Rectangular door with a round-arched lunette containing figure scenes in high-relief, France (Orléans), ca. 1520s

Rectangular door with a round-arched lunette containing figure scenes in high-relief, and carved freize above 15 regular panels containing a quatrefoil motif within a lozenge; the bottom of the door covered by a narrow plank (not visible in early photographs) set above an earlier, wider nailed rail. The door would have opened inwards, with the lunette fitting below a stonework semi-circular rebated arch, and the flat spandrel areas above the lunette sitting flush behind the door frame when the door was closed to exclude cold air. The door was suspended at its proper left edge on two iron strap hinges (now missing) at about 70cm and 200cm from the ground, fitted into shallow rebates, the straps fastened with square-headed bolts (missing). It is likely that these would have fitted into two iron hinge-pins fastened directly into the stone door-frame. The door was fitted with at least one lock (now missing) and other crude cut-out sections probably mark whether other metalwork was fixed. A beaten ironwork patch has been fitted to the back of the door, at about 200cm from the floor.

Structure: The main front portion of the door of panelled construction, fitting into a groove run along the inside face of the rails and stiles. The whole of the back reinforced with an oak lattice with cross-lapped joints (approx 34mm thick), which is nailed to the carved panels, and which is fitted into a second groove (about 20mm deep, about 12mm from the rear surface of the stile) cut on the inside face of the stiles. Small areas of the lattice have been cut away to accommodate crudely-cut holes for a replacement lock and handle(?), both missing. An empty mortice is visible, presumably for the original lock (missing). The upper part consisting of a single wide rail carved in the solid with a deep cyma recta moulding above the freize, and a cyma reversa moulding below. The lunette is formed by two horizontal planks, a deeper plank above a narrower one (with visible shrinkage having opened up the butt-joint.) Above the lunette are 5 countersunk holes for nail fixings through the door. An added fillet of oak between the foot of the arched high-relief panel and the moulded lip, presumably to hide shrinkage. Two additional planks (probably pre-1800) have been bolted along the front and back of the foot of the door, sandwiching the original woodwork. With a U shaped iron reinforcing bracket under the PL bottom corner, nailed at the front (nails at the rear lost). During conservation (2007) three soft-wood battens (probably a Museum addition) were removed from the top edge and sides, where they seem to have served a cosmetic purpose, concealing the back of the door from side-view. A small adhesive label on the back of the door is inscribed '[indecipherably initial] Peyre'.

Decoration
The lunette bordered by a deep ogee moulding (fixed with large, square-headed iron nails) originally in 4 sections (one missing at left probably before 1895) above, and below by a single, long section. Along the upper edge of the curved moulding is an egg and dart torus moulding. The carved left side of the lunette shows a scene from the tenth labour of Hercules (the capture of the oxen of Geryon): Hercules in lionskin and with a club lies asleep on the ground while the naked Cacus steals one of the cattle by pulling it backwards by its tail, watched on the right by four other cattle, and on the left by a male figure holding a tree. At the top of the scene, carved much smaller stands the figure of Hercules with club over the prone figure of Cacus overcome - the conclusion to the episode. The tree beneath which Hercules sleeps is adjacent to a masonry many-towered building with a cusped arched gateway, in which stands a 3 headed monster representing the Lernaean Hydra (from the second labour of Hercules), or Cerberus at the gates of Hades, grasped by a neck-chain by Hercules in lionskin who raises his club in his right hand. Two small figures watch from above the gateway and another on the battlements, while behind Hercules stands the smaller figure of Iolaus among trees.

The freize below (between the larger ogee moulding above and a nailed, stepped (?) moulding below) contains low-relief, carved rinceaux with 3 medallions heads, the larger, central head supported by two naked putti.

On acquisition its condition was described as 'slightly wormeaten, chipped, split and portions missing.' A dark stain (flaking, 2007) has been applied to the spandrel areas above the lunette (probably paler as having been protected by the arched door frame in situ), done probably after removal from the house, so as to match the darker tone of the door.

