by the « great silver » just before its disgrace, it leans, like a medieval castle, with its powerful towers, on the Roman rampart, just like the Ducal Palace, but it opens on the other side of the city as a real palace. A beautiful courtyard lined with galleries lies between these two parts.
Another gallery, missing, extended the house to the south. Inside, you can still admire monumental chimneys and very beautiful ceilings in overturned hull, as well as the rich sculpted decoration of the towers and painted vaults of the chapel, which constitute one of the masterpieces of the French painting of the middle of the XVe century.
A rare civilian stained glass window showing silverware has also been preserved. On the other hand, the equestrian statue of Charles VII, which stood above the entrance of the facade, disappeared at the Revolution, which was spared to the two characters framing on both sides, tied to windows, and which probably represented Jacques Coeur and his wife Macé de Léodepart.
The Arenas
Bourges had a Roman amphitheatre, certainly also one or the theatres, but of which nothing is known. The amphitheatre was partly preserved until the beginning of the 17th century.e century, when what remained was filled to create a market place.
These « arenas » had been largely dismantled since the IIIe or IVe century, when building the rampart that used stones. For the XVIeThere are two types of information: « Arena pit » It was used as a dump; on the other hand, it welcomed a gigantic representation of the mystery of « Acts of the Apostles » in 1536. But we do not know exactly what remained in elevation, above the « pit », and reconstitution is therefore a proposal, which can be discussed.
The Remparts
Two enclosures were built to protect the city. The first was in the IIIe or IVe century, shortly before the great invasions. It reduced the Roman city to a limited enterprise, 25 hectares, on the upper part of the hill. The walls were based on large blocks from disassembled monuments, surmounted by a small brick reinforced apparatus.
At the end of the XIIe A century ago, Philippe Auguste's enclosure included a large area of 110 hectares, including suburbs and large unbuilt spaces. A powerful fortress, the Grosse Tour, with a dungeon similar to the Louvre, strengthened it and also allowed the king to control the city. It was destroyed after the Fronde, a joint will of the king and the inhabitants.
The Roman rampart created a high city, « Hypercentre » and XIIe a low town girded today, not by the wall, but by the boulevards. An important part of the Roman rampart remains, supporting the hotels of the upper city, while only two towers of the medieval wall have been preserved.
Churches
In the 16th century, there were about fifty places of worship, parish or collegial churches, priories, abbeys, convents, chapels... not to mention private chapels. The old views of Bourges show many steeples rising above the rampart, some built or enhanced at that time. the city was divided into fifteen parishes, of varying importance, which structured all social life.
Each had its own small cemetery, while the poor were buried in the « Large cemetery » then in the « Cemetery of the Poor ». The main abbey, Saint Sulpice was built extramural, surrounded by mills and some houses. The other abbeys or convents occupied considerable grips in the urban fabric, expected to increase further in the seventeenth century with the new establishments of the Counter-Reform.
The Church of Our Lady
A church named Saint-Pierre-le-Marché was built in XIIe century, and it is certified as a parish in XIIIe, dependent on the powerful nearby abbey of Saint-Ambroix. One « old pig market » Indeed, it was next door, and the section of the drapery, the main economic activity of Bourges in the Middle Ages, surrounded: rues des Toiles, de la Parerie...
It was rebuilt after the great fire of 1487, following an irregular plan. The south gate was decorated in the middle of the 16th century, and the frame was rebuilt in the 17th century. The church keeps in particular a window of the end of XVe century and a marble bentier of 1507. After the Revolution, it remained a parish church, but under the new name of Notre Dame.
The Church of Saint Peter the Guillard
If tradition claims that it was built on the occasion of the passage to Bourges de Saint Antoine de Padua in 1225, the church of Saint Peter the Guillard is actually older, since it is attested in a document as early as 1164. It was one of the most populated parishes in Bourges because it encompassed much of the district of Auron and a large extra-mural rural area. The current building dates from the second quarter of the XIIIe century.
The beautiful three-vessel nave is preceded by a square bell tower. Chapels added to the XVe century. Some remains of stained glass and wall paintings of the XVIe are still visible. Near the bedside, in the cemetery stood the small chapel of Saint-Antoine, attested to the XIVebut rebuilt by the Bread family at the end of the XVe – hence the name of chapel of the Breads – and shot down at the Revolution.
The Church of Saint-Bonnet
It's probably in XII.e A century that the powerful abbey of women of St. Lawrence created Saint-Bonnet Church, which became the seat of a densely populated parish. In 1513, architect Guillaume Pellevoysin drew up a plan for the new building to replace the one that had been largely destroyed by the 1487 fire. For lack of means, it was reduced to a nave of three spans, but with chapels.
The old bell tower was shot down in 1806 and the façade and remains of the church of XVe In 1898, it was destroyed and replaced by a new façade in 1933. Saint-Bonnet is today famous for its magnificent XVI stained glass windowse century, especially those due to Jean Lécuyer, one of the greatest French glassmakers of his time.
La Grange au Dimes
It was probably in 1264 that the cathedral chapter acquired a house with towers and a plot of land to install the attices to accommodate the wheats paid for under the tithe. The attices were probably previously on the other side of the street, which was itself opened at the end of the XIIe or XIIIe century. The « press and attics of the chapter » So they were built just after the acquisition. The press for pressing the grapes, also provided under the tithe, was installed on the ground floor, in a magnificent vaulted room.
The grains were stored on the floor, under a structure which was re-established in the XVIIe century. This building passed from hands to hands in the XIXe, and housed in particular a passage barracks, before becoming municipal property on the occasion of the separation of the Church and the State. He doesn't take the name of « Grange of tithes » as at XIXe century.
