Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux

Last updated
Notre-Dame des Blancs-Manteaux
P1010379 Paris IV Notre-Dame-des-Blanc-Manteaux reductwk.JPG
Religion
Affiliation Catholic Church
Province Archdiocese of Paris
Region Île-de-France
Rite Roman Rite
StatusActive
Location
Location2 Rue des Blancs-Manteaux, 4th arrondissement of Paris
State France
Geographic coordinates 48°51′32″N2°21′27″E / 48.85889°N 2.35750°E / 48.85889; 2.35750
Architecture
TypeParish church
Style French Baroque
Groundbreaking1685 (1685)
Completed1690 (1690)
Official name: Monastère des Blancs-Manteaux (ancien)
Designated1983
Reference no.PA00086472 [1]
DenominationÉglise
Website
www.ndbm.fr

Notre-Dame des Blancs-Manteaux is a Roman Catholic parish church at 12 Rue des Blancs-Manteaux in Le Marais, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. It takes its name from the "Les Blancs-Manteaux" ("white mantles"), for the cloaks worn by the mendicant Augustinian Order of Servites, who founded the first church 1258. It was rebuilt between 1685 and 1689 in the French Baroque or French neoclassical style. It is noted for its remarkable carved wood pulpit (1749) and its collection of paintings and sculpture.

Contents

History

The church was founded by the Serfs de Marie, a community of monks founded in 1223 in Marseille, who followed the rules of Saint Augustine, and wore a black robe with a white mantle. With the support of King Louis XIII, they moved to Paris, and were given a large plot of land in the Marais district, just outside the city walls, formerly owned by the Order of the Knights Templar. It extended the length of the old rue de la Petite Parchemerie (now rue des Blancs-Manteaux) just outside the city walls in the Marais district. They built their first church there in 1258. Soon afterwards, However, in 1274, the Second Council of Lyon, held by the Vatican, decided to dissolve twenty-two different religious orders, including the Serfs de Marie. The abbey was transferred to the Order of the Brothers of Saint Guillaume of Malval and then, in 1618, to the Benedictine monks of the Order of Saint Maurus, who placed the novice monks there for their education. The monks no longer wore the white mantle, but the name "Blancs-Manteaux" stayed with the church. [2]

The present church was rebuilt between 1685 and 1690 by architect Charles Duval in the style of French baroque architecture or French classicism of the reign of Louis XIV. The royal chancellor, Michel Le Tellier, laid the first stone in 1685. In 1796-97, During the French Revolution, all the monastic orders were suppressed; the church was pillaged and sold, and the other buildings of the abbey were demolished. IN 1801, under the Concordate of Napoleon Bonaparte with the Pope, the building was returned to the church and restored. [3]

In 1863, during Haussmann's renovation of Paris under Napoléon III. the church was enlarged. The architect Victor Baltard added an eighth traverse to the structure facing rue des Blancs-Manteaux, and attached the portal and facade of the Church of Saint-Éloi from the Île de la Cité, which had been demolished to make way for the new Boulevard du Palais. [4]

Exterior

The church is oriented north-south, along the east side of the Square Charles-Victor-Langlois. The major entrance is at the south end, on rue des Blancs-Manteaux, with a secondary entrance on the north at 53 rue des Francs-Bourgeois.

The facade of the church was taken from another church, which was demolished during Haussmann's renovation of Paris. It followed the style of the Church of the Gesù in Rome, the model for Baroque churches across Europe. Built in 1704 on a plan Jean-Sylvain Cartault (1675-1758), the facade was transported stone by stone to the new site in 1863. The architect extended the nave by one traverse to make the junction with the new facade. The facade is composed of elements of two classical orders superimposed; The lower portion has pilasters with capitals of the Doric order, while the upper is decorated with pilasters and consoles of the Ionic order. [5]

All the other buildings of the original Abbey were destroyed after the Revolution, but the fountain, built in 1719. was preserved. It was moved to its present location on the exterior of the church in 1979.

Interior

In keeping with the name, the interior of the church is almost entirely white. The nave is lined with classical columns with fluting, or shallow grooves, and topped with capitals in the Corinthian order. The columns support arcades with rounded arches. Following the medieval tradition, the entablements of the arcades decorated with symbolic bas-reliefs; those on the north represent events of the Old Testament, and those on the South from New Testament. Above these are medallions depicting prominent Saints. [6]

The Chapels

Art and Decoration

The Pulpit

The most striking feature of the nave is the pulpit, of sculpted wood, from which sermons and Biblical texts were read; it was designed so the speaker would be visible and audible to everyone in the church. The pulpit was made in Bavaria in 1749, the German rococo style. The stairway is decorated with medallions depicting scenes from the New Testament, made of marquetry encrusted with ivory and metals. On the summit of the pulpit is a sculpture of the Archangel Michael overthrowing the Devil. [7]

Painting and Sculpture

The church possesses a notable collection of sculpture and painting from the 17th century. The paintings of note include "The multiplication of the bread", by Claude Audran the Younger (1639–1684), depicting a miracle in the Bible by which Christ was able to feed a crowd of several thousand with seven loaves of bread and several fish (Mark 8, verses 1-9). [8] Audran became an assistant to the royal painter Charles Le Brun, making frescos for the Tuileries Palace and for the Palace of Versailles.