The door was the main pedestrian door on the ground floor of the principal, north front of a house known by 1543 as 'des Papegaulx', formerly 321 rue de Bourgogne, later 27 rue de la Faverie, Orleans. It was overhung by two small windows, and stood below an arch whose underside was decorated with an egg and dart freize. The house was considered by 19th century authors to have been built during the 16th century, but there is evidence that it may have been earlier than this and modernised in the 16th century. The main building of the house included three floors of cellars and was covered by a slate roof. The house, which was apparently built of stone opened on its north front by a door leading out into the rue de la Faverie (formerly the western part of the rue de Bourgogne), while a rear building on the southern side of the house opened by a door leading out into the rue de la Triperie (which doesn’t exist nowadays and which was the continuation of the rue du Chariot). Two other small buildings, which were actually lean-to containing two galleries (with columns), formed the two other sides of a central paved courtyard, in the middle of which stood a well . A description made in 1597 refers to some of the rooms (“ouvrouer” (business room), “chambre basse ou y a cheminée” (low room with a fireplace), “trois caves au dessous l’une de l’aultre, voultées” (three superimposed vaulted cellars), “chambres haultes et greniers” (high rooms and granaries), “galtas” (rooms for the staff), “grange, porte chartiere et estable” (barn and stable), etc. The house itself was pulled down in the late 19th century in order to create the new Thiers Street. The name 'Papegaux' derives from the fact that the house was used as an assembly by a company of wealthy middle-class crossbow-men, who shot for sport at a carved target painted green and red known as a 'papegai' (parrot), which they took as their badge. Competitions were sometimes sponsored, with prizes, to encourage the training of military skills.

The door itself can be dated to the 1520s or slightly earlier stylistically and on the basis of comparison with a similar door (with carved scenes above, possibly by the same workshop as produced the Hercules lunette, similar panels containing the quatrefoil in lozenge motif but without a rinceaux freize) from the Hôtel d'Euverte Hatte, Orleans which was built 1524-25. During the 16th century 321 rue de Bourgogne was owned by three, wealthy middle-class families but given a date of about 1520 two individuals are likely: Mathurin Lemarier (or Le Mazier) recorded at the house 1509-10 or Pierre Vaillant recorded 1531-32, both of whom were Aldermen.

The door was recorded in several 19th century publications, and had clearly been removed from the house by 1878. It was apparently sold to an antique dealer in Paris, whose shop was in the Saint-Louis-en-l’Ile Street. There is a report (Lepage (1893), footnote 1) that the door may have been exhibited at the Musee de Cluny.

The 19th century drawing by Verdier and Cattois showing the closely comparable door from the Hotel d'Euverte Hatte shows an ornate iron lock, adjacent handle (?) and knocker - but these details may show the sort of ironwork deemed appropriate rather than original fittings. See also W.23-1913 for another 16th century French door with an iron latch and lock.

Bibliography
2006, C.Alix 'Vantail de la porte de la maison 27 rue de la Faverie à Orléans' report (hard copy on green FTF catalogue); with full bibliography attached.

In the V&A Peyre papers, this door is listed in J. Hungerford Pollen's Report on Monsieur E. Peyre's Collection of Wood Carving etc. February 1889, as no. '(20). Curious door from Orleans, depressed arched head. This part carved - Hercules and the lion. Below this a belt of fine arabesque carving. The rest panelled in squares with flower centred lozenge in each. Earliest Renaissance. [with sketch]' And in the typed Inventory of the contents ..., as no. 93 valued at £350 and listed in room C on the plan, being the space, at the end of the long entrance corridor, overlooking the garden.

