Notre-Dame (Cléry)

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Notre-Dame de Cléry - view from the southwest
Main altar

Notre-Dame de Cléry is a former collegiate church in Cléry-Saint-André and has had the title of Basilica minor since 1894 . It is considered to be one of the most important sacred buildings with windows in the flamboyant style .

history

The previous building, a 13th century Marian pilgrimage church, was destroyed by the English during the Hundred Years War in 1428; only the tower from the beginning of the 14th century remained. In 1449 Charles VII and Count Jean de Dunois (* 1402, † 1468) began to rebuild the church. The builder was initially Pierre Chauvin, from 1460 Pierre Le Paige. The new building was actively supported by King Ludwig XI. who had made a corresponding pledge in 1443. The king also commissioned the painter Jean Fouquet and the sculptor Michel Colombe , both important artists of his empire, to design his tomb for this church; He was buried here in 1483. Construction was completed two years later.

Building description

The seven-bay basilica has a transept that does not protrude with a slim roof turret . The two-bay east choir with ambulatory closes with five eighths. The low tower of the previous building, which does not protrude beyond the church roof, is on the north side. The interior is almost 80 m long and 27 m high. The tracery of the pointed arch windows is extremely rich in the flamboyant style. Only a few of the original ten chapels have survived, including the three-bay St. John's Chapel on the south side of the nave, the burial place of Count Dunois and his family, and the two-bay Chapel of St. James from 1515 to 1518, burial place of the dean of the church, with a lush rib vault Gilles de Pontbriand and his brother François.

Furnishing

  • The (new) miraculous image, an enthroned Madonna made of oak (17th century), stands on the main altar, which was erected in the 19th century.
  • Of the Gothic stained glass, only those in the middle choir window have survived. This was from Heinrich III. donated and shows the Pentecost miracle and under it himself, surrounded by the four evangelists, at the re-establishment of the Order of the Holy Spirit . The rest of the windows are 19th century creations.
  • The 42-seat choir stalls, decorated with carvings, were donated by Heinrich II. In 1550.
  • As early as 1477, Tanneguy du Chastel, a loyal to Ludwig, was buried in the adjacent crypt.
  • Charles VIII's heart is buried on the south side of the nave .
  • In the Jakobus Chapel, which was the first station on the Jakobusweg from Orléans , the vaulted caps are ornately carved: you can find pilgrim sticks, pilgrim sacks and scourge ropes. The burial niches have carved canopies . Noteworthy are the sculptures of saints in this chapel made of wood and stone; they date from the 16th and 17th centuries.
  • The portal of the sacristy, access to a former burial chapel, shows ornamental forms of plants. A window opening above the portal points to the oratorio of Louis XI. down.

Cenotaph of Louis XI.

Cenotaph of Louis XI.

The most significant piece of equipment is the cenotaph of Louis XI. on the north side of the nave under the foremost arcade, which was rebuilt in the 19th century. Its inclined arrangement is due to its alignment with the original pilgrimage altar in front of a rood screen. The tomb consists of a marble slab on four pillars on which the life-size king kneels in a praying posture in the direction of the former pilgrimage altar. Four putti holding cartridges accompany him. The original bronze statue, commissioned by Ludwig himself, was melted down by the Huguenots in 1562; Today's marble statue is the work of the sculptor Michel Bourdin from Orléans from 1622. Louis XI is buried. and his wife Charlotte of Savoy in a burial vault near the cenotaph.

organ

The organ dates from the 19th century and was built by the organ builder Lorot. The instrument was initially in a church in Orleans and was only later installed and expanded in the basilica. The organ has 13 stops on two manuals and a pedal. The actions are mechanical.

I Grand Orgue C – f 3
1. Bourdon 16 ′
2. Bourdon 8th'
3. Flute 8th'
4th Viol 8th'
5. Prestant 4 ′
6th Trumpets 8th'
7th Clairon 4 ′
II Récit expressif c 0 –g 3
8th. Flûte harmonique 8th'
9. Viol 8th'
10. Voix céleste 8th'
11. Flûte octaviante 4 ′
12. Trumpets 8th'
Tremblant
Pedale C – g 0
13. Soubasse 16 ′
  • Coupling I / I as sub-octave coupling, II / I, I / P

  • The church in 1699

  • Choir page

  • Longhouse

  • James Chapel

  • Portal of the sacristy

  • Tomb slab of Tanneguy du Chastel

literature

  • Notre-Dame de Cléry. In: Wilfried Hansmann and Marianne Bongartz: Valley of the Loire. Ostfildern: DuMont-Reiseverlag, 3rd, updated edition 2008. pp. 74–76, ISBN 978-3-7701-6614-5
  • Cléry Saint André en 1900 . Editions Les Amis de Cléry, 1986
  • Philippe Araguas: Cléry Saint André. La Collégiale notre Dame . Editions Association Images et Patrimoines du Loiret, 1992
  • Louis Jarry: Histoire de Cléry et de l'église collégiale et chapelle de Notre-Dame de Cléry. Le livre d'histoire, coll. "Monographies des villes et villages de France". 1899, reprinted in 2006

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.gcatholic.org/churches/france/0432.htm on gcatholic.org
  2. ↑ Information on the organ (French)

Web links

Commons : Notre-Dame (Cléry)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 49 ′ 12.7 ″  N , 1 ° 45 ′ 19 ″  E