palais des Ducs de Lorraine
Musée lorrain

Your journey

Access to commentaries :

Introduction

Version :      

Listen to the commentary :

Hello and welcome to the old palace of the Dukes of Lorraine. This heritage site that has been listed as a historic monument has benefited from a major restoration campaign within the context of the Musée lorrain renovation project. This audio guide proposes a tour of this palace that was once one of the largest palace complexes in Europe. Though the palace has since undergone several transformations, it still displays the power and influence of the Duchy of Lorraine and Bar during the Renaissance.

Back to the map

The Gatehouse

Version :      

Listen to the commentary :

Here you find yourself in front of the palace gatehouse.
Stand back a bit in order to admire this architectural element in its entirety. The palace of the Dukes of Lorraine was built for Duke René II following his victory against Charles the bold, Duke of Burgundy in 1477. Begun in the early 16th century construction work would continue under René’s successors: Antoine, Francis I and Charles III. The wing that runs along the Grand rue, the street located just in front of you, is the only part of the building that remains of the Renaissance palace. Indeed the wing hosting the entrance to the museum located just around the bend in the street is an imitation of the 19th century building.

Now take a look at the gate house. Built in 1511 this monumental gate was the entrance to the palace.
On the left you can see a small pedestrian door known as “porte Masco”. It is surmounted by two cherubs holding up the Lorrainian coat of arms.
The architectural style of this gatehouse demonstrates the transition that took place at the time from the flamboyant gothic style to that of the Renaissance. Take a look. The tall graceful form of this building and the gargoyles decorating the ledge moulding are typical of the flamboyant gothic style, inspired by medieval architecture. However the equestrian sculpture, the pilasters, the trophy of arms ornamentation and the surbased arches of the gate and its first floor are characteristic of the Italian Renaissance style. This building is one of the earliest examples of Renaissance art appearing in the eastern part of France.

The richness of the decorations strongly contrasts with the rest of the palace facade. But now imagine that back in the old days, the Grand rue, the street you’re standing on, was the city’s main street. Back then it was lined from one end to the other with shops and stalls even at the foot of the ducal palace.

Back to the map

The Equestrian Statue of Duke Antoine

Version :      

Listen to the commentary :

The equestrian statue located above the coach gate, or “porte cochère”, represents Duke Antoine, René II’s son. Destroyed during the French revolution, the original sculpture was replaced by this reproduction, an identical copy produced by sculptor Giorné Viard in 1851.

Duke Antoine is portrayed with the noble and energetic posture of a conquering knight, sword in hand, the artist is certainly referring to the battles of the Italian war that Antoine participated in alongside King Francis I of France. Under the horse, you can see a patch of Lorrainian thistle. The thistle was in fact the emblem of the Dukes of Lorraine before becoming the symbol of the city of Nancy. Here the horse is covered with a caparison, decorated with Lorrainian crosses and Antoine’s moto : “j’espère avoir” or “I hope to have”. Brought up at the French court, Antoine spent a lot of time in French royal castles. This gate house was probably inspired by the one at the chateau of Blois, built by Louis the XII.

The next stop on your tour is at the centre of the palace garden

Back to the map

Within the palace walls

Version :      

Listen to the commentary :

Here you are within the palace walls. In Nancy the establishment of ducal power goes back to the 11th century when the Duchy of Lorraine emerged creating its own political centre. A first castle resembling a fortress was built 300 meters from today’s palace near the square known as place Saint Epvre. At the end of the 13th century, Duke Ferry III had a new residential palace build where the present one stands. You can still see vestiges of this castle in the archaeological storage pit located at the centre of the garden.

Now have a look at the interior facade of the Renaissance palace. More decorated than the one facing the street, it once looked out over the main courtyard. However it presents the same architectural characteristics as the gate house. The steep slate covered roof and the sculpted buttress surmounted by gargoyles are still very much a part of the medieval tradition. Whereas the mullion windows and the medallions are typical of Renaissance art. On the first floor of this building you’ll find the “gallerie des cerfs” or stags gallery: it used to be the old ceremonial reception hall of the palace. The 450 square meter space, today houses the museum’s temporary exhibition room. This hall owes its name to its initial decoration that represented scenes from the life of Christ in parallel with episodes in the life of a stag. Originally the main courtyard was bigger than it is today, had no trees and was surrounded with several open air colonnades, or covered walkways. A huge staircase called the “grand rond” occupied the corner of the courtyard facing the main entryway to the palace. In 1871 a fire partially destroyed the palace roof, as a result, restoration work was undertaken by historic monuments architect Emile Boeswillwald. He recreated the destroyed parts and replaced the wooden roofing with one featuring a metal framework.

Now head over to the left hand side of the gallery to discover the gatehouse entrance hall.

