BULLANT, Jean
(b. ca. 1515, Amiens, d. 1578, Écouen)

Exterior view

c. 1560
Photo
Château, Écouen (Val-d'Oise)

The Château d'Écouen was built for Anne, Duc de Montmorency, Constable of France, between 1531 and 1563, and it is the first example in France of a four-wing plan, with corner pavilions, around a central court. It is sited on a hill, with façades corresponding to the four points of the compass and the entrance wing (destroyed 1787) on the east.

The exact share of Bullant in the construction is by no means easy to define, but he had nothing to do with the west and south wings, which were built from about 1538 onwards by the obscure Pierre Tâcheron. Bullant was probably responsible for the north wing, the outer façade of which is decorated with two superimposed Orders, Tuscan and Doric, and with dormers of a more classical design than in the earlier wings. This wing was probably Bullant's first work at Écouen, and can be tentatively dated about the mid 1550s. To the last years of Henry II's reign can be assigned the portico on the court side of the north wing, and probably also the entrance wing now destroyed but known from engravings of Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau.

The historic Château d'Écouen today houses the Musée national de la Renaissance (National Museum of the Renaissance).

The photo shows the entrance side of the château.




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