Maasland Renaissance

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The Meuse renaissance is actually the incorrect name for a regional architectural style in the duchy of Liège from the 16th , 17th and 18th centuries . The term was analogous to the terms " mosan art " and " Maas Gothic ", from Limburg Professor of Art History January Joseph Marie (JJM) Timmers in his seminal book art De van het Maasland (especially in the second band De gotiek en de renaissance ) introduced to express the “uniqueness” of architecture in the Limburg and Liège Maasland. Triggered by Timmer's interpretation, art historians have dealt either approvingly or critically with the supposed “peculiarity” of Maasland art. In the meantime, the term - whether it is right or wrong - has become common property.

Liege Renaissance

The Maasland Renaissance can be seen as a variant of the classic Liège Renaissance, an architectural style that is closely based on the Italian Renaissance. This architectural style flourished in the Principality of Liège during the tenure of Prince-Bishop Erhard von der Mark (1505–1538). In the political and cultural center of the principality, the city of Liège , the style, which originally came from Italy, was initially based on classic Italian models. With the construction of the new prince-bishop's palace (from 1526 under the master builder Arnold van Mulken ) a more or less independent construction method emerged, characterized by arcades with columns with tulip-shaped pillars and accolade-shaped lintels . The Stadtpalais Cortenbach is another example of this new style. Perhaps the most typical example of the Liège Renaissance is the portal of the Saint-Jacques church, designed in 1558 by Lambert Lombard , who was on a study trip to Italy.

Outside of the larger cities of Liège and Maastricht, the classic Liège renaissance style found little imitation. In Maastricht, the columned arcade in the inner courtyard of the Spaans Gouvernement , as well as some details in the cloisters of the Basilica of Our Lady and the Servaas Basilica, are examples. The style can also be seen on some of the entrance sides made of bluestone (e.g. at Aspremont-Lynden Castle in Oud-Rekem ) as well as carved tombstones and epitaphs (e.g. in the Maastricht Servaas basilica, the Sint-Stefanuskerk in Wijnandsrade , the Sint-Augustinuskerk in Elsloo and the Sint-Lambertuskerk in Mheer ).

  • Cour d'Honneur , Prince-Bishop's Palace, Liège

  • Portal of the Saint-Jacques church, Liège

  • Inner courtyard of the Spaans Governorate, Maastricht

  • Detail in the cloister of the Basilica of Our Lady, Maastricht

Maasland Renaissance

At the beginning of the 17th century, a local variant developed from this style, which was inspired by Italian models, which only indirectly shows points of contact with the classical or Italian Renaissance. This Maasland Renaissance style was mainly used in the construction of monasteries, castles, square courtyards and town halls in the city of Liège and its surroundings, also in Herver Land , in Voeren , in the Belgian province of Limburg , in the Dutch province of South Limburg and, to a lesser extent , in Aachen and its surroundings. There are not many examples of Maasland Renaissance style churches. This is perhaps due to the fact that only a few churches were built in this region during the Eighty Years War , and later, in the course of the Counter-Reformation , a more frequent decision was made to use baroque architecture. As the example of the Mosan Renaissance style, the Liege is often Stadtpalais Curtius from the late 16th century called.

Most of the structures belonging to this architectural style are built in the traditional way, often using layers of bacon (i.e. ribbons mainly made of marl ), window frames made of bluestone, water strips, high-rise roofs and pronounced roof strips under the eaves (often with chiseled support pads) were. The materials used are mostly local: bluestone, brick and Limburg marl. Some art historians viewed this “typically Maasland” manner as a variant of the Brabant architectural style.

Churches and monasteries

City palace and public buildings

Townhouses

Castles and farms

Neo styles

Originating in the 16th century, the Liège-Maasland Renaissance style was extremely popular in a large area around the city triangle of Liège-Maastricht-Aachen throughout the 17th century and at the beginning of the 18th century. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that the Ludwig styles ( Louis-quatorze , Louis-quinze and Louis-seize ) gained the upper hand in the construction of castles and town houses. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the architectural style experienced a revival. The Montjardin Castle in Remouchamps resembles a building from the 17th century, but actually dates from 1871. Other examples are the Bank Delen building on Boulevard D'Avroy in Liège, the town halls of Chênée and Borgworm , the director's villa of the former coal mine from Zwartberg and Karsveld Castle near Gulpen .

In the second half of the 20th century, the Maasland renaissance experienced a comeback, this time in a modern variant: the so-called pseudo- Maasland style . This style is characterized by concrete structures filled with brick. In many cases, the tectonic facades are combined with high roofs, characteristic of many 17th century houses in the inner city of Liège and Maastricht. Examples of this style can be found mainly in Maastricht: the Conservatorium Maastricht , the department store De Bijenkorf in the street Achter het Vleeshuis , the hotel Maastricht, the police station and the government aan de Maas .

  • Bank Delen, Liege

  • Director's villa of the Zwartberg hard coal mine

  • Karsveld Castle, Gulpen

  • Hotel Maastricht

literature

in order of appearance

  • Jan Joseph Marie Timmers: De art van het Maasland . Van Gorcum, Assen
  • Jan Joseph Marie Timmers: Kruisvensters en cymbalen. Renaissance in the Maasland . DSM, Heerlen 1986.
  • Niek Bisscheroux, Servé Minis (ed.): Architectuurgids Maastricht, 1895–1995 . Stichting Topos, Maastricht 1997, ISBN 90-901071-0-X .
  • Koen Ottenheym: De Maaslandse Renaissance, een problematic geval . In: Guus Janssen, Lou Spronck, Peter te Poel (eds.): Timmers work. Opstellen over prof. Timmers & de art from the Maasland . Prof. Dr. Timmersstichting, Sittard 2007, ISBN 978-90-805305-3-9 , pp. 188-193.

References and comments

  1. ↑ Ottenheym, p. 189.
  2. ↑ See u. a. Timmers, 1986, pp. 16-17.
  3. ↑ Timmers, 1986, p 14. According to Timmers based the Mosan Renaissance on the traditional half-timbered building .
  4. ↑ Koen Ottenheym therefore considers the term “Maasland Renaissance” to be wrongly chosen (Ottenheym, p. 191).
  5. ↑ A term introduced by Niek Bisscheroux and Servé Minis, see this. (Ed.): Architectuurgids Maastricht, 1895–1995 , p. 39.

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