The Currency Room at the Château de Bussy-Rabutin

 

The popularity of mottos is closely linked to the aristocracy’s widespread interest in heraldry – that emblematic, quasi-scientific discipline – which attaches a legend to the symbolic figure. Mottos, known as ‘impresa’ in Italian, began to develop from the^15th century onwards and expressed a desire for symbolic individuality, breaking away from the heraldic system, which centred on belonging, lineage or fiefdom.

Mottos were codified in^{the 17th} century using a whole corpus of sources and references. They consist of a combination of an image and a short text, often in a foreign language (motto), which became a means of highlighting the owner’s personality rather than merely their identity. The collection of mottos became very fashionable at Court, serving as both a form of entertainment and a means of self-promotion: those held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France are lavishly illustrated volumes, of which Bussy was probably aware, given that the references are very similar.

The task of deciphering the ‘salle des devises’ is all the more complex because Bussy combines views of famous buildings, executed after the engravings of the Perelle brothers—which were very well known in the^mid-17th century—and reproduced and disseminated by Israël Sylvestre. His *Vues des Maisons royales et des villes conquises par Louis XIV* reveal the image the King wished to convey: numerous views of the Louvre and the Tuileries, Vincennes, Chambord, Madrid, Fontainebleau, the Château de Monceaux and the Château de Blois. Bussy continued this form of royal propaganda through imagery, but added buildings that were part of his own history, such as the view of the Château de Berny, which has since been destroyed. It was, in fact, following a celebration at the Château de Berny that Roger de Bussy-Rabutin, in 1659, received a letter from the King sending him into exile in Burgundy for the first time

The question of the link between these views and the mottos remains largely a mystery. Is the view of Chambord positioned above the motto*in me involvo*(‘I roll upon myself’) in order to evoke the double-helix staircase? Is the Château d’Anet represented by the full moon, the name of the moon being the same as that of the beautiful Diane who owned it? Is the Château de Sceaux depicted by an onion and the Italian motto*chi me mordera, piangera* (‘whoever bites me will weep’), in reference to a romantic episode specific to Bussy?

 

 

 

 

The role of mottos in aristocratic social life is evident in the correspondence of Madame de Sévigné. The Marquise can joke with her daughter about the son of the Count of Vaux:‘Si me miras, me miran: shall we never have a ray of sunshine?^’[1] ’. The motto ensures the exclusivity of a caste, presumed to be familiar with the mottos of the 1612 carousel, an equestrian spectacle held on the Place Royale to mark the marriage of Louis XII and Anne of Austria. The Count of Croisi chose as his motto ‘si me mira, me miran’ (‘ if he looks at me, they look at me’ ) , a motto which itself refers to that of Louise de Lorraine.

[1] Madame de Sévigné, Madame de Grignan, *Letters of Madame de Sévigné, her family and her friends*..., vol. 5, J.-J. Blaise, Paris, 1818, Letter from Madame de Sévigné to her daughter, Wednesday 21 October 1676.

 

 

 

Some of the mottos of the Château de Bussy are well known in aristocratic circles: mas virtud que luz, ‘more virtuous than luminous’, is that of Louis XIV; affert cum luce quietem, ‘its brightness invites tranquillity’, is that of Queen Marie-Thérèse of Austria; ‘Splendescam, da materiam’, ‘I shall shine, give me the material’, is the motto of the Grand Condé’s cavalry regiment. Others still refer to the Carrousel of 1612: ‘da l’ardore l’ardire’, ‘ardour breeds daring’, is the motto of Marshal François de Bassompierre, famous for his gallantries, who was imprisoned for plotting against Richelieu;‘morir por no morir’, ‘to die so as not to die’ ( ) is the motto of Monsieur de Longueville.

 

 

 

 

 

Other mottos are traditionally associated with military generals, such as non sibi sed domino (‘not for himself but for his master’), which Bussy had struck on his medals, as well as flector non frangor, ‘I bend but do not break’, a motto brought back into fashion by La Fontaine’s fables.

 

 

In 1665, Madame de la Baume circulated Bussy’s manuscript, *Histoire amoureuse des Gaules*, amongst the most malicious courtiers; it contained witty portraits and numerous unspeakable truths, including some about the Queen Mother. The scandal caused by his text precipitated his fall from grace: he was imprisoned in the Bastille in 1665 and exiled the following year. This fall from grace had been brewing for several years, as Bussy was deeply dissatisfied with an absolute monarchy that paid little heed to its aristocracy. He returned to his estates in Burgundy in 1666 and had to wait until 1673 for the King to authorise his visits to Paris. In 1682, he was once again able to attend the King’s morning court, where the King greeted him. However, his subsequent stays at court from 1683 onwards proved disappointing, and Bussy never regained full possession of his offices.

