The Château de Lignières is a French château, located in the municipality of Lignières, in the département of Cher. It was built in 1654–1660 for the financier Jérôme de Nouveau to the designs of the French architect François Le Vau.Feldmann 1996, p. 268.Hautecoeur 1948, pp. 115–117.Berger 1993, pp. 16–17.Laprade 1960, plate III. 6 (facing p. 65). It was designated a monument historique on 27 June 1935.Notice no. PA00096826, Base Mérimée.
Design and construction The feudal castle (château féodal) on the site was razed in 1653, and the property sold by Brichanteau to Jérome de Nouveau, Surintendant Général des Postes,Hautecoeur 1948, p. 115. who brought in the architect François Le Vau to design the new château.Hautecoeur 1948, p. 116. The contract was signed on 9 May 1654.Laprade 1960, p. 85 (note 3). Jérôme de Nouveau hired Michel [Le] Roy, a sculptor-contractor and master mason from Bourges, to supervise the work.Hautecoeur 1948, p. 115–116. François Le Vau constructed the new building on the foundations of the old and retained the old moat and its defensive wall (fausse braye). His designs for the château are preserved in four engravings by Claude Olry de Loriande.
The new corps de logis was built from 1654 to 1656. It was connected to two end pavilions by curved façades, similar to what architect François Mansart had done for the (1623)For Berny, see Commons:File:Vue perspective du château de Berny - Archives nationales.jpg. and his grand dessein for the Château de Blois (1635–1638),For Blois, see Commons:File:François Mansart, project for Blois – Cosperec 1998 p. 160.jpg. and which François Le Vau's older brother, the architect Louis Le Vau, would use later.See Louis Le Vau's Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte (Commons:File:L'Architecture française (Marot) BnF RES-V-371 038r-f83 Vaux-le-Vicomte, Plan (adjusted).jpg).
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Bibliography Berger, Robert W. (1993). The Palace of the Sun: The Louvre of Louis XIV. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press. . Feldmann, Dietrich (1996). "Le Vau", vol. 19, pp. 262–268, in The Dictionary of Art, 34 volumes, edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. . Also available at Oxford Art Online (subscription required). Hautecoeur, Louis (1948). Histoire de l'Architecture classique en France. Tome 2: Le Règne de Louis XIV. Paris: J. Picard. . Laprade, Albert (1960). François d'Orbay: Architecte de Louis XIV. Paris: Éditions Vincent, Fréal. .