Ste-Marie-Madeleine (Vézelay)

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Ste-Marie-Madeleine with a cleaned facade

The Sainte-Marie-Madeleine basilica is a Romanesque church in Vézelay in Burgundy . It has had the title of minor basilica since 1925 . Vézelay hill and church have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979 . Since 1998, the church has also been recognized as part of the “Camino de Santiago in France” World Heritage Site.

history

South side of the basilica with the preserved remains of the cloister
Main portal of the church, seen from the narthex, with a view to the east

Today's basilica Sainte-Marie-Madeleine is not the first church in this place, before a Carolingian church stood here. Abbot Artaud replaced the Carolingian choir with a Romanesque one; it was consecrated in 1104. In 1120 the Carolingian nave was damaged by fire. Then the construction of today's main nave and its facade with the three figurative portals began. Work on the nave and the facade was finished by 1140 at the latest, perhaps as early as 1132 (the consecration of an ecclesia peregrinorum in the presence of the Pope has been handed down for this year ). Then (1145–50) followed the vestibule, the so-called narthex , with its own exterior facade. Today's monumental complex, which is closed to the outside, is only the second plan; previously an open and significantly lower vestibule was planned. The Vézelay Abbey was an important center of Christianity. It was not only the destination of a flourishing pilgrimage to the alleged tomb of Maria Magdalena , which was located here from the middle of the 12th century, but also the starting point of one of the four most important pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela . The pilgrims' foundations ensured a steady flow of money into the abbey's coffers, while the political independence from local authorities (the Bishop of Autun, the Count of Nevers) ensured their local power. The relevance of the abbey can be seen from the fact that it served as the scene of numerous events of world historical importance: in 1146, for example, the second crusade was proclaimed in Vézelay .

“Shortly after the completion of the nave, Vézelay experienced the climax of its history: at Easter 1146, Bernhard von Clairvaux called on Pope Eugen III. in front of a huge crowd, which the church cannot contain and has therefore gathered on the slope south of the church, in the presence of King Louis VII, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine and the greats of the empire for the Second Crusade. More than half a century later, in 1190, the kings Philippe-Auguste and Richard the Lionheart meet with their armies in Vézelay for the Third Crusade to Palestine [...] Vézelay is not only a meeting place for pilgrims, but also for knights from all over Europe. In 1166 Thomas Becket escaped from the persecution of the English king, St. Francis founded his first branch in France here in 1217. "

- Klaus Bußmann: Burgund , Cologne 1977, p. 171

After another fire, the choir and transept were built in an early Gothic style in 1185–1215 . Even later (1260) the south-west tower (St. Michel) followed with a 15 m high wooden spire and the high-Gothic west facade. The north tower was not built any further. In 1819 the spire burned down. Viollet-le-Duc restored the very dilapidated church from 1840. Under his leadership, the outer west portal, which probably showed the Last Judgment with a Majestas Domini and was almost completely destroyed in the French Revolution, was replaced by a new creation.

The church was given to the French fraternity of Jérusalem brothers and sisters for use by the local bishop in 1993 . Vézelay is world famous for the capitals of the pillars that illustrate biblical stories, as well as the main portal.

Main church

Right side portal: Birth and adoration of Jesus

The Sainte Marie-Madeleine church is a three-aisled basilica with a very elongated nave (ten narrow rectangular traves ), a barely cantilevered transept and an ambulatory choir with wreath chapels . The elevation of the central nave wall is two-zone, the individual groin-vaulted traves are separated from one another by a differentiated system of wall templates. There are numerous elaborately figured or floral capitals in the central and side aisles.

The choir, on the other hand, has a three-zone structure, with high, narrow arcades, a triforium and large ogive cantilever windows without tracery .

The structure of the nave of Vézelay has a special position in Burgundy. Many other churches in Burgundy from this period (e.g. Paray-le-Monial , St. Lazare in Autun ) are shaped in their architectural style by the church of the mighty Cluny monastery . The Cluniac architectural system shows a three-part wall structure ( arcades , triforium , window) and the use of the pointed arch in the arcades and in the barrel vault. In contrast, only the round arch is used in Vézelay, the wall structure is two-story and the nave is covered with a groin vault. The church in Anzy-le-Duc is regarded as a model for this building structure . St. Lazare in neighboring Avallon is also comparable . The change in color of the stone layers in the belt arches is characteristic . This feature had already been introduced into Burgundian architecture 100 years earlier with the abbey church of Saint-Philibert in Tournus , which was started around 1020 .

crypt

crypt

The crypt is under the raised choir. It is 19 m long and 9.20 m wide. It has a groin vault that rests on twelve columns of different sizes. The crypt contained alleged relics of Mary Magdalene .

lobby

In front of the building is a three-aisled, three-bay narthex in front of the building. The tympana and the capitals owe their excellent state of preservation to her. Such a vestibule was used, among other things, as an additional station for the expansive processions of the Cluniac rite.

The large central portal (built in connection with the nave, between 1120 and 1140) in the tympanum shows the donation of the Holy Spirit to the apostles through Christ, i.e. the Pentecost event. It is at the same time the foundation of the church and the sending of the apostles to missions all over the world. The peoples of the earth to whom the apostles are supposed to bring the gospel are represented in the box-like framed fields. The medallions of the archivolts show the signs of the zodiac and monthly work. The side portals show the beginning and end of Jesus' earthly life: on the left the Annunciation, the birth and adoration of the Magi, on the right the Emmaus apparition and the Ascension.

