St-Justin (Louvres)
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The Catholic parish church of Saint-Justin in Louvres , a municipality in the department of Val-d'Oise in the French region of Ile-de-France , is a Romanesque building from the late 11th century, expanded in the 12th century and in the 16th century was changed in the style of the Renaissance . Since 1914, the church has been on the list of cultural monuments in France as a Monument historique .
history
The Saint-Justin church was probably commissioned by the prior of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Martin-des-Champs in Paris , who held the right of patronage for the Louvres until the French Revolution . From this first single-nave church only the Romanesque west portal remains. From the middle of the 12th century the church was extended by two bays in the east and the two aisles. During this construction work, the old church was largely demolished, only the west facade remained. Four rectangular pillars with columns and pilasters go back to the second church .
In the 14th century the vault of the central nave was renewed and the large choir window was created . After destruction during the Hundred Years War and the uprisings of the nobility against Louis XI. the reconstruction of the western yokes of the nave began towards the end of the 15th century . The keystones , capitals and frieze with Renaissance décor and carved salamanders, the emblem of the French King Francis I (1494–1547), date from the middle of the 16th century .
architecture
Exterior construction
On the west facade there is a two- tiered Romanesque portal from the end of the 11th century. It is surrounded by archivolts with jagged decoration and framed on both sides by two columns with stylized leaf capitals. The west facade and the outer walls of the side aisles, which are broken through by large tracery windows, are structured by mighty buttresses .
The Saint-Rieul tower, the only remnant of the Saint-Rieul church, which was only separated from the Saint-Justin church by a narrow alley, is used as a bell tower. Saint-Justin probably never had its own bell tower.
inner space
The church has three aisles and is divided into five bays , which end with a rectangular choir in the east. The windowless central nave is only illuminated through the windows of the side aisles and the two windows of the choir and the west facade.
In the third yoke of the central nave there is an elaborately designed keystone with a length of 1.75 m. On four sides it is provided with niches in which the sculptures of the Christian virtues (faith, hope, love) and perseverance are set. The north aisle also has a vault with richly carved keystones.
Paintings depicting saints have been preserved on the pillars. Some columns are decorated with mourning ribbons ( liter funéraires ) and the coats of arms of noble families, which were painted on a black background after the death of a relative.
Leaded glass window
From the windows of the 16th century only the tracery panes, which were built into the window with scenes from the life of Louis the Saint, have survived. It depicts God the Father who is surrounded by angels making music.
The large choir window is dedicated to the patron saint of the church, Saint Justin, who, according to legend, was beheaded by Roman soldiers in Louvres in the 4th century. The window bears the year 1884. The opposite window (from 1913) above the organ gallery shows how Saint Justin receives a crown and a martyr's palm from an angel.
Four windows in the north aisle depict the evangelists . They date from the 19th century. The themes of the other windows from the early 20th century are: Jesus and the Children, the Baptism of Christ, the Heart of Jesus and Saint Joseph . The windows of the south aisle are dedicated to St. Mauritius and St. Genoveva . The window above the south portal depicts Louis the saint in two scenes, which are described in the inscription below: “Saint Louis porte la sainte et glorieuse couronne d'épines. Saint Louis rend la justice sous le chêne de Vincennes ”(Saint Louis wears the holy and glorious crown of thorns. Saint Louis holds court under the oak of Vincennes). The window is signed: "TOURNEL 1925".
The other windows were also created in the early 20th century. They depict scenes from the life of St. Rieul , the first bishop and patron saint of Senlis . The window depicting the Holy Family was made in the style of the 16th century , like the window of the Assumption of Mary . Another window unites St. Augustine and the canonized Emperor Heinrich II , in the middle of which St. Anne teaches her daughter Maria to read.
Furnishing
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- In the floor and in the steps in front of the altar there are numerous grave slabs from the 17th and 18th centuries, the inscriptions and engravings of which have already faded.
- The 16th century baptismal font is decorated on four sides with scenes from the life of Christ: Adoration of the Shepherds, Baptism of Christ, Last Supper and Resurrection. The scenes were probably badly damaged during the revolution.
organ
The organ was built by the organ builder Alexis Collet in Malakoff and added two stops in 1935. The purely mechanical instrument has registers on two manuals and a pedal.
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literature
- Dominique Foussard, Charles Huet, Mathieu Lours: Églises du Val-d'Oise. Pays de France, Vallée de Montmorency . Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie de Gonesse et du Pays de France, 2nd edition, Gonesse 2011, ISBN 978-2-9531554-2-6 .
- Le Patrimoine des Communes du Val-d'Oise . Flohic Éditions, Volume 2, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-84234-056-6 , pp. 346-349.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Église Saint-Justin in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ↑ Information on the organ
Coordinates: 49 ° 2 ′ 29 " N , 2 ° 30 ′ 22.5" E