L'orientalisme au château d'Abbadia

Abstract

In the 19th century, scholars and artists develop an interest in the Orient. Not only Antoine d'Abbadie, but also Viollet le Duc and Dutoit can be included in this cultural movement because of their various activities. As they are in the origin of the conception and the construction of Abbadia Castle, we find there are elements that translate this spirit: the frescoes and pictures in the decoration, the two eastern salons in a rotunda, the symbolic animals which originate in the countries they visited and the thoughts and writings that adorn the walls. All these elements show a facet of the personality of the lord of the house and of a cultural fashion sometimes designed to flee from social realities, but also to be better understood by others.