Back to the map

The Gatehouse Vestibule

Version :      

Listen to the commentary :

Here you discover the entrance hall to the gatehouse; once open to all, it was through this passageway that visitors and occupants entered the palace. This entrance hall is covered by four vaults whose arches descend upon a central pillar. The keystones are decorated with sculpted medallions.

Have a look at the medallions near the large entryway door, on the left you can see the profile of Duke René II encircled with the inscription “Rex Renatus” meaning “King René”. And on the right, Antoine’s profile is recognizable thanks to the crown and the engraved motto : “j’espère avoir” or “I hope to have”.

In the 19th century the floor was redone. It is decorated with the Lorrainian cross, a strong symbol for the Dukes of Lorraine as it recalled René II’s victory over the Duke of Burgundy. The Lorrainian cross borrows the form of the true cross of Christ. On the battlefield it would confront Saint Andrews cross, symbol of the Burgundians. Now head over to the walkway overlooking the garden.

Back to the map

The Palace Walkway

Version :      

Listen to the commentary :

This vaulted walkway is all that remains of a much more vast system of covered walkways that closed in three sides of the palace’s main courtyard. In the past, this walkway allowed for a covered connection between the entrance hall and the clock tower stairway leading to the stag’s gallery.

Look at the flamboyant style decoration of this walkway. The sculpted capitals crowning the columns are decorated with plant motif friezes, young children and foliage.

In 2008 when the vaults were cleaned, polychrome decoration was revealed on the walkway and entrance hall ceilings dating back to the 16th century. It represented imitation brick work; white lines had been painted onto a red background to simulate mortar. Bricks were often used in castles during the Renaissance both for aesthetic reasons and economic ones as brick was less expensive than freestone. Here the vault was built in brick to save money; it would then be repainted with an imitation brick decoration to recreate the vaults of French royal castles. Following this discovery the historic monument architect decided to uncover and restore this initial decoration on the first span of the covered walkway (on the side of the clock tower) and then to restore this decoration for the entire walkway along with the entrance hall.

Back to the map

The Clock Tower

Version :     

Listen to the commentary :

Here you discover the clock tower.

This tower features a monumental spiral staircase that goes up to the western wing of the palace housing the stag’s gallery. In the 16th century it also led up to the northern wing of the main courtyard that was perpendicular to the entrance wing. Following the fire of 1871, the towers copper arrow had to be restored. The top of the arrow is decorated with Lorrainian attributes - the ducal crown, an alerion (meaning an eaglet), a thistle flower and a Lorrainian cross.

The shallow staircase of this tower winds around a central nule measuring 1.75 meters in diameter. Up until the entranceway to the stag’s gallery the corners are occupied by triangular niches featuring little stone benches. The uppermost part of the stairway forms a final circle leading to a dead-end decorated with a carved stone balustrade.

Back to the map

The Morey Building

Version :      

Listen to the commentary :

Here you are in front of the 19th century wing of the palace known as the Morey building.

In the 18th century a large part of the Renaissance palace had been destroyed by duke Leopold, who wished to reorganize the palace transforming it into a new Louvre. Consequently this north-western wing was profoundly modified to resemble a classical style building characterized by a triangular pediment and straight lines. As for the wings closing in the palace’s main courtyard located in front of the Renaissance walkway, they were completely destroyed. However the project would never be finished as the ducal family would leave Nancy to move to Lunéville. Subsequently neglected by Duke Stanislas, the palace would be transformed into a police headquarters and storage space for fire water pumps. It wouldn’t be truly reoccupied until the mid-19th century with the creation of the Musée lorrain founded by the Lorraine Archaeological Society.

But the fire of 1871 would ravage a part of the historical buildings and mark the beginning of a vast restoration campaign that would be carried out by two architects. Prosper Morey the city architect would completely reorganize the part of the palace standing before you, only keeping the ground floor pilasters, whereas historic monument architect Émile Boeswillwald proposed the archaeological recreation of the Renaissance edifice. Thus, the palace owes its present form to these two architects.

Back to the map

Entrance Gate of the Cordeliers Church

Version :      

Listen to the commentary :

Here you discover the church of the Cordeliers, the oldest church in Nancy.

It was built shortly before the Renaissance palace just after Duke René II’s victory over the Burgundian troops in 1477. This church is dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi. Particularly devoted to this Saint, René II would naturally choose the Franciscan monks of the order of the Cordeliers to guard this church. Back in the old days, the church was connected to the first floor of the ducal palace by a covered passageway allowing the duke and his family to access it easily. But because of the construction work done in the 19th century, no trace of this passageway is visible today.

Look at the pediment of the entryway porch. It portrays what is known as Lorraine’s simple coat of arms. It represents on one side the three alerions, or eaglets, and on the other, the two bass of the second ducal capital, Bar le duc. The blazon is surmounted by a ducal crown and flanked by two eagles, a reminder that the Duchies of Lorraine were still politically a part of the Holy Roman Germanic Empire up until the 1544 treaty of Nuremburg.

Back to the map