Impressionist painting signed oil on canvas hôtel vassal sarlat 19th c.

An antique oil on canvas in perfect condition from the late 19th century, signed G. ETIENNE, a regional painter from the Aquitaine school. This painting depicts the Hôtel de Vassal, a listed historical monument located next to the Manoir de Gisson on the Place des Oies in Sarlat-la-Canéda (24). This building is now renowned for housing the truffle museum. Through the architectural details of this picturesque scene in Sarlat, a famous medieval town in the Périgord Noir region, the artist highlights the typical architecture of the old town, which bears witness to a long and rich history. This medieval town, like all other towns of that era, is a complex assemblage of several buildings. From left to right, we see a five-story vertical house with irregular facades of gray and blond stone, then in the center two small, cylindrical, pepperpot-shaped towers, and finally on the right a square tower with steeply pitched roofs covered in brown tiles. At the foot of this tower, the ground floor features openings that might suggest a former shop. The painter draws our attention to several elements, such as the strongly textured, almost flamboyant, reddish-brown roofs that capture the light and add depth to the scene. He also highlights a motif very characteristic of medieval Sarlat houses, often associated with interior spiral staircases, likely found in the two small, suspended, cylindrical towers at the center of the work. Mullioned windows on the street side, typical of the town's medieval architecture, are also noticeable. Through a play of light, the artist also creates an alternating contrast between shadow and light. Frame dimensions: 53 cm X 39 cm. Artwork dimensions: 41 cm X 27 cm. An old photograph from around 1900 depicting this same view of the Hôtel Vassal, as well as a more recent photograph, is shown at the end of the slideshow.