Pierre Corbineau (1600 – 23 September 1678,

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

) was a French architect, a member of a family of French architects: the . They are found simultaneously in

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France ** Du ...

and in the .

Life

He was the son of Étienne Corbineau, an architect in Laval with whom he collaborated. He married Marie Beaugrand, widow of the Laval architect, François Houdault. Corbineau had a son,

Gilles The Gilles are the oldest and principal participants in the Carnival of Binche in Belgium. They go out on Shrove Tuesday from 4 a.m. until late hours and dance to traditional songs. Other cities, such as Ressaix, Leval, Buvrinnes, Épinois ...

who received with his stepbrother the lessons of his father and was an architect like his father and a daughter, Marie, born a little before 1630, who, in 1650, made her religious profession with the

Ursulines The Ursulines, also known as the Order of Saint Ursula (post-nominals: OSU), is an enclosed religious order of women that in 1572 branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula. The Ursulines trace their origins to th ...

of Château-Gontier. For Jacques Salbert, it is possible that his training as an architect was completed with another architect, perhaps Jacques Corbineau.

Style

The Corbineau were attached to the school of

Jean Bullant Jean Bullant (; 1515 – 13 October 1578) was a French architect and sculptor who built the tombs of Anne de Montmorency, Grand Connétable of France, Henri II, and Catherine de' Medici. He also worked on the Tuileries, the Louvre, an ...

and like him, they liked to use the apparatus in bossing, the superposed orders, the friezes decorated with triglyphs.

Ursulines of Laval

In 1617, Étienne Corbineau dealt with the

, temporarily installed at Pont-de-Mayenne, for the construction of the monastery. In 1623, this building was sufficiently advanced that a new contract could be concluded between Pierre Cornillau, representative of the Ursulines, and "Estienne and Pierre les Corbineaulx, buttres architectes", who agreed to make and supply for the price of 1.300

Livres Livre may refer to: Currency * French livre, one of a number of obsolete units of currency of France * Livre tournois, one particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Livre parisis, another particular obsolete unit of currency of France * F ...

the high altar, the "pulpit of the preaching" in stone with Saint-Berthevin marble and black Chamberière marble, and two marble stoups, all in conformity with the drawings they have given them and where the Saint-Berthevin stone is figured in red. In 1627, the Ursulines took possession of their monastery. This was the first collaboration between father and son. The altarpiece disappeared in 1848. File:Chapelle du lycée Ambroise-Paré 14.JPG,

The former chapell of the Ursulines

File:Chapelle du lycée Ambroise-Paré 9.JPG,

The former chapell of the Ursulines

File:Chapelle du lycée Ambroise-Paré 1.JPG,

The former chapell of the Ursulines

Benedictines of Laval

On July 10, 1630, Étienne and Pierre Corbineau made a commitment to the to build their monastery, chapel, dormitories, refectory, chapter, parlours, etc. The portal, with stained glass above, will be ''enrichi au moins autant que celui des Monastère des Ursulines de Laval''. Six years later, in 1636, the Corbineau signed a contract for the high altar of tuf and marble, for the fence of the choir supporting the gates, also in marble-enriched tuf, for a portal on the Gast.

Retable lavallois

For Jacques Salbert, Pierre Corbineau and his father were responsible for the elevation in 1630 of the altarpiece of the Minimes of

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

, which has now disappeared. Corbineau is at the origin of most of the large altarpieces of Laval: the high altar of the before 1636, the altar of Saint-François in 1637, and probably the altars of Saint-Joseph, Saint-Pierre du Sacré-Cœur of the same church, as well as the main altar of the Église de la Trinité.

Buron d'Azé

In 1638, the Monastery of Buron in Azé called upon the Corbineau. It is therefore possible that the Corbineau were at the origin of the Buron portal, the only current vestige of the Abbey.

College of the Jésuits of la Flèche

On November 24, 1633, Corbineau obliged himself, vis-à-vis the Jesuits of

La Flèche La Flèche () is a town and commune in the French department of Sarthe, in the Pays de la Loire region in the Loire Valley. It is the sub-prefecture of the South-Sarthe, the chief district and the chief city of a canton, and the second most p ...

, to make the high altar of their , which one of their own was building,

Étienne Martellange Étienne Martellange (22 December 1569 – 3 October 1641) was a French Jesuit architect and draftsman. He travelled widely in France as an architect for the Jesuit order and designed more than 25 buildings, mostly schools and their associated ...

. The work was supervised by

François Derand François Derand (born between 1588 and 1591, Vic-sur-Seille; died 29 October 1644, Agde) was a French Jesuit architect. Life After studying for the noviciate in Rouen, then at the Jesuit college in La Flèche (where he taught maths for two years ...

. The altar was finished and consecrated with the church in 1637 by , Bishop of Angers. It is possible that he was also at the origin of the construction of the hospital of La Flèche, and perhaps the portal of the .

