MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS AGEN

HÔTEL DE VERGÈS
At the beginning of the 16th century, the third
building belonging to Jehan de Verges, a
doctor from Agen and a contemporary of
Nostradamus and of Scaliger, followed by his
stepson, Noble Caprazi de Las, prosecutor of
the King for the seneschalsy of Agen. It
remained in the Las de Brimont family until
1812, the year in which it was bought by the
county to be used as a prison.
Caprazi de Las probably rebuilt the residence
in 1675 in order to turn it into a house which
had two main dwellings linked together by a
gallery, creating a U, which forms an interior
courtyard. This courtyard, visible inside the
museum, is the most interesting part of the
house with its two façades from the 16th
century which still have their mullioned
windows and its porch, opening out into two
basket arch arcades, intact.
The exterior façades were disfigured during
the conversion of the building into a prison ;
the façade place Esquirol was hidden since the
1880’s, when a modern wing was added
(known as the Aunac wing), a pastiche of
Renaissance architecture.
HÔTEL MONLUC
Confiscated from a tax collector the house fell into
royal hands. The King Henry II gave it to Diane
de Poitiers, his favourite, who gave it away to
Marie Stuart. The field marshal Blaise de
Monluc, governor of Guyenne, bought it in
1563. Upon his death, his son, the bishop of
Condom, inherited it and latter resold it.
Owned by aristocratic families, then lawyers in
the 19th and 20th centuries, the house was
finally bought in 1971 by the town council in
order to extend it into a museum.
The house, modified in the 17th and 18th
centuries, is built in between a garden and a
courtyard. The main entrance was accessed from
the rue des Juifs, by a beautiful stone archway
dating from the 18th century. Its main brick façade,
formerly covered up, was limited to two turrets
one of which contains the swivel staircase which
leads to all three floors of the building.
At the beginning of the 15th century, the
second floor of the façade was still preserved,
giving on the courtyard side of rue Chaudordy,
a beautiful set of gothic openings, which let
light in to the huge ceremonial room in which
Monluc welcomed Charles IX and Catherine
de Medicis for the christening of one of his
daughters in 1565.
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
Place Dr Esquirol
47916 Agen cedex 09
tel. 33 (0)5 53 69 47 23 - fax. 05 53 69 47 77
http://www.agen.fr/musee
[email protected]
PAO/IMPRESSION VILLE D'AGEN
NE PAS JETER SUR LA VOIE PUBLIQUE
crédit photo : B. Dupuy
MUSEUM
OF FINE ARTS
AGEN
The history of
the museum’s
townhouses
Architecture
THEIR BRIEF HISTORY…
Founded in 1876, the Museum of Fine
Art, Agen, situated in the heart of the old
town, is housed in four superb townhouses
dating back to the Renaissance
Rue des Juifs
Entrée
Place Dr Esquirol
Rue Chaudordy
A : Hôtel d'Estrades - 17th century
B : Hôtel de Vaurs - 16th century
C : Hôtel Vergès - 16th century
D : Hôtel Monluc - 16-18th century
E : Aunac's wing - end of 19th century
The four townhouses are built on the edge of
Agen’s old city wall. The Hôtel de Monluc was
built at the end of the 15th century and the other
three were built at the beginning of the
16th century. The main entrance of these houses
is situated on the rue des Juifs which explains
why the Renaissance façade of the Hôtel de
Vaurs is not visible from the place Esquirol.
Throughout the centuries, many alterations have
been carried out to make the houses more
comfortable or to keep them up to date with
past trends. Therefore the original appearance of
these houses has been somewhat transformed by
the restorations.
HÔTEL D'ESTRADES
From the beginning of the 16th century this
house belonged to a rich middle-class family,
the d’Estrades, who played an important
political role not only in Agen but also in the
Court : therefore François d’Estrades was the
governor of Henry IV’s children, then the
master of Louis XlV’s house; Godfrey, his son,
was one of Louis XIV’s best diplomats : he
negotiated the treaty of Nimegue in 1678.
The house was “completely rebuilt” before
1628 by François d’Estrades. Bought in 1658
by the town consul, it was converted into
“a Kings house” and housed the royal officers,
Senechal or the Governor of Guyenne.
With restorations in ruin, today the only part
of the main building that has survived is the
entrance and the grand staircase (opposite the
current entrance door) and the east wing. The
west wing was incorporated into the extension
of the old theatre in 1843.
The Hôtel d’Estrades was built in the shape of
a U encompassing the two courts ; the plot
occupied an area of 700 m2.
The decoration on the façade consists of
frameworks around the doors and the cornices
above the windows broken up by the
coloured alternation of stone and brick.
HÔTEL DE VAURS
This small house was probably built at the start
of the 16th century by Jacques de Vaurs, who
was from a rich middle-class family. Many of
his relations were consuls. The house changed
hands many times until Lescale de Verone, an
heir of the humanist Scaliger, remained the
owner until 1765. It was in this year that the
town council purchased the building in order
to turn it into a prison.
Built in the shape of an L between two yards,
this building is noted for its main façade
lavishly decorated out of stone, opening out
onto the main courtyard, rue des Juifs. A
beautiful round arch doorway allows access to
the courtyard. The entrance of the house is
situated on the corner of the two main parts of
the building and leads up to the remarkable
swivel staircase. The decor of the main façade
(partially resorted during the 19th century
when the building was turned into a museum)
and that of the staircase adopts the ornamental
style typical of the period 1530-1540 :
mullioned windows, banners, pilasters, cornices,
caryatid decor.
The façade at the back of Vaurs’ house, less
decorated than the main façade, and visable
from the place Esquirol, reveals the attractive
Renaissance decor of the second and third
floor. On the left of this façade, the brick
tower is crowned with crenellations but the
latter added at the beginning of the 20th
century, replaced the original slopping roof still
visible in the old photographs.