History
A chapel dedicated to Saint Margaret the Virgin was begun on the site in 1625 in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, then a rural and working-class neighbourhood. Construction continued in stages, with many interruptions, until 1764. During the French Revolution, it was one of the rare churches which was allowed to remain open; twenty-six of the thirty priests of the church took an oath to the Constitutional government in 1790, and put the church under the authority of the government. [2] After 1795, it was declared a "Temple of Liberty and Equality", and, while the building survived, all of the paintings Sculpture disappeared. . After the Revolution, the art was replaced with other works confiscated from churches that had been destroyed. [3]
It was widely believed that the body of the Dauphin Louis XVII, the ten-year old son of Louis XVI, executed during the Revolution, was buried in the cemetery adjacent to the church.. A plaque to that effect was placed on the wall of the cemetery. This story was investigated at the end of the 19th century, and a lead casket found in cemetery was opened, but the remains inside belonged to a man of age fifteen to twenty. This was confirmed in 1894 by a further forensic investigation. [4]
Art and decoration
Several of the most important art works in the church are displayed here. They include the "Descent from the Cross" by Charles Dorigny. It depicts the suffering of Christ, surrounded by Mary, Mary-Madeleine, Nicodemus and the other Apostles, surrounding the body of Christ. The figure of Joseph of Aramathea has the features of King Henry IV of France, who was in the last years of his reign when the painting was made.
The choir at the east end, where the clergy have their stalls, is decorated with another of the major art works in the church; parts of funeral monument to Catherine Duchemin, the wife of the sculptor François Girardon, best known for his sculpture in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles. This is a work in the Baroque style entitled "Christ taken down from the Cross", by two students of Girardon, Eustache Mourrisson and Robert Le Lorrain. [8]
Stained glass
An upper window of the nave (19th c.)
Window celebrating visit of
Pope Pius VII to the church in 1805
Saint Joseph Window
Saint Marguerite window (1882)
A 20th-century window depicting warriors from history and the First World War
The stained glass windows in the church date mostly from the 19th century or later; the original windows were destroyed during the French Revolution. One window commemorates the visit to the church of Pope Pius VII in 1805, shortly after the building was formally returned to the Catholic Church. Another windows commemorate the death of Monseigneur Affré, killed during the fighting at the barricades in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine during the French Revolution of 1848.
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