See also, Clement Alix 'Le Bois dans la construction orleanaise a travers les textes (a la fin du Moyen-Age et a la Renaissance' in Les Façades à pans-de-bois (Exposition patrimoniale d'été 2006)

Several possible sources have been identified as having been used by the carvers who worked on this door:

Lunette
A probable source for the Cacus scene is a bronze plaquette by Moderno (1467-1528), dated 1487-1507 (a version of which is at the Musee de la Renaissance, Ecouen, EC.271) and probably inspired by frescoes at Sant'Abbondio, Cremona. On the façade des loges of the Chateau de Blois built for Francois I (c1515-24), a scheme in carved stone on the projecting east and west turrets overlooking the gardens features various of the labours of Hercules, including both Cacus (also thought to derive from the same Moderno plaquette) and the Lernanean hydra (reversed in relation to the door lunette, but otherwise comparable in design to it, apparently derived from a plaquette attributed (E. Molinier, Les bronzes de la renaissance, London 1886, no. 196) to Moderno in Berlin. Anne-Sophie Moreau (Hercule renaissant au château de Blois, in Cahiers du Château, n.34 (Décembre 2003), pp.24-35) argues that the Toussaint restorations of 1846, under the direction of Duban render the antiquity of the west turret design uncertain, given that decayed earlier stonework for it does not exist and that pre-1846 views of the façade show no decoration on this turret. It seems possible therefore that the lunette scenes on the Orleans door follow examples of the two plaquettes, or possibly the Blois stonework, the authenticiy of the hydra scene being uncertain. Moreau suggests that the scene at Blois of Hercules and Cacus might have been understood as a reference to Francois I's (as Hercules) assertion of partial religious independence from the Papacy.

However, the existence of at least one other object with the same combination scene of Cacus paired with the Hydra/Cerberus (an oak chest, Ipswich Mansion House, probably 16th century English) might support the idea of a Blois derivation, or suggest that a print source (probably derived from the Moderno plaquette) showing both subjects may have been used by the carvers of the door lunette.

Freize
Medallion heads (sometimes supported by putti) such as those on the freize are similar in style to those probably by Ugo da Carpi included in Illustrum Imagines (1517) by Andrea Fulvi, but not a direct match with any. The renaissance use of profile heads (broadly derivative of ancient coins) post-dates the revival of the medal in about 1438, usually associated with Pisanello. Scrolling foliage (also known as rinceaux) was a common form of decoration in classical times that continued in use in Romanesque and Gothic art, but was widely used by renaissance designers.

Quatrefoil in lozenge
Alix suggests that this motif is used (often in combination with other motifs) from the late Middle-Ages in Orleans, and is found on the beams of timber ceilings (dated 1466), and as ceiling ornaments (c.1520-30) and lintels of stone or wood, and stone ceilings and columns. It seems to have been much less popular after about 1550.


Hercules
See the entry for Hercules in James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art (London 1974) for accounts of the labours of Hercules (related by Apollodorus, Diodorus Siculus and Hyginus et al.) and the associated story of Hercules and Cacus (part of the legendary history of the founding of Rome, related by Livy, Virgil and Ovid). Details of the stories differ according to the version, but in terms of the carved lunette the following may be noted:
The fire-breathing giant Cacus, a Roman god, the son of Vulcan who lived in a cave near the Tiber stole some of Hercules' cattle (the oxen of Geryon) dragging them backwards into his cave. Alerted by the sound of the cattle lowing, Hercules slew the giant and recovered the cattle. In illustrations Hercules may be seen resting on his club, the giant dead at his feet. A companion of Hercules leads a great bull from the cave.
In most versions of the second labour the Lernaean hydra was a 7 or 9 headed monster, a water-snake, whose heads multiplied as Hercules severed them. In illustrations a crab sent by Juno, bites Hercules foot. With the help of a companion (Iolaus) Hercules cauterised the severed heads with a burning torch, for which assistance Eurystheus disqualified the labour. In the carved lunette, the monster shown bears some resemblance to Cerberus (the 12th labour), the three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to Hades, the underworld. Pluto allowed Hercules to take the animal provided he could do so without using weapons. He caught it by the throat until it weakened and yielded. Hercules is sometimes incorrectly, seen with upraised club. Or he has chained the animal round the neck, and drags it out of hell, both as seen on the lunette. It may be that the two stories have been conflated on the lunette, showing elements of each (the gates of Hades, a chained three-headed monster from Cerberus; a dragon-like monster, and a companion assisting Hercules from the Lernaean hydra), or that it is - on balance - a confused version of the Cerberus story.

