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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The building located at 117 Grande Rue in Besançon, erected in the 2nd quarter of the 19th century (1838), is a construction by municipal architect Pierre Marnotte for the confectioner Jean-Baptiste Caillon. Its facade, sober and balanced, has 5 spans and 2 square floors, while the commercial front is part of a series of about 40 similar works signed Marnotte in the city. The interior, on the other hand, reveals a discreet and symbolic luxury: canned pilasters, composite capitals, and a ceiling with geometric compartments animate the shop on the ground floor.

The first floor houses a living room with an exceptional stucco décor, mixing mid-griffon winged lions placed on glass floors and a parquet rosette. The doors, adorned with allegorical bas-reliefs (like the Night, lunar girl holding torches), would be inspired by Madame Récamier's bed (1801, Louvre). The more sleek dining room retains the imprint of a missing stove, while a nearby room displays lotiform capitals in the alcove. These motifs, borrowed from ancient Egypt or Greece, reflect the romantic eclecticism of the time.

On the second floor, the dining room plays on the Bacchic references: ionic pilasters frame glass fan tympanes, crowned with vine and grape garlands. The rosace of the ceiling, composed of cabbage leaves, recalls the culinary destination of the room – a signature of Marnotte, adept of speaking decors. The adjacent room, in pumpkin style, multiplies the archatures, ionic pilasters, and panels adorned with deciduous (attributes of Hermes, god of merchants), highlighting the patron's profession. The fake doors represent loves on tanks drawn by claws, symbols of protection and abundance.

The bedroom on the second floor culminates in refinement with a mist of fireplace with glass pilasters, decorated with golden vegetal motifs on black background ( technique of fixed under glass). A niche houses a round-bosse fruit bowl, painted naturally. These elements, combined with mythological iconography, testify to a coherent decorative program, mixing bourgeois functionality, protective symbolism, and ancient references. The building, registered with the Historical Monuments in 2024, illustrates the golden age of bisontine architecture under the July monarchy.

Marnotte's work is distinguished by its controlled eclecticism: reinterpretation of antiquity (pumpian, Egyptian, Greek), integration of trade-related symbols (made, scratches), and adaptation of decorations to the uses of the pieces. The confectioner Caillon, a sponsor, sees it as both a professional tool (attractive shop) and a symbol of social success (lounges and decorated rooms). This building thus embodies the aspirations of a rising bourgeoisie, anxious to combine utility, beauty, and scholarship.

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