Ligier Richier

Ligier Richier (* around 1500 in Saint-Mihiel ; † 1567 in Geneva ) was a French sculptor of the Renaissance . Richier came from a Sammiellois stonemason family. He was trained by Michelangelo in Italy , among others . His works can mainly be found in his home in Lorraine . In it he mainly dealt with religious topics.

Entombment scene by Ligier Richier; Saint-Etienne church

The skeleton, Bar-le-Duc, église Saint-Étienne

Richier was expelled from Saint-Mihiel because of his Reformation creed.

Since around 1990, many of his works in Lorraine have been thoroughly restored and the "Route Ligier Richier", which leads to the important works of Richier, was set up by the Meuse department .

Le Transi

Richier's best-known opus is "Le Monument de coeur de René de Chalon", usually called "Le Transi" or "Le Squelette", in the Saint-Étienne church of Bar-le-Duc . It shows the body of René von Chalon , Prince of Orange, who died in a battle in 1544 at the age of 25. Three years later his widow, Anna of Lorraine, daughter of Anton II of Lorraine , commissioned Ligier Richier to portray René's body.

The Lorraine artist showed the deceased with his heart in hand, as if he wanted to surrender it. The meaning of this representation is not fully understood. Certainly the superiority of the soul over the body and a moment of repentance can be seen in it: man puts his life before God.

The aesthetically unbelievable realism of the depiction of the skinned corpus suggests that Richier had a thorough knowledge of anatomy.

Other works

• High altar in Hattonchâtel
• Crucifixion group ( Calvary ) in the Saint-Étienne church in Bar-le-Duc
• Calvary in the Saint Gengoult church in Briey
• Christ on the cross in the Notre-Dame church in Bar-le-Duc
• Entombment of Christ (Sépulcre) in the Saint Etienne church in Saint-Mihiel
• Christ carries his cross (Le Christ portant sa croix) in the Saint-Laurent church in Pont-à-Mousson
• Entombment of Christ (Sépulcre) in Clermont-en-Argonne
• Fainting Mary in the abbey church of Saint-Michel
• Pietà in the Saint Martin church of Étain , classified as a Monument Historique since 1905
• Philippa von Geldern in her death bed (Tombeau de Philippine de Gueldre) in the Minoriten Chapel in Nancy

Web links

Commons : Ligier Richier  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• François Janvier: Le point sur la restauration du sépulcre de Saint-Mihiel . Conservation des Antiquités et Objets d'Art de Meuse (CAOA), May 25, 2003 (“The state of restoration work on the Saint-Mihiel burial scene”; French).
• François Janvier: Restoration of the "Squelette" de Ligier Richier à Bar-le-Duc . Conservation des Antiquités et Objets d'Art de Meuse (CAOA), September 2, 2004 (“The restoration of the 'skeleton' by Liegier Richier in Bar-le-Duc”; French).
• French Post stamp issued in 1988 in memory of Ligier Richier