St-Fiacre (Le Faouët)

Saint-Fiacre chapel

Choir and south transept

South porch

The Catholic chapel Saint-Fiacre in Le Faouët , a parish in the Morbihan department in the French region of Brittany , was built in the second half of the 15th century in the flamboyant Gothic style . The church is about two and a half kilometers from the town center. It is dedicated to St. Fiacrius , a hermit from Ireland who came to France in the 7th century and settled in the Brie , near Meaux . In addition to a rich array of sculptures and leaded glass windows from the 15th and 16th centuries, a wood-carved rood screen from the late 15th century has been preserved in the church. In 1889, the chapel was added to the list of architectural monuments ( Base Mérimée ) in France as Monument historique .

history

In the place of the present chapel there was a pilgrim hospital or hostel, which was built in 1436, as evidenced by an inscription on a stone reused in the construction of a house. An inscription on the rood screen shows that it was created in 1480. The construction of the chapel is dated between 1450 and 1480/90.

architecture

Exterior construction

The square bell tower rises above the west facade, which is flanked by two smaller, octagonal towers, to which it is connected by bridges. A spiral staircase is built into the southern tower that allows access to the bell tower. Two buttresses that only reach halfway up the facade frame the west portal, which is surrounded by slightly pointed archivolts and slender, set columns.

The east side of the choir is broken through by a large, four-lane tracery window and crowned by a triangular gable. The relief above the window shows the coat of arms of the Breton dukes and their banner with ermine tails .

On the south side of the nave a vestibule is mounted, the outer portal of trefoil sheets framed and of one with crab occupied ogee with a finial is flashed. The niches in the interior of the vestibule intended for the figures of the apostles, but not occupied, are provided with carved plinths and canopies . The arched archivolts of the inner portal are decorated with crabs, they frame an unadorned tympanum with an equally empty niche. In the middle of the portal, two doors open to the interior.

inner space

Choir

Interior, rood screen

The chapel consists of a main nave to which a side aisle adjoins in the north, a transept and a just closed choir , which forms the extension of the main nave. The entire interior is spanned by wooden ceilings that rest on beams, at the ends of which the mouths of monsters, figures and grimaces are carved. Several piscines, framed by keel arches with finials, have been cut into the walls .

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  Wooden ceiling with carved keystone

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  Piscina

Passion window

Leaded glass window

Five stained glass windows from the Renaissance have been preserved in the church .

• The central choir window (window 0) with scenes of the Passion and the raising of Lazarus comes from the middle of the 16th century.
• The window with scenes from the life of John the Baptist (window 3) also dates from the middle of the 16th century.
• The Wurzel-Jesse-Fenster (window 4) contains panes from the third quarter of the 15th century and the middle of the 16th century.
• The window with scenes from the life of St. Fiacrius (window 6) shows the year 1552 in an inscription.
• The window of the Holy Kinship (window 7) is marked with the years 1550, the year the window was made, and 1912, the year of restoration.

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  Window with scenes from the life of John the Baptist

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  Root Jesse Window

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  Window with scenes from the life of St. Fiacrius

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  Holy Kinship Window

Rood screen

Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian

Furnishing

• The most important piece of equipment in the chapel is the wood-carved rood screen, which was created by Olivier le Loergan (or Loernagan) between 1480 and 1492.
• Like the pulpit , the painted wooden gallery dates from the 17th century.
• The relief carved in stone of the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian was created in the 15th century. There are still remains of the paint on the relief.
• The kneeling figure of the Breton Duke Johann VI. (called Johann V in France) from the first half of the 15th century is one of the oldest objects in the chapel.
• The carved figure of St. Ivo Hélory is also dated to the 15th century.
• The group of figures depicting the martyrdom of St. Apollonia dates from the late 15th century.
• The wood-carved, partially gilded figure of the Madonna and Child is a work from the 16th century.
• The colored carved figure of St. Fiacrius, the church patron, is also dated to the 16th century. It stands in a niche under a precious canopy.
• The colored granite figure of Saint Anthony , like the colored granite torso of the Man of Sorrows, also dates from the 16th century.
• The figure of a deacon from the 16./17. Century is believed to represent St. Lawrence .
• Another carved figure from the 16./17. Century may represent Saint Augustine .

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  Duke Johann VI.

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  Saint Ivo Hélory

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  Martyrdom of St. Apollonia

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  Madonna and Child

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  Saint Fiacrius

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  Saint Anthony

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  Man of Sorrows

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  Deacon, Saint Lawrence (?)

literature

• Le Patrimoine des Communes du Morbihan. Flohic Éditions, Volume 1, Paris 1996, ISBN 2-84234-009-4 , pp. 241-244.
• Brittany. Hachette, Guides Bleus, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-01-015841-5 , pp. 335-336.
• Françoise Gatouillat, Michel Hérold: Les vitraux de Bretagne (= Corpus Vitrearum ). Volume VII, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, Rennes 2005, ISBN 2-87535-0151-3 , pp. 286-290.

Web links

Commons : Saint-Fiacre (Le Faouët)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• La Chapelle Saint-Fiacre de le Faouët infoBretagne.com (French, accessed April 16, 2020)
• Chapelle Saint-Fiacre (Le Faouët) L'Inventaire du patrimoine culturel en Bretagne (Conseil régional de Bretagne) (French, accessed April 16, 2020)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chapelle Saint-Fiacre in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
2. ↑ Renaissance window in Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
3. ↑ Jubé in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
4. ↑ Jubé in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
5. ↑ Gallery in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
6. ↑ Pulpit in Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
7. ↑ Martyrdom of St. Sebastian in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
8. ↑ Duke Johann VI. in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
9. ↑ Saint Ivo Hélory in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
10. ↑ Martyrdom of St. Apollonia in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
11. ↑ Madonna and Child in Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
12. ↑ Saint Fiacrius in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
13. ↑ Saint Anthony in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
14. ↑ Man of Sorrows in Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
15. ↑ Deacon in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
16. ↑ Saint Augustine? in the Base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

Coordinates: 48 ° 0 ′ 50.8 ″  N , 3 ° 29 ′ 12.5 ″  W.