St-Antoine (Saint-Antoine-l'Abbaye)
The former abbey church of Saint-Antoine in Saint-Antoine-l'Abbaye , a parish in the Isère department in the French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes , was built in the 14th century on the site of a previous Romanesque church. With its dimensions of 61 meters in length, 32 meters in width and a 22-meter high central nave, it is on a par with the large Gothic cathedrals.
history
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As early as the 11th century there was a church below the castle of La-Motte-aux-Bois, which was dedicated to Mary . The relics of St. Anthony , which the lord of the castle Jocelyn of Châteauneuf de l'Albenc had brought back from his pilgrimage from the Holy Land in 1070 . Under the name of Saint-Antoine, the place became a center of attraction for pilgrims from all over Europe, who primarily hoped to be cured there from a disease known as the Antonius fire in the Middle Ages .
In 1088, at the instigation of Pope Urban II, Benedictines from Montmajour Abbey in Saint-Antoine founded a priory . They were to look after the Anthony relics and build a new church appropriate to the importance of these relics and the large number of pilgrims. In 1119 Pope Calixt II consecrated this church, which was probably later destroyed by fire. The construction of a new church began in the 12th century, but the dispute between the Benedictines and the fraternity (Maison de l'Aumône), which Gaston de Valloire had founded around 1095 out of gratitude for the healing of his son, brought the Construction work to a standstill. In 1297 Pope Boniface VIII decided in favor of the Brotherhood, which he raised to Canon Regular of the Order of Antonite . The Benedictines had to leave Saint-Antoine and give the relics to the Antonites. They continued the construction of the abbey church in 1337, which was completed around 1484.
During the French Revolution , the convent buildings were sold and the church became a parish church. In 1840 the church was as a protected monument in the list of Monuments historiques added.
architecture
Exterior construction
The choir with its simple, stepped buttresses and its small windows comes from the first, early Gothic construction phase . The nave with its buttresses occupied by pinnacles and gargoyles and the large tracery windows belong to the high Gothic style, while the west facade shows the flamboyant style of the late Gothic.
The sculptural decoration of the west portal is attributed to Antoine Le Moiturier , who stayed in Saint-Antoine from 1461 to 1464 and then worked on the tomb of the Burgundian Duke Johann Ohnefurcht in the Chartreuse de Champmol . The portal was badly damaged during the Wars of Religion (1562–1598) and a large part of the original vestments were destroyed.
On the inner archivolt prophets and kings of the Old Testament are depicted, on the two outer archivolts angels are arranged in pairs. In the center of the central archivolt Christ is enthroned as Salvator Mundi . Above the portal, a large window with nine triskeles in the tracery breaks through the facade.
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inner space
The three-aisled nave is divided into eight bays , which are covered by ribbed vaults. The keystones are decorated partly still with crest. The elevation is three stories. The high, pointed arcades rest on mighty pillars with pillars . A triforium runs under the upper windows , which is made up of three arcades in the nave and twin arcades in the choir. The two side aisles are joined by chapels , which were connected by passages in the 17th century.
Murals
Wall paintings from the 15th century have been preserved in two chapels in the north aisle. In the chapel dedicated to the hermit Paul of Thebes , the crucifixion of Christ is depicted and opposite St. Christophorus carrying the baby Jesus. Another scene shows St. Anthony, who, with the help of two lions, buries the hermit Paul. In the chapel dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul, wall paintings depicting scenes from the lives of the two apostles and St. Antony exposed again.
Leaded glass window
The choir windows date from the 19th century. They represent St. Anthony, Pope Calixt II and Jocelyn of Châteauneuf de l'Albenc, who brought the Anthony relics to the place in the 11th century, as crusaders .
In the Notre-Dame-de-Consolation chapel, which was added to the southern choir at the end of the 15th century and served as a small sacristy from the end of the 17th century , there are stained glass windows from 1605, the oldest windows in the church. On the left pane with the inscription Ave Maria one is Pietà shown on the right pane emblazoned the year 1605 and the dew of St. Anthony.
Furnishing
- The marble and bronze main altar was commissioned in 1667 after the original altar was destroyed during the Wars of Religion. It holds the shrine with the relics of St. Anthony, which was also recreated in the 17th century.
- The wood-carved choir stalls with 97 seats date from 1630.
- The relics of various saints and martyrs are kept in some valuable reliquaries and reliquary busts in the Michael's chapel, which was added to the southern choir head in 1352 and which formerly served as a chapter house and later as a sacristy.
organ
The organ dates from the 17th century. The organ front made of walnut, decorated with large angel figures making music , was made in 1639. It is crowned by the coat of arms of the Antonites, the double-headed eagle and the rope . In 1805 the organ came to Grenoble and was only brought back to the Saint-Antoine church in 1984.
literature
- Christian Maurel: L'Ordre hospitalier de Saint-Antoine et son Église abbatiale . Editions Lescuyer, 2011.
- Thorsten Droste : Dauphiné and Haute-Provence. Discovery trips between the Rhône and the Alps, from Lyon to the Verdon Gorge . DuMont, Cologne 1992, ISBN 3-7701-2408-1 , p. 128-149 .
Web links
- Abbaye Saint-Antoine in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
Coordinates: 45 ° 10 ′ 34.4 " N , 5 ° 12 ′ 56.8" E