Un témoin de la gloire des Francini : la grotte à automates du château d’Outrelaize

Abstract

The important extensions added to the Château d’Outrelaize (Calvados) in the late 16th and early 17th century reflect the owner’s desire to possess a Parisian-style residence. This ambition led him to install an artificial grotto in 1613, entrusting its design to Marin Le Bourgeois, the painter and inventor of Henri IV. Destroyed in the 18th century, this garden fantasy, which was unique in lower Normandy, was animated by surprise water jets and automata birds that Le Bourgeois could have seen at Saint-Germain-en-Laye during his visits to the king. The grotto envisaged by the lord of Outrelaize was thus probably a smaller sized variation of the prestigious creations by the Francini, and illustrated the appreciation in France of the works of these Italian fountain makers.