Della Robbia and other news from Montal castle

24/7/24 - Exhibition, restoration, acquisition - Saint-Jean-Lespinasse, Château de Montal - One looks a little stern, if not surly, while the other swoons, languid and bare. Despite their differences, the portraits of Jeanne de Balsac and Marie Fenaille live in harmony at Château de Montal (ill. 1 and 2), no doubt because the personalities they represent never crossed paths; both were lords of the Château a few centuries apart.

1. Émile Matruchot
Bust of Jeanne de Balsac, 1908-1909
Stone - 90 x 94 x 33 cm
Saint-Jean-Lespinasse, Château de Montal
Louvre Museum long-term loan
Photo: bbsg

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A strong-willed woman and independent widow, Jeanne de Balsac obtained the right to bring up her five children alone. Educated in humanist culture, in 1519 she had Montal built on the basis of Italian models. The decoration of the monument blends ancient and mythological references with the family history, which was punctuated by tragic deaths, particularly during the wars in Italy led by François I. Jeanne’s resentment of the king is evident in certain iconographic details.

2. Auguste Rodin (1840 -1917)
Buste de Marie Fenaille à la tête rejetée en arrière (avec drapé)
Terre cuite - 33 x 30,6 x 17,8 cm
Saint-Jean-Lespinasse, Château de Montal
Dépôt du musee Rodin
Photo : Jerome Manoukian

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Her portrait on display in the permanent exhibition is a copy made by one of Auguste Rodin’s practitioners, Émile Matruchot. The original adorned the façade of the courtyard alongside other busts of the family, but the whole decoration was dismantled (ill. 3) by an unscrupulous owner - a vandal, in other less euphemistic terms - who dispersed it at several sales in 1881 and 1903; and the portrait of Jeanne ended up in the Berlin museum.
Maurice Fenaille, a wealthy industrialist and generous patron of the arts who bought Montal in 1908, set about saving the monument and reassembling its decoration.…