Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The house at 12 rue du Bourg in Thiers is a building whose origins date back to the 14th and 15th centuries, although its present façade dates mainly from the 18th century. Its most remarkable element is its entrance, keeping a sculpted tympanum characteristic of the transition to the Renaissance. This tympanum, adorned with a trilobed arch niche, houses a statuette depicting a bearded and draped character, kneeling in prayer. The sizes of the niche are decorated with committed columns, while a relief shield under the niche carries symbolic motifs: a six-point star, a vine stock and a flower.

The eardrum is also pierced by two circular openings with a star network, adding to its decorative character. These elements reflect a desire, at the dawn of the Renaissance, to mark the entrances of the houses with symbolic or artistic ornaments. The house has been partially classified as a Historic Monument since 1963, with specific protection for its entrance door, showing its heritage interest.

The statuette and carved motifs could evoke a religious or social dimension, typical of bourgeois or artisanal houses of late medieval times. Thiers, a town known for its cutlery, was then home to a working population in the craft and commercial trades, which explains the importance attached to the beautification of facades as a status mark. The mix of styles (medieval and Renaissance) illustrates the architectural evolutions of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region during this pivotal period.

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