Stained Glass

The original stained glass disappeared with the first church during the Revolution. The present stained glass is from the mid-20th century.

Organ and organ case

The organ is a modern instrument made in the north German style by the firm of Kern, inaugurated in 1968. It features three keyboards and forty-two "Jeux" or organ stops. The church as an additional organ located in the choir.

The organ case is classified as an object of historic importance by the French Ministry of Culture. The organ case was designed by M. Baltard to be in harmony the porch interior, dating from the 17th century. The decoration of the organ case was carried out between 1831 and 1867. The tribune was created in 1863 by the architect Varcollier, re-using finely carved woodwork coming from the Abbey of Saint Victor, which was demolished in 1795 during the French Revolution. The works of the entrance include a gallery of six carved columns with Ionic order capitals. The portal itself is framed in finely carved wooden sculpture. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Étienne-du-Mont</span> Church in Paris, France

Saint-Étienne-du-Mont is a church in Paris, France, on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in the 5th arrondissement, near the Panthéon. It contains the shrine of St. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris. The church also contains the tombs of Blaise Pascal and Jean Racine. Jean-Paul Marat is buried in the church's cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Germain-des-Prés (abbey)</span> Abbey located in Paris, in France

The Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés is a Roman Catholic parish church located in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter of Paris. It was originally the church of a Benedictine abbey founded in the 6th century, by Childebert I, the son of Clovis, King of the Franks. It was destroyed by the Vikings, rebuilt, and renamed in the 8th century for Saint Germain, an early Bishop of the city. It is considered the oldest existing church in Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Eustache, Paris</span> Church in Paris, France

The Church of St. Eustache, Paris, is a church in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The present building was built between 1532 and 1632.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais</span> Church in arrondissement of Paris, France

Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais is a Roman Catholic parish church located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, on Place Saint-Gervais in the Marais district, east of City Hall. The current church was built between 1494 and 1657, on the site of two earlier churches; the facade, completed last, was the first example of the French baroque style in Paris. The organists of the church included Louis Couperin and his nephew François Couperin, two of the most celebrated composers and musicians of the Baroque period; the organ they used can still be seen today. The church contains remarkable examples of medieval carved choir stalls, stained glass from the 16th century, 17th century sculpture, and modern stained glass by Sylvie Gaudin and Claude Courageux. Saint-Gervais was a parish church until 1975, when it became the headquarters of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sainte-Trinité, Paris</span>

The Église de la Sainte-Trinité is a Roman Catholic church located on the place d'Estienne d'Orves, at 3 rue de la Trinité, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. It was built between 1861 and 1867 during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III, in the residential neighborhood of the Chaussée d'Antin. It is in the ornate Neo-Renaissance or Second Empire Style, with a highly visible 65-meter-tall belfry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sainte-Clotilde, Paris</span> Church in France

The Basilica of Saint Clotilde is a basilica church located on the Rue Las Cases, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It was constructed between 1846 and 1856, and is the first example of a church in Paris in the neo-Gothic style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, Paris</span> Basilica church in Paris

Located at 6, rue Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, The Basilica of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires is one of ten minor basilicas located in the Île-de-France region of France. It was begun as an Abbey church, and constructed between 1629 and 1740 in the French classical style. Its name was given by King Louis XIII, who dedicated it to his victory over the Protestants at La Rochelle in 1628 during the French Wars of Religion. Notre-Dame-des-Victoires is famous for the ex voto offerings left there by the faithful. Over 37,000 devotional plaques, silver and gold hearts, as well as military decorations, have been left at the basilica. The closest Métro station is 'Bourse'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Augustin, Paris</span> Church in arrondissement of Paris, France

The Église Saint-Augustin de Paris is a Roman Catholic church located at 46 boulevard Malesherbes in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The church was built between 1860 and 1871 by the Paris city chief architect Victor Baltard. It was the first church in Paris to combine a cast-iron frame, fully visible, with stone construction. It was designed to provide a prominent landmark at the junction of two new boulevards built during Haussmann's renovation of Paris under Napoleon III. The closest métro station is Saint-Augustin

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Roch, Paris</span>

The Church of Saint-Roch is a 17th–18th-century French Baroque and classical style church in Paris, dedicated to Saint Roch. It is located at 284 rue Saint-Honoré, in the 1st arrondissement. The current church was built between 1653 and 1740.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Paris</span>