This desire to regain favour is no doubt expressed through the motto ‘quos probat, illustrat’(‘by testing them, it gives them value’), which features a touchstone on gold coins opposite Louis XIV’s motto. Resentment towards Madame de la Baume is openly expressed in the design, with the motto ‘spont favos aegre spicula’(‘Natural sweetness, foreign bitterness’) appearing above a honeycomb… alongside a depiction of the Château de la Baume.

 

 

 

 

Finally, the piece is adorned with a series of gallant mottos, some of which are curiously paired. Thus ‘colligit ut aspargat’, ‘he gathers so that he may scatter’ – a motto of the royal treasury – is paired with ‘piango la sua morte e mia vita’,‘I mourn his death and my life’, a motto that clearly belongs to the realm of courtly love. ‘Non mille quod absens’, ‘what does the number matter to me if mine is absent?’,isa well-known motto from the ‘précieux’ literature, referring to a lover separated from the one he loves (Dominique Bouhours, *Les entretiens d’Ariste et d’Eugène*, 1678 ). Similarly, *velantur molia duris*, ‘beneatha stern exterior my sorrow is hidden’, is found in numerous treatises on emblematics. The motto e freda m’accende, ‘cold, yet it sets me ablaze’, refers to the Precious style developed in *Devises et emblèmes d’amour moralisés* (1653): ‘The fire that gives off so little heat is close to going out, and he who loves coldly is on the verge of ceasing to love at all; […] [they are] unworthy of the army of Love, which demands that one commit oneself, and venture so deeply into the fray that one loses oneself, so as to be found only in the beloved object’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The depictions of flowers at the Château de Bussy refer directly to the painted floral décor at the Château de Cheverny, the home of Madame de Monglat, Roger de Bussy-Rabutin’s mistress. A jilted lover who had fallen into disgrace, Bussy had fallen in love with her during the winter of 1653, and portrayed her in *La Guerre amoureuse des Gaules* under the name of Bélise.

 

 

 

The motto room at the Château de Bussy-Rabutin thus emerges as an autobiographical work that is both playful and erudite, immersing the visitor in the very essence of Roger de Bussy-Rabutin’s persona. The mottos arranged around Bussy’s portrait are fairly explicit, expressing a proud and passionate nature: whilst the water jet motif is quite common amongst families of the old aristocracy (Altus ab origine alta, ‘he derives his height from his noble origins’), the other mottos suggest a genuine personality who is steadfast in his affections. The diamond (‘more solid than brilliant’) and the watch (Quieto fuori e si move dentro, ‘still on the outside, it moves within’) – combined with a volcanic eruption (‘ the cause is hidden’), depict a personality devoted to courtly love, with the bird on a tree (degli amori miei canti, ‘I sing of my loves’). The whole is highly symbolic here, with the reference to the volcano frequently interpreted as representing a secret passion (mas dentro que fuera, ‘more within than without’, Claude Menestrier, *La philosophie des images*, 1683 , p. 41). A final motto, enigmatic as it is absent from the many treatises published in the^17th century, e lacero ogni viru spirà, (‘from tatters it draws its splendour’), illustrates quite well this ‘art of disgrace’ that Roger de Bussy-Rabutin so skilfully created in the Hall of Devises.

 

 

Alain Boureau, ‘The Modern State and Symbolic Attribution: Emblems and Mottos in 16th- and 17th-Century Europe’, Culture and Ideology in the Genesis of the Modern State. Proceedings of the Rome Round Table (15–17 October 1984), Rome, École Française de Rome, 1985, pp. 155–178.

 

Moralised mottos and emblems of love. Engraved by Albert Flamen, Paris, published by Olivier de Varennes, 1653.

 

‘Royal and Heroic Mottos. — 1626. — Pinxit Ægid. ROÜART, Sti Mart. Noviom. pastor’, 1626 (BnF, Ms. Français 15257)

 

Adrien d’Amboise, Royal Mottos, Rolet-Boutonné, Paris, 1621

Henri Estienne, The Art of Composing Devises, in which hieroglyphs, symbols, emblems, riddles, maxims, parables, reverse sides of medals, coats of arms, crests, ciphers and rebuses are discussed, together with a treatise on witticisms or amusing sayings, Paris, 1645

Claude François Menestrier, *The Philosophy of Images. Comprising an extensive collection of mottos...*, Robert J. B. de la Caille, 1683.

Charles Perrault, ‘Mottos for the King’s tapestries, depicting the four Elements and the four Seasons of the year’, by Charles Perrault, François Charpentier and Jacques Cassagne, with paintings by Jacques Bailly (BnF, Ms Français 7819)

Collection of mottos (figures and maxims) presented to Marie de La Tour, Duchess of La Trémoille (BnF, Ms-5217, restricted access)