Churches of Laval

At the same time, several churches in Laval were rebuilding their high altars according to the new architecture in vogue. On April 29, 1638, the first stone of the high altar of the was laid and the work was completed the following year. Jacques Salbert attributes the elevation of the main altarpiece to Corbineau at the . In addition, a contract was signed on July 31, 1637 with Corbineau, "master architect", by which he promised to keep the altar of Saint-François of the église des Cordeliers de Laval finished for the first Sunday of Lent. This altarpiece was to be completed by the first Sunday of Lent of the following year. File:Cathédrale de la Sainte-Trinité de Laval 17.JPG,

The altarpiece of the Communion.

File:Cathédrale de la Sainte-Trinité de Laval 16.JPG,

The altarpiece of the Blessed Sacrament.

Domalain, Piré, Drouges, Verger-au-Coq

The high altar of Domalain was built in 1637 by Corbineau. The altarpiece has the same structure as that of the église de la Trinité de Laval. Corbineau made a deal with the inhabitants of

Piré-sur-Seiche Piré-sur-Seiche (; ) is a former commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department of Brittany in northwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Piré-Chancé.Pierre Biardeau. The church of Drouges has 2 small side altarpieces, the one on the left being a work of Corbineau carried out between 1637 and 1640. He also designed the one for the church of the convent of the Cordeliers of Rennes. The altarpiece of the chapel of the in Saint-Germain-sur-Ille is attributed to Corbineau circa 1640.

Saint-Pierre de la Couture Abbey

Jacques Salbert attributes the elevation of the altarpiece in 1641 of the Saint-Pierre de la Couture Abbey to Corbineau.

Architect and marble

Appointed architect of the city of Laval in 1645, Corbineau is associated, like his father, with other architects for the operation of the . This marble found its use in the altars built by the Corbineau. In 1642, it was for

Henri de La Trémoille Henri is the French form of the masculine given name Henry, also in Estonian, Finnish, German and Luxembourgish. Bearers of the given name include: People French nobles * Henri I de Montmorency (1534–1614), Marshal and Constable of France * ...

, Duke of La Trémoille and Count of Laval and "following the drawing given to him by Monseigneur le duc", that he made an important contract with the marble makers Jean Nicquet and Philippe Cuvelier. There is no indication of which church or residence, , Olivet or other, this marble decoration was intended for. For Abbot Angot, they were intended for the balustrade of the choir of Les Cordeliers in Laval. It is very possible that its direction was that of

Thouars Thouars () is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France. On 1 January 2019, the former communes Mauzé-Thouarsais, Missé and Sainte-Radegonde were merged into Thouars. It is on the River Thouet. Its inhabitants are known ...

, Domain of the Trémoille. For Jacques Salbert, it is much more likely that it is the jaspered marble balusters that adorn the grand staircase of the Château des Ducs de La Trémoille. For him, it must be considered that Corbineau participated in the major works of the Château de Thouars, and is perhaps the architect whose name is not determined by historians. The activity of Corbineau between 1642 and 1646 remains unknown.

Ursulines

The first half of the 17th century saw the rise of many Ursuline monasteries. On December 27, 1642, the prosecutor of the Convent of the Ursulines of Château-Gontier, François Débonnaire, signed an agreement with Ambroise, Antoine and Gilles Ravaux. They undertook to work from their profession in dormitories, in the church, in buildings other than the Ursulines ''feront bastir suivant et au désir du plan qui leur sera faict et fourni par Pierre Corbineau, maître architecte''. This work is of long duration. It was only on July 26, 1658, that the nuns made a deal with Pierre and Gilles Corbineau to build the church. Jacques Salbert attribue le retable de Ursulines d'Angers to Corbineau. Consecrated in 1651, it is comparable to those of Corbineau carried out for the Cordeliers de Laval, for the altarpieces of Piré, La Flèche and Domalain. Jacques Salbert indicates that the major altarpiece of the Ursulines d'Angers, attributed without proof to Pierre Biardeau or one of his students by E. Rondeau in his ''Histoire du monastères des Ursulines d'Angers'' presents such analogies of structure and ornamental vocabulary with Pierre Corbineau's works at Les Cordeliers de Laval, Piré, La Flèche and Domalain that the hypothesis hardly stands up to scrutiny realized for the Ursulines of Château-Gontier.

Parliament of Brittany

The work of the was interrupted by a plague epidemic in 1627; they did not resume until 1640 under the direction of

Tugal Caris Tugal Caris (active 1630 – 1666),Marie-Dominique Menant"Tinténiac, Ensemble 1 du maître-autel" ''Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel: Bretagne'', 2006, archived frothe originalon 14 December 2014 . also spelled Carris or Cariste, was a ...

, Laval's prime contractor, and then by Pierre Corbineau from 1647 to 1655. The construction site was again disrupted during the

parliamentary fronde The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in the Kingdom of France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The government of the young King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition ...

between 1648 and 1649 and it was not until 1654 that the work was completed. On 13 January 1655, the Parliament awarded him 6,000 Livres for work not included in his contract, an amount that was to be paid to him after the completion of the structure and roofing. Two days earlier, the Court had taken possession, on great solemnity, of the completed Palace, which only needed to be decorated.

