14/01/2023

The church Notre-Dame of Gouttières

Gouttières is a former commune in Eure, Normandy. In 2019, they had 181 inhabitants. Gouttières and 15 other communes merged in 2016 and formed the new commune Mesnil-en-Ouche. The main religion in Eure is Roman Catholic. The church of Notre-Dame in Gouttières is a Roman Catholic church.

View of Gouttières. The church stands next to the manor house. Own photo, 2021.

Around 1060 William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, Lord of Breteuil (1011-1071) – companion of William the Conqueror (1028-1087) – included the church of Notre-Dame of Gouttières in the founding charter of Lyre Abbey in La Vieille-Lyre (Eure). The first church of Gouttières is said to have been built on the other side of the valley, though.

The church that exists now, was built in the 12th century. Notre-Dame (‘Our Lady’) was a frequent name for churches in France in the 12th century. From its Romanesque origin, this church retains some remains in the apse and on the south wall.

The nave was rebuilt in the first half of the 16th century, a vast chapel was then attached to the south of the nave and an inscription attests that the choir was restored in 1575. The church was provided with a set of stained-glass windows, one of which shows the name of the donors and the date of its construction in 1559. All the churches in the region have been restored after the Council of Trent in 1545. These measures were part of the Counter-Reformation.

Église Notre-Dame de Gouttières — From this angle we can only see the parts restored in the 16th century. The chequered stone symbolizes the people (dark) and the church (light). The people are safe in the church, is the message this stone pattern tries to convey to the people. The Reformation was growing stronger in the 16th century, and the church tried to fight the protestants by enhancing the Roman Catholic buildings. That was of course not the only result of the Council of Trent. Own photo, 2022.

This building consists of a nave, extended by a narrower choir, and a vast chapel acting as a transept arm to the south. An octagonal spire covered with slate is located at the entry side of the nave. The choir is the oldest part of the building and dates back to the 12th century. It is built in masonry of rubble stones of flint, limestone and grison (a grey bog iron found in wet plains in the natural region Perche) embedded in mortar. This grison is embedded in the oldest wall of the church, the small part to the right.

A part of the south wall of the nave, in coated rubble masonry, retains a few limestone keystones in the lower part of the wall, corresponding to an older window or door probably closed with a limestone frame in the 16th century. The south chapel is the most homogeneous part of the building. Its window to the east looks like the windows in the nave, but the southern window is bigger and built in the style Flamboyant (late Gothic architecture).

Poutre de gloire à Gouttières — The rood beam was created in the 16th century. It shows a crucifix, John the Baptist and Mary, mother of Jesus. Mary and John are approximately 150 cm high, Jesus and his cross are about 200 cm high. The sculptures are made of painted wood. Own photo, 2022.

Autel de l'Église Notre-Dame de Gouttières — The wooden parts of the main altar were made of painted wood in the 17th century. The altar stone was created in the 16th century. The wooden statue to the right depicts Saint Prix (Praejectus, 600-676). The statue of Saint Prix was made in the 16th century. With the Counter-Reformation, pilgrimage was very fashionable. Pilgrims brought Saint Prix from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne (France). Clermont-Ferrand is about 480 km away from Gouttières. Today, the Via Arverna starts in Clermont-Ferrand. It’s one of the ways to walk the Way of St James. But I don’t know anything about the pilgrim’s ways in the 16th century. Saint Prix (under the name Saint Priest) is a local saint and martyr of Clermont-Ferrand. Legend has it that Saint Prix was defending the people from injustice committed by the powerful. And therefore he was assassinated. The painting is not the original one. It is a beautiful church, but has some cringeworthy paintings. I don’t know how this could happen. Own photo, 2022.

The priests — This stained-glass window is confusing. It was donated by the five men in clothes of canon regulars in 1559. The home of these men is depicted above them. But I don’t recognize any of the depicted places. Then there is the symbol of a flower, which looks like the white rose of York. There was a pilgrim’s way going from Canterbury to Rome. It was called the Via Francigena. I think the sculptures on the rood beam are from somewhere in Picardie or Champagne. Châlons-en-Champagne is one of the places of the Via Francigena. I have no idea what this means, apart from being five men in the dress of clergy in 1559. The inscription isn’t helping much: L’AN 1559 LE 20E JOUR DE FEVRIER CETTE… VITRE A ETE DONNEE… MESSIRE PIERRE LACOTTE POSTEL ME NICOLE POSTEL ET… TOUS… DE CETTE PAROISSE 1559: In the year 1559, on the 20th of February, this window was donated by Sir Pierre Lacotte Postel and Madame Nicole Postel (his wife?) and all the parish. Are the five men their sons? Are there five priests in the parish? Own mysterious photo, 2022.

