Notre-Dame-du-Fort (Étampes)
The Catholic parish church of Notre-Dame-du-Fort in Étampes , a town in the Essonne department in the French region of Île-de-France , dates back to a collegiate monastery from the 11th century. The current church was largely built in the 12th century. It is dedicated to Our Lady and stands at the transition from Romanesque architecture to Gothic . In 1840 the church was added to the list of architectural monuments in France as Monument historique .
history
The foundation of the Church of Notre-Dame is traced back to the French King Robert the Pious (972-1031), who probably settled a monastery with twelve canons near his castle around 1022 . He furnished its foundation with relics of the martyrs Cantius, Cantianus and Cantianilla , which he had brought from Milan . From this first church building only the crypt remains . In the first half of the 12th century, the construction of the current church began. Between 1130 and 1140 the two-bay main nave, the side aisles, the north transept and the west tower were built. The three-bay, right-angled choir and the trapezoidal space between the two southern apse chapels , which were added in the second half of the 12th century and used as an archive, were built between 1140 and 1150 . In the second half of the 12th century, the north aisles of the choir with their east apses and the south transept followed. In the 13th century, a new west facade crowned with battlements was built.
architecture
Exterior construction
Due to the different construction phases and subsequent extensions, the church has an irregular floor plan. Behind the west facade rises above a porch the bell tower, which was built in three construction phases in the 12th century. The two lower, square floors are pierced by large, round-arched twin arcades. The third floor is octagonal and is downwardly through a on corbels resting ring cornice delimited. At its four corners are small round towers with high peaks, pierced by open arcades lying one above the other in three rows . On the octagon sits the eight-sided, stone spire, which is decorated with scale ornaments.
South portal
The south portal is dated around 1150. It was badly damaged during the Wars of Religion in 1562 and the heads of all figures were cut off. During restoration work, remnants of paint from the former painting were discovered.
On both sides of the portal there are three robed statues on pedestals . They are reminiscent of the portal sculptures of the Saint-Loup-de-Naud church and the king portal of Chartres Cathedral . The four men and two women are interpreted as Sibylle , Moses , Solomon (left) and Aaron , David and Queen of Sheba (right). Originally there were still sculptures of the apostles Peter and Paul on the portal wall, which are now housed in the northern side apse and have been given new heads. A frieze of capitals with scenes from the childhood of Jesus on the left and the stations of the Passion on the right runs above the garment figures .
14 people are depicted on the lintel , in the middle the twelve apostles and two other people outside, who are interpreted as Mary and John the Baptist or as the prophet Elias and Enoch . The tympanum shows Christ ascending to heaven between two angels. At the archivolts there are 36 people sitting on thrones and holding musical instruments or banners in their hands.
The entire portal is framed by a rectangular frame. The upper end is a cornice over corbels, which are carved as heads and under which a palmette frieze runs. The gussets are decorated with flat reliefs of two angels.
Garment figures on the left
Vestments on the right side
Capital zone
Archivolts and tympanum
inner space
The wall elevation is two-story. The upper clad windows , which were later enlarged, open over wide, pointed arches . In the side aisles the groin vaults from the 12th century have been preserved, in the main nave they were renewed in the 19th century. The capitals of the columns are carved with bas-reliefs depicting tendrils of leaves, human figures and grimacing heads. The bases of the columns are adorned with corner leaves in the shape of animal and human heads. The choir still has its original ribbed vault . The keystones of the choir aisles are decorated with sculptures of angels and crowned people.
crypt
The oldest part of the church is the crypt, which dates back to the first half of the 11th century and is located under the choir. It is laid out as a three-aisled hall church with a right-angled floor plan and ends in a three-part apse. The groin vaults of the three naves rest on six columns, the ceiling paintings date from the 16th century. The niches cut into the walls are former windows that were later walled up.
Murals
A wall painting from the 16th century depicts the martyrdom of St. Juliana of Nicomedia , of whom relics are venerated in the church. Another wall painting from the 16th century with the motif of Ecce homo is above the entrance to the sacristy .
Leaded glass window
In the north aisle of the choir there is a stained glass window from the mid-16th century depicting the tree of the Sibyls .
The theme of the central upper choir window is the Assumption of Mary . The two lower side windows with the signature CM-CHAMPIGNEULLE 40 RUE DENFERT PARIS 1905 were created by the glass painter Louis-Charles-Marie Champigneulle (1853–1905). They represent the Evangelist John and the French King Louis the Saint . The lower middle choir window with the signature L. KOCH A BEAUVAIS is dedicated to the Pentecost scene . Louis Koch also created the two windows depicting Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and Pope Innocent II. After the election of the antipope Anaclet II , a council was convened in Étampes in 1130, at which Bernard of Clairvaux stood up for Innocent II.
The lead glass window depicting Saint Clement of Rome in the south transept bears the signature GERENTE . The window was designed by Alfred Gérente around 1868 and installed in the church in 1869. It represents the patron saint of millers, who has a millstone tied around his neck as a sign of his martyrdom . The small round discs are reminiscent of the miracles of the saint. The two windows depicting St. Fiacrius , the patron saint of gardeners, and St. John of Matha were made by the glass painter Janin . The windows are dated 1891. An unknown artist created the two windows with scenes from the life of Jesus and the life of Mary, which are dated 1880 and 1890 respectively.
The modern windows in the south aisle were made in 2006 and are dedicated to the Archangel Michael , the patron saint of Étampes.
organ
The organ was built in the late 16th century. The date 1587 is on the organ prospectus. In the 18th century the organ was expanded and restored in 1843 by the organ builder Marie Antoine Louis Suret . Another restoration took place in 1987 by Jean Loup Boisseau and Bernard Cattiaux. In 1966 the instrumental part and in 1975 the organ case were declared a monument historique . The organ has 17 stops on two manuals . The pedal is attached to the 1st manual.
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literature
- Laissez vous conter la Collégiale Notre-Dame-du-Fort . Leaflet of the Animation du Patrimoine service
- Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos (ed.): Le Guide du Patrimoine. Île-de-France . Hachette, Paris 2nd edition 1994, ISBN 2-01-016811-9 , pp. 246-250.
- Georges Poisson (ed.): Dictionnaire des Monuments d'Île de France . Éditions Hervas, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-84334-002-0 , pp. 312-313.
- Anne Prache: Romanesque Île-de-France (Paris and surroundings) . Echter Verlag, Würzburg 1987, ISBN 3-429-01029-2 , pp. 273-279.
- Jochen Staebel: Notre-Dame of Étampes. The collegiate church of the 11th – 13th centuries Century with special consideration of their early Gothic building sculpture = manuscripts for art history in the Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft 62. Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft , Worms 2003, ISBN 978-3-88462-961-1 .
Web links
- Organ in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- Collégiale Notre-Dame-du-Fort topic topos (French)
- Léon Guibourgé: L'église Notre-Dame d'Étampes (1957) Corpus Étampois
- Notre-Dame-du-Fort Photos
Individual evidence
- ↑ Église Notre-Dame in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ↑ corpusetampois.com
- ↑ Saint Juliana ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. topic topos (French)
- ↑ Ecce Homo ( Memento of the original from January 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. topic topos (French)
- ↑ Janin short biography at the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ↑ Comprehensive information on the organ (French)
Coordinates: 48 ° 26 ′ 5.9 ″ N , 2 ° 9 ′ 51 ″ E