House of the Caryatids

The full story

To understand this façade, we need to go back to the Renaissance in Dijon. After Burgundy was joined to the kingdom of France in 1477, Dijon became the capital of a frontier province. In architecture, references to Antiquity took hold and Italy became the model to imitate. In the second half of the 16th century, one artist dominated local creation: Hugues Sambin. Cabinetmaker, draughtsman, engraver, hydraulic engineer, military and civil engineer, he also called himself an architect, and his hand or his influence can be traced on many building sites in the town. In 1572 he published a book devoted to ‘terms’, carved human figures whose bodies end in a sheath.

The house at 28 Rue Chaudronnerie belongs to this tradition, but none of the sources consulted attributes it to Sambin himself. The national database of historic monuments also calls it ‘maison Pouffier’. As for the date of 1603, which is sometimes put forward, no document confirms it. The City, for its part, chose its façade to illustrate its Renaissance walking tour.

Its decoration is a true catalogue of motifs. The tourist office points out caryatids dressed in long tunics, but also atlantes, their male counterparts, plant garlands and a lion. The cauldron carved in the centre symbolises the trade of the wealthy merchants who had the house built. In the 19th century, an anonymous artist drew the details of these sculptures in pencil: the drawing is kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

To measure the taste of the period, just walk a few steps along the same street. At number 1, the Hôtel Bénigne Malyon, built in the 1560s-1570s, bears the name of a rich merchant who probably commissioned it. Its façade of rusticated stonework, with projecting stones, is unique in Dijon, and terms decorate its dormers, the windows in the roof. Listed as a historic monument on 13 July 1911, the House of the Caryatids is now a restaurant, and its façade can be seen by everyone from the street.