Fonts baptismaux de l'Église Notre-Dame de Gouttières — Baptismal fonts made of sandstone in the 15th century. Own photo, 2022.

Mystical beasts eat the roof beams — In 2005 the woodwork of the ceiling was restored. Old paint (from the time of the French Revolution (?)) was removed and rotten wood replaced. Under the paint they found the old paint. The panelled vault made of oak staves with joint covers. The vault bears a hand painted decoration of ermine paws and fleur-de-lis (royal lilies), for which no stencil was used. The ermine paws symbolize the Holy Trinity. The beams under the roof are carved as engouled beams, that means they end in the muzzle of mystical creatures. This way the creatures eat our sins. Which is very practical. Engouled beams are very common in Brittany, but I have seen several churches with engouled beams in Eure as well. Own photo, 2022.

Plafond de la nef — And in the centre, the highest point of the vault, there is an ornamental strip. Own photo, 2022.

The seigneur — This stained-glass window was made in the 16th century. It shows probably the local seigneur (lord of the fief), who has donated the window. But that’s only a guess. The website of the French ministry of culture states that this depicts a saint. If it is a saint, it could be, for example, Pancras of Rome. We’ll never know. The window was restored by Jean-Baptiste Devisme in 1943. The head of the figure was redone by J.P.Tisserand in 1985, replacing a 19th century head. Own photo, 2022.

Pilgrim's graffiti in Gouttières — These graffiti were made in the 16th century and onward. I don’t know when this custom stopped, but the pilgrims don’t do this any more (as far as I know). Pilgrim’s graffiti in many countries in medieval times. This is probably not very interesting for most people, but it’s one of my favourite topics. These triangle (?) signs are numerous on the church in Gouttières. I’m sure somebody told me what this means. But I forgot. And the internet doesn’t seem to know it either. I bought a book about medieval graffiti, but I still don’t know what it means. Will have to put the book under my pillow. Time travel might be a good idea too. Own photo, 2022.

Procession banner of a religious brotherhood — This is a banner of the confrérie de la charité (brotherhood of charity) of Gouttières, now Mesnil-en-Ouche. It was carried during religious processions, meetings with other “charités” or during more elaborate funerals. I guess it was made in the 19th century.

I noticed now, that I never wrote a complete article about the Confrérie de charité. So let me quote myself:

The brotherhoods of charity were mainly responsible for (cheap) burials. That was before private undertakers were forced upon the population by law. That was not very nice of Napoleon I.

Members of the brotherhood used to carry or drag or half carry half drag the dead body out of the house. The corpse was fully dressed and there was straw in his pants to make them stiffer. The defunct was layed in the coffin in the church. The coffin was closed, a nice pall was put on the coffin and after some religious ceremonies the brotherhood carried the coffin out through the southern door of the church. This door was also called paradise-door because it led the soul into paradise. Very practical.

Side altar in the church Notre-Dame de Gouttières — The altar was made in the 17th century. The statues in the 16th and 17th century. The horrible painting is said to be from the 17th century. I don’t know. But it was created by a local painter. The religious banner was made in 1878. I bet it shows Saint Prix.

French sources for this article were: Eglise paroissiale Notre-Dame and other entries: Recherche Gouttières on POP : la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine, Eglise Notre-Dame on Observatoire du Patrimoine Religieux and Gouttières, Eglise Notre-Dame on la Sauvegarde de l’art Francais.

The book about medieval graffiti was written by Matthew Champion, it’s called “Medieval Graffiti” and has the ISBN 978-0-09-196041-4

05/09/2022

Amiens Cathedral

Amiens Cathedral is a Catholic church located in Amiens in the French department Somme in the region Hauts-de-France. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, it the cathedral belongs to the diocese of Amiens. Its overall length is 145 meters and its height is 42.30 meters. Classified as a Historic Monument in France since 1862, it has been listed since 1981 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Western facade of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame of Amiens:

The 13th century cathedral of Amiens is huge. The next picture shows a view of the choir.

The west portals of the Cathedral of Amiens were built in the 13th-century.

The northern side aisles were built at the end of the 13th century until the second half of the 14th century. The building was enhanced in the 15th century. Which included a reinforcement of the pillar structure.

The portal of Saint Firmin (a local saint) on the west facade. The portal was built from 1220 to 1230.