Torcé, Brie, Rennes

Corbineau made the high altar of the Carmes de Rennes in 1648. The altarpiece of the high altar of the church of Torcé is by Corbineau, and dates from 1652. On January 2, 1653, the foundation stone of two altars was laid in

Brie Brie ( ; ) is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie (itself from Gaulish ''briga'', "hill, height"), the French region from which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern of Seine-et-Marne). It is pale in colour with a slight gre ...

. ''entrepris par honorables hommes Pierre Corbineau, maître architecte du Palais de Rennes, et Gilles Corbineau, son fils''. For Jacques Salbert, the two side altars are by Gilles Corbineau alone, like a work of a sculptor. During this period, Pierre Corbineau lived in Rennes, parish of Saint-Germain, or in ''la Talmouzière'' in Montgermont rather than in his Laval properties, which he left to the Houdault family.

Rennes Cathedral

It was around the same time that Corbineau was called by the Rennes Chapter to replace

. He was in charge of the construction of the

Rennes Cathedral Rennes Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic church architecture, church located in the town of Rennes, France. It has been a monument historique since 1906. The cathedral, dedicated to Saint Peter, is the seat of the Archbishops of Rennes, Archbisho ...

from 1654. According to , Caris would have led the work to the cornice on the first floor. After him, Corbineau, from 1654 to 1678, completed the superposition of the three orders and placed the coat of arms of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

above the immense window in the facade of the monument. Then François Huguet removed the two towers, gave them two independent floors, and in 1703 put the finishing touches to this work. He brought the levels to their current height to 48 metres and added Louis XIV's motto: (', the incomparable) on the pediment at the top of the facade.

Dol-de-Bretagne

Corbineau built a

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

in 1660 at the Cathédrale Saint-Samson de Dol-de-Bretagne. In 1664, Corbineau was called to

Dol-de-Bretagne Dol-de-Bretagne (, literally ''Dol of Brittany''; ; Gallo: ''Dóu''), cited in most historical records under its Breton name of Dol, is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine ''département'' in Brittany in northwestern France. Geography Dol-de-Bret ...

to examine the plans proposed by the Rennes architect Deschamps for the reconstruction of the clock building, and proposed various modifications. He completed a lantern to crown the cathedral tower.

Rennes

In August 1656, Corbineau undertook to build the church and the various buildings of the

Visitandines The Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (), abbreviated VSM and also known as the Visitandines, is a Catholic Church, Catholic religious order of Pontifical Right for women. Members of the order are also known as the Salesian Sisters (not to be ...

of Renne in 3 years. In 1661 Corbineau was the architect of the monastery buildings of the Couvent des Jacobins de Rennes. Abbess Magdelaine de la Fayette presided over the construction of the

Saint George Palace The Saint George Palace (French: ''Palais Saint-Georges'') is an historic building in the city of Rennes. Formerly an abbey residence, it was built in 1670 to replace a much older abbey building that stood on the same site. The Benedictine Abbe ...

in Rennes in 1670 by Corbineau. The large gallery overlooking the garden towards the

Vilaine The Vilaine (; ) is a river in Brittany, in the west of France. The river's source is in the Mayenne ''Département in France, département'' (53), and it flows out into the Atlantic Ocean at Pénestin in the Morbihan ''département'' (56). It is ...

is very similar to the cloister of the Monastery of the Ursulines of Laval. The facade of the bell tower of is entirely redone in 1676 by Corbineau's workshop. File:Tour de N.D. de Rennes (Sculptures de l'atelier de Corbineau).jpg, Sculptures de la tour de de Rennes par l'atelier de Corbineau The construction of the took place around 1680, and its design is attributed to Corbineau. Widowed for several years, Corbineau lived in Rennes where he died on 23 September 1678. He is buried in the chapel of the Cordeliers de Rennes. A service was performed in the parish church of Saint-Germain in accordance with the Edict of His Majesty.Abbot Angot, volume IV, .

Main works

* * (Rennes) * High altar of the Jesuit Church of

la Flèche La Flèche () is a town and commune in the French department of Sarthe, in the Pays de la Loire region in the Loire Valley. It is the sub-prefecture of the South-Sarthe, the chief district and the chief city of a canton, and the second most p ...

* Altarpiece of the Église des Cordeliers de Laval * *

of Rennes * Front of the bell tower of of Rennes * Altarpiece of the church of

Rouez-en-Champagne Rouez (), also called Rouez-en-Champagne, is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays de la Loire in north-western France. Geography The village lies in the middle of the commune, on the left bank of the Merdereau, a left tribut ...

* Altarpiece of the church of Domalain

References

Bibliography

* Jules-Marie Richard, ''Les constructeurs de retables'', , 1906. * Jacques Salbert, ''Ateliers de retabliers Lavallois aux XVIIe et XVIII{e siècles : Etudes historiques et artistiques'',

Presses Universitaires de Rennes The Presses Universitaires de Rennes or PUR (''Rennes University Press'') is the largest French university press. Founded in 1984, PUR publishes around 200 books every year. It is located in Rennes in Brittany on the University of Rennes 2 – Up ...

, 1976. {{DEFAULTSORT:Corbineau, Pierre 1600 births 1678 deaths 17th-century French architects Renaissance architects