Notre-Dame-de-Lorette is a Roman Catholic church located in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, It was built between 1823 and 1836 in the Neo-classical architectural style by architect Louis-Hippolyte Lebas, in a neighbourhood known as the New Athens, for its many artistic and scholarly residents in the 19th century, including George Sand, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Alexandre Dumas. While the exterior is classical and austere, the church interior is known for its rich collection of paintings, sculpture, and polychrome decoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis</span> Church in Paris, France

The Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis is a church on rue Saint-Antoine in the Marais quarter of Paris. The present building was constructed from 1627 to 1641 by the Jesuit architects Étienne Martellange and François Derand, on the orders of Louis XIII of France. It was the first church in Paris to break away entirely from the Gothic style and to use the new Baroque style of the Jesuits, and it had an important influence on Parisian religious architecture. It gives its name to Place Saint-Paul and its nearest Metro station, Saint-Paul. Next door to the church is the Lycée Charlemagne, also founded by the Jesuits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas</span> Church in Paris, France

Saint-Jacques du Haut-Pas is a Roman Catholic parish church in Paris, France. The church is located at the corner of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue de l'Abbé de l'Épée in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. The first church on the site, a monastery chapel, was built in 1360. The present church was completed in 1685. The church is named for Saint-Jacques Du-Haut-Pas,", a cousin of Christ and the first bishop of Jerusalem, who was martyred in the year 60.It was registered as an historical monument on 4 June 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple du Marais</span> Church in Paris, France

The Temple du Marais, sometimes known as the Temple Sainte-Marie, or historically, as the Church of Sainte Marie de la Visitation, is a Protestant church located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, in the district of Le Marais at 17 Rue Saint-Antoine. It was originally built as a Roman Catholic convent by the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, whose sisters were commonly called the Visitandines. The church was closed in the French Revolution and later given to a Protestant congregation which continues its ministry to the present. The closest métro station is Bastille

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes</span> Church located in Paris

Église Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes (Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes) is a Roman Catholic church located at 70 rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built as the chapel of a convent of the mendicant order of Shoeless Carmelites. It is now the church of the Catholic Institute of Paris, a university-level seminary for training priests, and is also a parish church for the neighbourhood. It is dedicated to Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary. Built between 1613 and 1620, it combines elements of Classical architecture on the exterior with a remarkable display of Baroque architecture and art in the interior. The chapel is open to the public at limited hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin, Paris</span>

Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin is a Roman Catholic church located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, place Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin, between the rue du Bac and the boulevard Saint-Germain. The church is named for Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican friar and priest, and influential philosopher and theologian in the 13th century. It was originally a chapel of an abbey of the Dominican order in Paris. Construction began in 1682, and the church was consecrated in 1682. The friars were expelled and the church was closed during the French Revolution, and was not returned to the Catholic church until 1802. During the 19th century, the City of Paris endowed the church with many fine examples of French religious art. The church was declared an Historic Monument in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles de Paris</span> Church in arrondissement of Paris, France

The Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles de Paris is a Roman Catholic parish church in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. It has housed the relics of the Empress Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, since 1819, for which it remains a site of veneration in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. In 1915 the French Ministry of Culture listed it as a monument of historical value.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile</span> Roman Catholic church in Paris, France

Église Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile is a Roman Catholic church located at 6 rue Sainte-Cécile in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. In 1983 it was designated as a monument historique in its entirety. Designed in the Neo-Gothic style by Louis-Auguste Boileau and Louis-Adrien Lusson, the church was the first in France to use an entirely iron-framed construction. The first stone was laid in 1854, and the building was completed in 1855.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sainte-Marguerite, Paris</span> Roman Catholic church in Paris

Sainte-Marguerite, Paris is a Roman Catholic church located at 36 Rue Saint-Bernard in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1625, and constructed in a neoclassical style. A notable feature of the interior is the Chapel of the Souls in Purgatory, a chapel created by the architect Victor Louis between 1760 and 1764, using trompe-l'oeil murals to illustrate the values of antiquity and the Counter-Reform. The church was classified as a national historic monument by the French Government in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Medard, Paris</span> Church in Paris, France

Saint-Médard, Paris, is a Roman Catholic church located at 105 Rue Mouffetard in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. It takes its name from Saint Medard, the bishop of Noyon in northern France, who was protector of Queen Razdegonde, and helped her found a convent at Noyon to escape her abusive husband, the King. Medard is the patron saint of French farmers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Église Saint-Philippe-du-Roule</span> Church in Paris, France

The Église Saint-Philippe-du-Roule is a Roman Catholic church located at 154 Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. Resembling a Roman temple. it was built in the style of Neoclassicism between 1774 and 1784 by architect Jean-François Chalgrin best known for his design of the Arc de Triomphe. It was enlarged in 1845 by the architects Étienne-Hippolyte Godde and Victor Baltard.

References

Bibliography (in French)