The nave of the cathedral was classified as cultural heritage site in 1862.

The portal of the Golden Virgin (la Vierge dorée) on the southern side of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame d’Amiens was built in the 13th century.

In the transept:

The rose window in the north transept was made at the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century.

The fight of James the Great against Hermogenes. This relief was created after 1511.

The chapel of Saint Joseph was created in 1291, but it was dedicated to somebody else. Later it was dedicated to Charles Borromeo (1538-1584). In 1832 it was dedicated to Saint Joseph. The marble altar was made in 1756. The statue in the center was created in 1833.

The painting The Assomption of Mary was made by Frans Francken II (1581-1642) in the chapel: Chapelle Notre-Dame du Puy or Chapelle du Pilier rouge.

Tomb of Adrien de Hénencourt, who died in 1530, he was a canon (and not cannon) of the cathedral chapter. This tomb was made between 1527 and 1531. I guess the careful man starts early to build his grave. Tombs like that are called “enfeu”, in the fire.

Windows of the chapels of Sacré-Cœur (Sacred Heart), Axiale (Axial) and Saint-François d’Assise (Francis of Assisi). Pierre Gaudin made the blueish windows to the left in 1933. His nephew Jean Gaudin made the red looking windows in the middle (left) in 1932 and 1933. The blue (and red) stained glass windows to the right were made in 1240. They were found in a storage room after a fire. Those panels were restored in 1984 by Jeannette Weiss-Gruber. She also made replacements for the window panels that were missing. Those windows were inserted in the 1990s.

The chapel of the Sacred Heart was built in or around 1240, but it was decorated completely different. You wouldn’t guess it, because it looks rather tasteful, but all the interior decoration except the flags and the windows was made in the 19th century. In 1866 they had a cholera epidemic and the bishop of Amiens thought it would be a good idea to follow the cult of Sacré-Cœur (Sacred Heart). Usually Sacred Heart means that there is a Jesus somewhere who points at his bleeding heart entwined by thorns. Luckily not here. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc painted the decoration of the chapel. Théodore Maillot and Auguste Steinheil painted the saints. Placide Poussielgue-Rusand made the altar and Aimé and Louis Duthoit made the statues. All in the 19th century. The windows were made in 1932-1933 by Jean Gaudin in the 20th century. And the flags are those of the allies that defended Amiens in 1918.

Built around 1240 the Axpal chapel was restored in the 19th century and changed as far as the interior goes. The altar was made in 1862 by Louis Duthoit. The statue of Madonna and Child was made in the 19th century by Louis Bachelet. The windows were made by one of the Gaudins, probably in the 20th century.

Darker view of the windows of the Chapelle axiale. They were made by the Gaudins. Probably in the 20th century. They tell the story of the life of Mary, mother of Jesus.

From left to right those are the windows of the Chapelle axiale (blueish), Chapelle du Sacré-Cœur (redish) and Chapelle Saint-François d’Assise (blueish). The windows in the Chapelle Saint-François d’Assise were made in 1991 by usage of shards of the old 13th century windows. The windows of the Chapelle du Sacré-Cœur were made in 1932-1933 by Jean Gaudin.

In the 19th century Alfred Gérente made this window in the Chapelle Sainte-Theudosie in the style of the 13th century. It shows the life of Theudosie d’Amiens, a local saint. At the bottom of the window the donors Napoleon III. and his wife Eugénie pray in front of an altar. Above them are the Pope Pius IX and the bishop Antoine de Salinis.

Fun fact about th grave of canon Guilain Lucas: it hosts five corpses. There is no space to waste in this cathedral. The first defunct here is Arnoul de la Pierre, bishop of Amiens and he died in 1247. In 1751 they needed more space and placed Cardinal Jean de La Grange (1325-1402) on top of Arnoul de la Pierre. That’s the gisant (lying figure). On top of the two is the effigy of canon Guilain Lucas, an otherwise not too important man who died in 1628. The sculptures were made in 1636. They show him, a Madonna and a weeping angel. The weeping angel is the most known sculpture of Nicolas Blasset (1600-1659), a sculptor from Amiens. In WWI British and American soldiers have sent postcards depicting this angel to their families and that’s why it’s wellknown. In this tomb lie also 2 nephews of Guilain Lucas, Guillin Lucas (who died in 1648) and Honoré Gabriel Brunel (who died in 1676). They were also canons.