  • Narthex, central portal with a view

  • The Christ of the tympanum

  • The people

Capitals

The capitals of Vézelay date from between 1120 and 1140. Of the 99 capitals in the nave, only a few were replaced by copies of the originals in the 19th century. The main themes of the capitals of Vézelay are the depictions of good and evil in various examples.

The most famous capital in Vézelay is The Mystical Mill . A man in a short robe with shoes on his feet pours grain into a mill, while another barefooted man, wearing a white toga, catches the flour. In the first figure one must see Moses; in the grain that he pours into the mill, the law of the Old Testament, which he received from God on Mount Sinai. In the mill that grinds the grain, Christ is symbolically represented (the wheel is marked with a cross). The apostle Paul is shown in the man who catches the grain, and in the flour itself the law of the new covenant, the new righteousness. The law of Moses contained the truth, but it was a hidden truth, as hidden as the flour in the grain. It was only through Christ's sacrifice on the cross that it was transformed into this flour, which can be absorbed by processing it into bread: and that is the new law of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which St. Paul accepted by God's commission to spread it further.

  • Mystical mill

  • Eustachius chases the stag

  • Despair and lust

  • Death of the rich splatter

  • Four winds

  • Jacob's fight with the angel

  • Blessing of Jacob through Isaac

  • Dance around the golden calf

  • David defeats Goliath

  • Daniel in the lions' den

Choir

  • Choeur.eglise.Vezelay.png
  • Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine de Vézelay PM 46785.jpg

organ

The organ was built in 1922 by the organ builder Reygaërt (Auxerre); the case was created by the artist Lebrun (Vézelay). The purely mechanical instrument has 16 stops on two manuals and a pedal . The pedal registers are transmissions.

I Grand Orgue C-g 3
Bourdon 16 ′
Montre 8th'
Bourdon 8th'
Salicional 8th'
Prestant 4 ′
Duplicate 2 ′
Fittings
Trumpets 8th'
II Récit C – g 3
Flûte traversière 8th'
Viole de Gambe 8th'
Voix céleste 8th'
Flute 4 ′
Trompette harmonique 8th'
Basson / Hautbois 8th'
Pedalier C – f 1
Soubasse (from GO) 16 ′
Basse (from Récit) 8th'

Art historical literature

  • Peter Diemer: Style and iconography of the capitals by Ste.-Madeleine, Vézelay. Dissertation. Heidelberg 1975.
  • Bernhard Rupprecht: Romanesque sculpture in France. Recordings by Max Hirmer and Albert Hirmer , 2nd edition. Hirmer, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7774-3750-6 .
  • Francis Salet: La Madeleine de Vézelay . Étude iconographique de Jean Adhémar. Melun 1948.
  • Stéphane Büttner: La mise en œuvre de la façade et du grand portail de la nef de Vézelay. Nouvelles données archéologiques . In: Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa XLV, 2014. Le portail roman - XIe-XIIe siècles. Nouvelles approches, nouvelles perspectives. Pp. 145-156.
  • Marcel Angoben: Apocalypse XXI – XXII et l'iconographie du portail central de la nef de Vézelay . In: Cahiers de civilization médiévale 41, 1998. pp. 209-240.
  • Peter Diemer: The Pentecost portal of Vézelay. Ways, detours and deviations in a discussion . In: Yearbook of the Central Institute for Art History 1, 1985. pp. 77–114.
  • Arnaud Timbert: Vézelay: le chevet de la Madeleine et le premier gothique bourguignon. Rennes 2009.

Art guide

  • Klaus Bussmann: Burgundy. DuMont, Cologne 1988, ISBN 3-7701-0846-9 .
  • Thorsten Droste: Burgundy. Heartland of the European Middle Ages. Hirmer, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-7774-8980-8 .
  • Sibylle Lauth: Art monuments in Burgundy. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2004, ISBN 3-534-14908-4 .

Web links

Commons : Ste-Marie-Madeleine (Vézelay)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Completed in 2019 on the 40th anniversary of Vezelay's entry on the UNESCO World Heritage List
  2. ^ Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine on gcatholic.org
  3. ↑ a b Stéphane Büttner: La mise en œuvre de la façade et du grand portail de la nef de Vézelay. Nouvelles données archéologiques . In: Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa. Le portail roman - XIe-XIIe siècles. Nouvelles approches, nouvelles perspectives . tape XLV , 2014, p. 145–156, here p. 146 .
  4. ^ A b Francis Salet: La Madeleine de Vézelay . Melun 1948, p. 33 f .
  5. ↑ Peter Diemer: The Pentecost portal of Vézelay. Ways, detours and deviations in a discussion . In: Yearbook of the Central Institute for Art History . No. 1 , 1985, pp. 77–114, here p. 102 f .
  6. ↑ Marcel Angheben: Apocalypse XXI-XXII et l'du iconographie portail central de la nef de Vezelay . In: Cahiers de civilization médiévale . tape 41 , 1998, pp. 209–240, here p. 213 ff .
  7. ↑ Information on the organ (French)

Coordinates: 47 ° 27 ′ 59 "  N , 3 ° 44 ′ 55"  E