Feb 22, 20243 min read

" Vieux-Raisin Mansion " in Toulouse.

Updated: Jun 10, 2024

Introduction :

It had three names : " Lasbordes mansion "

" Maymier mansion "

" Raisin mansion "

It is also the symbol of the golden age of pastel and considered to be one of the most beautiful italian Renaissnace style mansions in Toulouse.

However, it is the " Assézat mansion " that attracts the most people.

Its name comes from a tavern on the street which had a sign with a bunch of grapes.

The history :

It was carried out in three phases .

It was many names : " Mainsion Maynier " , " Mansion Lasbordes " and to finish " Mainsion Vieux-Raisin " .

In 1515, the capitoul owner " Maynier " and a professor of law had the two staircase towers and the first bay of the left wing built on either side of the facade.

He decorated the bay and the large tower with a medaillon bust and placed numerous richly decorated windows in the early Renaissance style on the buiding ropes.

Above the tower door you can read the motto : " VIVITUR INGENIO CETERA MORTIS " means it : " We live by the spirit everithing else belongs to death " .

Numerous inscriptions adorn the walls of the " Vieux-Raisin mansion " .

It was in 1547, that we one the extension of the side facades and the construction of the porch by the owner " Burnet " .

It is the Caryatid order which is in the spotlight here with splendid sculptures.

Te arms of " Burnet " and his wife can still be seen on the boxes of the portico.

In the gallery which open on to the porch , you can see decorations that are barely visible and not renoved but very interesting.

The third owner " Pierre Lancrau " , bishop of Rodez, between 1580 and 1591 raised the large staircase tower and adorned the courtyard which several spectacular Atlante

Windows.

This mansion presents very beautiful examples of what Renaissance sculpture was in Toulouse.

This monument has been registered since 1889 as a historic monument.

The windows on the street :

Made of white stone, they showed the power and might of the owner of the place.

Those built by " Maynier " visible Ozenne street are magnificent.

It has pilasters, candelabra and foliage.

There is a Gothic part which are the gargoyles surmounting Aussagues street.

The decorations of the towers and courtyard :

Upstairs the sculptor represented Atlantean figures.

On the groud floor, hybrid figures with lion paws are of exceptional diversity under the windows, cut-out leather patterns evoke the decoration of the François 1er gallery at the " Château de Fontaineblau " and the works of Michel angelo.