This choir chapel was changed in 1853. They built a spiral staircase that leads to the upper floor. You can’t see it on this photo. They added a door to a bigger choir chapel too and you can’t see it here. But there’s a small green exit-sign and under it is a door that leads to an outer building called Chapelle des catéchismes, which is or was used in winter and is also called Chapelle d’Hiver (winter chapel). It’s a small building and doesn’t need much heating. The windows of this choir chapel contain rests of the 13th century windows, that show the life of Mary, mother of Jesus and Saint Leonard of Noblac (died 559 AD). The painting to the left was created in the 18th century and shows the Transfiguration of Jesus (an event where Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory upon a mountain).

In the 13th-century nave.

View of the northern transept.

This altar stands at the northern side of the ambulatory in Amiens Cathedral. It’s called Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Pitié. The altar was made by Jean-Baptiste Dupuis in 1756.

The relief scenes to the left show the life of Saint Sebastian. The reliefs were made in the 16th century. This is the northern ambulatory in Amiens cathedral.

What do we know? To the left is the gisant (lying sculpture) of Gérard de Conchy, who was bishop in Amiens from 1247 to 1257. Which means he died in 1257 and his funeral monument must be from the 13th century. But what kind of altar is the altar to the right? And the painting. It looks so much like Icons from the Eastern churches. I should have asked the woman that was sitting there. But I didn’t want to disturb anybody. I know the first line of this comment is rather metaphysical, compared to the rest of the comment. I didn’t want to write: “what do I know?” I say this a hundred times per day and it expresses my helplessness towards and ignorance of the world in general.

The is part of the northern fence around the choir in Amiens Cathedral. It shows life and death of Saint John the Baptist. The small reliefs in the base show how he was born and when he went into the desert and things like that. The upper alcoves show from the right to the left: John the Baptist preaches in the desert, John the Baptist baptises Jesus, John the Baptist answers the Pharisees and John the Baptist bears witness to Jesus.

Funeral monument of François Faure. François Faure (1612-1687) was bishop in Amiens from 1653 to 1687. He died from a stroke in Paris. His body is buried in the cathedral, his heart in Paris. The funeral monument was made by Jean-Baptiste Duquet in 1687.

The funeral monument of bishop (1706-1733) Pierre Sabatier (1654-1733) was created in 1748 by Jean-Baptiste Dupuis. Imo Pierre Sabatier looks rather happy. I like him. He forbade hunting for clerics in 1715 and they didn’t kill him right away.

Chapelle Saint-Jean-du-Vœu. The original chapel in this place was created in 1291. But from 1709 to 1711 it was refurbished. François Faure (we met him already on another photo) commanded the changing because of a plague (Black Death) in 1699.

Rose of the southern transept. There is a net in front of the lower part of the window. It’s because there are small stones falling down? I think it was something like that. The southern rose of the transept of Amiens Cathedral was made at the end of the 15th- and start of the 16th-century. There are a lot of angels depicted. The artist was a man from Picardie (northern France).

The Temple of Jerusalem. This bas-relief in the transept is officially classified as historical monument. It was made after 1500 but before 1522/1523. The canon that payed for it died in 1522 or 1523. It shows the cleansing of the Temple. It’s made of stone.

Chaire de verité. This pulpit was made in 1773. “Chaire de verité”, pulpit of truth is a rather dramatical designation the French use for every pulpit, not only this one. The sculptor was Jean-Baptiste Dupuis and the architect Pierre-Joseph Christophle ( 1715-1781).

Door at the transept. I have no idea if this is the exit to the west or east. It might be built at the end of the 13th or at the start of the 14th century. Looks much better in monochrome.

View of the transept.

The rose of the northern transept in Amiens Cathedral was made at the end of the 13th- or beginning of the 14th-century.

View of the ambulatory of Amiens Cathedral. The red windows are those of the Chapelle du Sacré-Cœur. This part of the bulding was created in the 13th-century around 1240.

In the far left corner is a war memorial for Australian forces that fought on the side of the French to defend Amiens in WWI in 1918. I think this is a side aisle of the transept. Amiens cathedral is huge and a bit puzzling.