Hotel-God
According to tradition, the first Hôtel-Dieu de Bourges had risen near the cathedral since the early Middle Ages. But it has been attested only since the end of the 12th century. At the beginning of the 16th century, he was transferred to a new building, built on purpose, rue Saint-Sulpice, today rue Gambon.
This site had several advantages, and in particular the space that allowed three successor buildings to be installed: a high chapel, a long hall for the sick, a kitchen and, behind, the cemetery of the poor, while the small river of Yevrette evacuated the wastewater. We have the chance to have almost all the construction accounts, from 1510 to 1527, which inform us about the construction site, led by Philippon Boulot.
In the 17th century, two pavilions were added by Jean Lejuge. Used until 1995, the Hôtel-Dieu has since been the object of a restoration highlighting this magnificent example of medieval hospital architecture.
Hotel Cujas
It is a Florentine merchant based in Bourges, Durant Salvi, who built between 1508 and 1515 a unique hotel in Bourges, made of bricks and stones, a method previously unknown locally and which was not supposed to be posterity. One of his later owners, the great lawyer Jacques Cujas, is an illustrious figure of the University, which lived there in 1586-1590, left him his name. After being the gendarmerie in particular, it has been home since the end of the 19th century.e siècle le musée de Bourges (« musée du Berry »).
Différents bâtiments, dont un corps de logis ou une galerie sur rue, disparus et remplacés par un simple mur, s’ordonnent autour de deux cours, dont la cour d’honneur au riche décor encore partiellement gothique mais aussi largement Renaissance (arcades, médaillons…). Surtout visité pour ses collections, l’hôtel Cujas est un fleuron trop méconnu de l’architecture du XVIe siècle.
Hotel des Échevins
Ville entrée dans le domaine royal dès 1100, Bourges n’a pas eu un pouvoir municipal fort. Les prudhommes de la ville se réunissaient dans un prieuré pour traiter des affaires communes.
Ce n’est qu’à l’occasion du grand incendie de 1487 que les échevins se décidèrent à acheter un terrain pour y construire le premier hôtel de ville. Il fut édifié en quelques années sur le rempart gallo-romain, tout comme le palais ducal et l’hôtel de Jacques Coeur dont il s’inspire – modestement – avec sa tourelle d’escalier largement ornée. Plusieurs agrandissements intervinrent, une tour sur rue, puis une belle galerie à arcades édifiée en 1624 par l’architecte berruyer Jean Lejuge.
En 1682, les élus déménagèrent au palais Jacques-Cœur et l’ancien hôtel des Echevins fut inclu dans le collège des Jésuites, puis ultérieurement dans le lycée. Il fut enfin transformé en musée pour accueillir l’œuvre de Maurice Estève, grand peintre du XXe siècle d’origine berrichonne.
Hotel Lallemant
Sur un terrain difficile, à cheval sur le rempart gallo-romain, la famille Lallemant, de riches marchands et officiers royaux, édifia à la fin du XVe siècle un magnifique hôtel Renaissance à l’emplacement de plusieurs maisons, et donnant sur deux rues. Il possède deux cours, et un passage voûté menant de l’une à l’autre. L’hôtel est remarquable par la qualité de son décor, peut-être pour partie l’œuvre du sculpteur italien Antoine Juste.
Aux médaillons et autres ornements extérieurs, il convient d’ajouter un très beau décor intérieur, en particulier le célèbre plafond à caissons de la chapelle, qui a inspiré d’extravagantes interprétations pseudo-alchimiques, alors qu’il relève clairement de l’emblématique alors en vogue. L’hôtel Lallemant, bien restauré, est aujourd’hui le très bel écrin du musée des Arts décoratifs de Bourges.
Houses in wooden strips
Si des maisons de pierre sont attestées au Moyen Âge, dont quelques unes subsistantes, la plupart des habitations utilisaient des pans de bois et du torchis. Il ne reste presque pas de maisons antérieures au « grand feu » qui détruisit un tiers de la ville en 1487, mais plus de 400 sont encore debout, parfois masquées par des enduits, de plus en plus souvent dégagées et restaurées, datant pour beaucoup des dix ou vingt années qui ont suivi l’incendie. Le plan le plus fréquent consistait en une lanière assez étroite, avec pignon sur rue.
Un couloir latéral menait à une cour, où une galerie allait à la cuisine, éloignée par mesure de sécurité. L’escalier, la « vis », était tantôt dans l’allée, tantôt dans une tour en hors-œuvre sur la façade arrière. Un des murs gouttereaux était le plus souvent en pierre, portant les souches de cheminées, pour, là encore, limiter les risques d’incendies. Les problèmes d’écoulement des eaux pluviales ont conduit ultérieurement à retourner la plupart des toitures, et à supprimer donc les pignons sur rue.
De même, des rez-de-chaussée ont été reconstruits en pierre au XVIIIe siècle, pour davantage de solidité.
Jean CHEN
Jean Chen est un peintre contemporain français originaire de Taiwan. Il vit à Bourges depuis 1997 où il a développé une carrière artistique notable en combinant les influences culturelles de l’Orient et de l’Occident.
Il est responsable de la Galerie Art Tension et a participé à plusieurs projets culturels et expositions, notamment au Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bourges.
En 2012-2013, Jean Chen débute un travail de restitution de la ville de Bourges telle qu’elle était à son apogée, en 1487. Il utilise la technique de l’aquarelle et du grand format. Il présente une représentation de la ville vue du ciel, mêlant une précision chirurgicale des détails architecturaux à une poésie de la lumière et de la couleur.
