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Come and discover Oiron Chateau, built from the 16th century onwards on the border of the Poitou and the Loire valley regions, and its contemporary collection of Curios & Mirabilia, freely inspired by the idea of a cabinet of curiosities in reference to the fabulous art collection of Claude Gouffier, Grand Squire to Henri II.
Visiting Oiron Chateau
• Outstanding original decoration. Among the most notable original features are the Renaissance gateway with Gothic-style buttressed columns, the gallery of mural paintings dated 1550 illustrating the principle episodes of the Trojan Wars in the style used in the gallery of Fontainebleau, and the 17th-century painted and sculpted wood panelling.
• Curios & Mirabilia (Curiosities and wonders, 1993). The 80 works commissioned from world-renowned artists are based on the history and architecture of the chateau, and include among other pieces polychrome walls by Sol LeWitt, horses by Georg Ettl, composite sculptures by Daniel Spoerri, an optical illusion by Felice Varini, and photographic portraits by Christian Boltanski.
• The park and collegiate church (1519-1532). You cross the park to arrive at the collegiate church. The two small chapels on either side of the nave and the back of the
transept
doorway are adorned with Renaissance sculpted decorations of great virtuosity.
Understanding the Oiron Chateau
• The chateau of the Gouffier family. The current chateau was built by three successive generations of powerful patrons of the arts between the second half of the 15th century and 1642. Between 1669 and 1683 the chateau was modified to give onto a forecourt with two pavilions, the ‘Trophies Pavilion' to the east and the ‘King's Pavilion' to the west, and the facade was altered.
- transept
- Nef transversale qui coupe la nef principale, donnant à l'édifice la forme d'une croix au sol.