For a useful summary of the popularity of the exploits of Hercules in painted and sculpted religious and secular contexts in France and Italy at this time, see Charles Tracy The Bishop's Palace at Mirepoix (Ariège) and French renaissance oak panelling in a Scottish House (The Antiquaries Journal, 85, 2005, pp. 209-211). In particular Herculean imagery appears in secular contexts such as the carved stone panels on the garden facade of the Francis I wing at Blois. With the onset of the renaissance Hercules was used as a moral exemplar of virtue to 16th century audiences (Tracy, p. 211) and further, Christianised to some extent. By the late 15th century he was extremely popular, as instanced by Raoul le Fève's printed Recueil des hystoires de Troyes, which ran into 12 editions between 1476 and 1544. Given the medieval architecture visible in the lunette it is interesting that G.K.Galinsky, The Herakles Themes (Oxford 1572) suggests that le Fève transposes much of the myth to a medieval milieu.

Clement Alix, writing about the use of wood in Orleans construction (Service Archeologique de la Ville d’Orleans), ‘Orleans, les facades a pans-de-bois’ (exhibition publication, 2006), based on the study of 15th and 16th century contracts between patrons and carpenters, makes the following relevant observations:
Usually carpenters in Orleans provided the wood and delivered to site. They sometimes purchased from timber merchants, and sometimes cut the standing trees themselves. Religious patrons (who owned forest land) might supply their own timber. Contracts sometimes stipulate the reuse of timber in a building project. The large, royal forested areas near Orleans are the standard source, with wood usually cut near the building site. Various religious institutions enjoyed the rights to timber in the forest – who also owned and leased city properties. There were also some smaller, secular landowners in the forest, including members of the bourgeoisie, who commissioned building projects in the late middle ages. Conversion of timber usually took place near the building site, using adze and axe. The timber was moved from the forest on horse or ox carts using poor forest paths (transport costs were significant), or via the river Loire and sold at various river villages. Timber was stockpiled in various yards within the city (standard medieval practice). Many carpenters had premises in rue de la Charpenterie.

Timber price depends on cut and quality; documents specify numerous structural timbers often sold cut to size: seulle (horizontal timber used at ground level), trayne (multi-use), chappeseulle, soliveaux, posteaulx, planches (ays) (planks), eseaunes (roof tiles), lattes.

Oak is the principal timber used in Orleans, with references also to elm, fir, hornbeam and walnut. Wood was used fairly soon after cutting, sometimes green. Contracts sometimes specify dry wood, especially when it was needed for joinery (precision joints). Little information is usually given in contracts to the processes of estimating, working up a design, lining up, sizing and trial assembly.

p.98 Distinctive features of Orleans houses: perpendicular facades, porch-rooves, signs, projecting eaves, spiral staircases, galleries and internal partitions.

Internal wooden furnishings including doors and overmantels. During 15c joiners became a separate profession from carpenters, making doors and windows. The same craftsmen made moveable furniture.

p.102, 1533 oak and walnut furniture seized from wealthy Orleans owner:

This door was the main pedestrian door on the ground floor of an imposing house in Orléans, France. It was probably commissioned by the owner, a wealthy alderman of the city.

In the arched lunette at the top are two carved scenes from the story of Hercules from classical mythology. On the left, while Hercules sleeps, the giant Cacus steals his cattle by pulling them backwards into his cave. Above, much smaller Hercules is shown at the end of the episode above his defeated enemy. On the right, Hercules fights with a many-headed monster who may represent the Lernaean hydra or, more likely Cerberus, the guardian of the gates of the underworld. During the Renaissance period, in the 16th century, Hercules was a popular exemplar of virtue, and was often represented in the decorative arts.

674-1895