Decorative preconceptions
We do not know the architect, the sculptors or the decorative painters of Montbras… They were most certainly masters, inspired by masterworks of the French Renaissance (popularized by Androuet du Cerceau) and very much in the styles of the Henry IV period. Thus, the half-round segmented arch of one of the four large rooms of the dwelling was painted from a set of forty-two mythological paintings, borrowed from The Metamorphosis of Ovid, illustrated by Bernard Salomon, a famous work that came out in Lyon in 1557.
The remaining paintings are sadly very damaged, yet they show the desire of Claude de Verrières and Louise des Salles, cultivated and wealthy nobles of the beginning of the Baroque era, to have their mythological cycle (as found in the Ducal Palace in Nancy) and to search some morality, in the spirit of “emblems”, that were very popular at the time. Similarly, the painted and stuccoed decor of the “cabinet de Claude” displays clear monograms: double C: C = Claude, double lambda λλ = Louise, CDV = Claude de Verrières, AV = Amanty Verrières, but also cryptograms: closed S, symbols of loyalty, constancy, and double (Greek phi) =?
A painting entitled Dance of the Topinambouc, reproductions of two engravings by P. Firens (showing six Indians from Brazil, “savages” brought to France in 1613 to be instructed in the Catholic religion) are face to face and opposed to a painting of three couples of "very civilized" courtiers… As seen in the sculpted decor of the castle, the games of war (military trophies, panoplies) are confronted with those of the loving grace (flowers, goddesses, dancers), or exotic imagination (“grimaces” of the consoles, Topinambous). The profane and the sacred (pagan mythology and affirmation of the Foy, decor of the ancient sacristy), the visible (arms) and the hidden (cryptograms, rebus, devices – that of the Salles: “The Lord's Tower is my fortress”) all cry out to one another.
From destructions to modifications
The castle initially dreamt of by its builders was never completed, and the death of Louise des Salles in 1611 slowed down the work. The planned second floor front (the three current high dormers) is still only begun, as are the volutes that flank certain recesses…
According to a plan from 1720 of the four original main bodies, only the East wing (main dwelling), a portion of the North wing and the West wing (current entrance) remained, but this wing except for two towers disappeared before 1754.
We also know that in the 18th century, the Sommyèvre family had considerably modified what remained of the original castle after the unrest (fire?): partitioning of the halls of the ground floor of the dwelling; destruction of the main staircase banister by banister; creation of the first floor bedrooms, provided with two cabinets, and for this, the disruption of the East façade, over the terrace, by openings (windows, door) which break up the initial spans; reconstruction of the North façade, over the courtyard… It is not known when the towers were levelled off and lost their path round the battlements. The North East tower even lost its sculpted beams. During the Revolution, the coats of arms were burned, and after 1837, the castle served as a storage place and found itself severely threatened… the poultry yard and the outbuildings of the castle became the village of Montbras.
Restoration upon restoration
When Francis de Chanteau acquired Montbras in 1876, he began the major restoration that would save the castle. He rediscovered the very damaged paintings of the Metamorphoses under a colourwash, recreated a chapel (initially in the South wing), and became the castle's first historian (thanks to his training as an archivist), but died in 1882, at the age of thirty three… Madame de Chanteau, followed by her heirs continued the upkeep, but it had to wait until 1986 and the purchase of the castle by Claude Thomas for work of the scope that enabled today's revival of Montbras and brought about the restoration of the roof of the main dwelling and the reconstruction of six dormers of the dwelling (modelled on those that remain on the North wing) as a result of the storm of 1999.
The plans to create a source of quality hotel accommodation combined with the promotion of cultural tourism in southwest Lorrain, allow hope for a new prosperity for Montbras!
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