The chevet seen from the southeast. This part of the cathedral was built between the years 1290 and 1375. The statue shows Peter the Hermit (1050-1115 or 1131). He looks rather angry, as if he wanted to ram the crucifix in our hearts or as if we were all vampires. Reason for this is, his legend. He is said to have initiated and conducted the First Crusade (1096-1099). He WOULD ram his crucifix somewhere if he were with us today and if we were no devoted Catholics (which I’m not). In the late 11th century they were kind of serious concerning religious devotion. They probably thought after all Peter is from Amiens. But that makes me wonder, if they have a Hitler monument in the Austrian town where Hitler was born. Okay I exaggerate, but: ” Jerusalem was reached in June 1099 and the Siege of Jerusalem resulted in the city being taken by assault from 7 June to 15 July 1099, during which its defenders were ruthlessly massacred.” (Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Crusade) The statue was inaugurated in 1854 and made by Gédéon de Forceville (1799-1886).

This gisant (lying tomb figure) was made of bronze in the 13th century. This gisant and the other one in the Cathedral are the only bronze sculptures of the 13th century that still exist in France. All the others were destroyed by the revolutionists. They were recast as cannons.

Évrard de Fouilloy (1145-1222) initiated the construction of Amiens Cathedral and he even placed the cornerstone. He had the vision that the Cathedral would be visited by pilgrims of whole Europe and to ensure that, he brought relic of the face of John the Baptist to Amiens.

That’s another story, but in short: this relic consists of the front of a human skull and legend has it that it was stolen in Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade by a canon from Picquigny (Somme) named Wallon de Sarton. The story is of course rather exotic. They wouldn’t have said the relic was stolen, it was regained. And legend has it, that Wallon de Sarton got it in 1206, while the Fourth Crusade went from 1202 to 1204. And the crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204. We’ll never know.

This chapel is called Chapelle Notre-Dame de Foy. The wood panelling was made in 1765. The altar in the centre hosts a relief made by Nicolas Blasset (1600-1659), who made also the weeping angel. The relief made in 1655 of white marble against red marble rouge de Rance shows the Annunciation.

The Chapelle Saint-Étienne was built in 1300. The decoration was carried out like this in 1768. The painting on the altar however was made by Laurent de La Hyre (1606 -1656) in 1628. It depicts the “Swoon of the Virgin”. Nicolas Blasset (1600-1659) sculpted the statues of Saint Stephen and Augustine of Hippo. The painting to the left was painted by G. Gouget (whoever that was) in 1841. Its theme is “Jesus Descent from the Cross” and it was added because the chapels serve as Stations of the Cross.

Southern side aisle in front of the chapel Sainte-Marguerite. The chapel was built in 1292. The metal fence was made in 1769. The north and south side aisles or collaterals of the nave are 19.7m high and the width between the axes of the columns is 8.65 m. The view leads to the ambulatory.

The choir of Amiens Cathedral was built in 1260, 30 years after the nave. The wall around the choir was made in 1530. The iron gate was forged in the years 1755 to 1768 by Jean Veyren (1707-1788). The two statues depict Vincent de Paul and Charles Borromeo were created by Jean-Baptiste Dupuis (1698-1780).

Chapelle Saint-Sébastien. First a comment regarding the light. The first version I made was rather dark. It had beautiful natural light. But the light was on the chairs and chairs aren’t that interesting. So I made this version. It IS dark in Amiens Cathedral and thus this picture was made with ISO 1600. And it was still rather dark. Therefore the structure is not as smooth as it would be with ISO 100.

Now to the content. In the front to the left is the chapel of Saint Sebastian. Its place is at the northern end of the ambulatory. It was built in 1339. Its sculptures were carried out by Nicolas Blasset (1600-1659) in 1634. To the left of the altar stands Saint Roch with his dog, to the right stands Louis IX of France and above the altar stands Saint Sebastian. The female statues at the head of the altar are Justice (left) and Peace (right).

The altar carries a painting by Guillaume Hergosse (1640-1711). It shows the Crucifixion of Jesus.

The is the center stone of the labyrinth in Amiens Cathedral. The inscription reads: “In the year of grace 1220, this work was begun. The blessed bishop of this diocese was then Evrard, King of France was Louis, son of Philippe le Sage. The one who was project manager was named Master Robert and nicknamed “of Luzarches”. After him came Master Thomas de Cormont and after him his son Master Renaut who put in this place, this inscription in the year of the incarnation 1288.”

The nave of Amiens Cathedral was built from 1220 to 1236.

War memorial in Amiens Cathedral for the soldiers of Great Britain and Ireland who fell in WWI.

The portal of the “Vierge Dorée” (Golden Mary, mother of Jesus). If I understood right, those statues depict local saints.

All the photos in this article were made by myself and uploaded to Flickr beforehand.

Stanzebla

In der Normandie/ in Normandy

17th-century

The church Notre-Dame of Gouttières

Amiens Cathedral

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