ARCHITECT, French
(active around 1606 in Maine-et-Loire)

Exterior view

1606
Photo
Château, Brissac (Maine-et-Loire)

The provinces favoured a more fantastic style in architecture than that in central France. When in 1606 Charles de Cossé, Duc de Brissac, decided to rebuild the château of Brissac, near Angers, he used the foundations of the medieval castle and began to build on them a structure which in its proportions and its details is a complete contrast to all that had been put up in the Île-de-France. As it stands today the château is a only a fragment, and the main façade is still squeezed between two medieval towers, which were to have been pulled down so that the front could be made symmetrical. Its enormous height - on the north side where the ground falls away it rises to six storeys - and its unusual compact plan make it look more like a castle than the house of a country gentleman.

The photo shows the east elevation of the building.