Aix Cathedral
Aix Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix) in Aix-en-Provence in Provence in southern France is the seat of the Archbishop of Aix. It is built upon the place de l'Université, on the site of the ancient Roman Forum. Built and re-built from the 12th century until the 19th century, it includes Romanesque, Gothic and Neo-Gothic elements, plus Roman columns and parts of the baptistery from the earlier Christian church. It is a National Monument of France.
Origin of the Cathedral
Legends about its origin
The cathedral is located on the route of an ancient Roman road, the Via Aurelia. A fragment of a roman wall and the columns of the baptistery seem to be the origin of the legend that that church was built on top of a Roman temple dedicated to Apollo. The history Pitton (1654) claimed that the temple had been dedicated to a sun god, basing his claim upon the discovery of the uncovered leg of statue at the site.
According to the Christian tradition, the first church on the site was founded by St. Maximin, who arrived in Provence from Palestine with Mary Magdalene on a boat belonging to Lazarus. Maximin built a modest chapel on the site of the present cathedral and dedicated it to the Holy Saviour.
Destruction of the ancient chapel
During the invasion of the Saracens in the 8th Century and 9th century, the original chapel of Saint-Sauveur was destroyed.
Construction of the Cathedral
Around the year 500, under the Bishop Basilius, a group of episcopal buildings was constructed on top of the old roman forum, including a chapel, a baptistery, plus several other rooms. [1]
At the beginning of the 12th century, a new church was begun on the same site, with Romanesque walls bearing the three bays of a wide single nave. This Parish church was dedicated to St. Mary of the Seat.
A second nave, called Saint Maximin, was built about 1165-1177 as the church of the Canons. It also had a single nave, and was located between the first nave and the baptistery. The choir of this church ended in a flat chevet wall, which connected by a door with the Saint-Chapel, part of the original sixth century episcopal group. The chapel was rebuilt in the 12th century, and when the Gothic nave was added, the original chapel was included into the cathedral and became the oratory of the Saviour. It was destroyed in 1808.
At the end of the 12th century and beginning of the 13th century, Aix became the capital of Provence, and the city's population and importance grew rapidly. Religious orders began to arrive; the Franciscans first, then Dominicans, Carmelites, and Augustines, building new churches, monasteries and convents.
A surge of construction on the cathedral paralleled the growth of importance of Aix. Two new wings of the transept, built in the Gothc style, were begun about 1285-1290, and finished in 1316. Bay by bay, the old Romanesque church was transformed into a Gothic cathedral.
The building of the new church was interrupted by the Black Plague, and then the Hundred Years War. Work did not resume for 130 years, until 1472, when the last bay was built. The facade took another thirty years. and the last statues were not put into place until 1513, when the Renaissance was just beginning.
The Facade and Bell Tower
The original Romanesque front of Saint Mary's nave was destroyed in the 15th century, and replaced with a new Gothic front and a bell tower.
The facade features four statues by Jean , made in 1512-1513, on the middle level; Saint Mitre (carrying his head); Saint Mary Magdalene, (carrying a flask of perfume); Saint Louis of Anjou; the brother of Robert, Count of Provence; and the other Saint Louis, his grand uncle, the King of France, who had died in 1270.
Jacotin Paproche, from Picardy, sculpted the ten small prophets and twenty cherubim (1484) on the facade.
Pierre Souquet created the two statues on the upper level, representing the frist two bishops of Aix, by tradition; Maximin and Sidoine.
The centerpiece of the facade is Saint Michael Crushing the Dragon (1507), by Jean Paumier, from Burgundy.
The facade originally also included twelve statues of the apostles, and six statues on the tympanium, which were destroyed during the French Revolution.
The Carved Doors
The doors of the Cathedral were ordered by the Chapter in 1505, and carved of walnut by the brothers Raymond and Jean Bolhit of Aix and by the Toulon sculptor Jean Guiramand.
The door features four rounded figures of the major prophets of the Old Testament Isaiah, Ezikiel, Daniel, and Jeremy.
Above the prophets are the figures of twelve Sybils, pagan fortune-tellers from antiquity; they were honored by Medieval Christian scholars for having forecast the birth, death and ressurection of Christ.
The figures are framed with garlands of grape bunches, pomegrantes and acorns, symbols of the eucharist, and fanastic animals; a lion, a dragon, an aspic (a type of dragon); and a basilisk, a cock with the tail of a snake, representing the battle between good and evil. [2]
The Baptistery
The Baptistery was built in the beginning of the 6th century, at about the same time as similar baptisteries in Frejus Cathedral and Riez in Provence; Liguria, and Djemila in Algeria. Only the octagonal baptismal pool and the lower part of the walls remain from that period. The other walls and the dome were rebuilt in the Renaissance. A viewing hole in the floor reveals the bases of the porticoes of the Roman forum under the baptistry.
The Cloister
The Cloister was used by the Canons, the priests who served the bishop and administered the church's property. It was built at the end of the 12th century, at a time when Canons were urged to live a more austere communal life, like monks inside a monastery.
The Cloister was built at upon the old Roman square, dating to the 1st century AD. The galleries were timbered and not vaulted, so the pairs of columns in the arcades that support them are slender and graceful.
The four columns at the angles of the cloister are decorated with carvings of the symbols of the four evangelists; an angel for St. Matthew; A Lion for St. Mark; A bull for St. Luke; and an eagle for St. John.
The capitals of the columns on the west and north are decorated with scenes of the New Testament and Old Testament, and with a statue of St. Peter. A marble slab in the west gallery, whose inscription has worn away, may be the tomb of Basilius, bishop of Aix in 500, and the builder of the first Cathedral. [3]
Works of Art in the Cathedral
- The Burning Bush, triptych by Nicolas Froment, an Avignon painter, a masterpiece of the 15th century. The painting came from the convent of the Grand-Carmes, destroyed during the French Revolution. The central panel represents the Virgin and Child seen on the burning bush. In the foreground, Moses, guarding his flock, is amazed by the vision. The two other parts of the tryptch show the patrons of the work, King René and Queen Jeanne of Provence, in a pious posture.
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Central Panel -
Left and right panels
- Transfiguration of the Saviour, by Jean Daret fils.
- The Last Supper, by Jean Daret père.
- The doubting of St. Thomas, by Finsonius.
- The Triumph of Faith.
- The Résurrection of Lazarus, by Christophe Veyrier[4], formerly in the chapel of the Carmelites.
- Seventeen tapestries attributed to the Flemish painter Quentin Metsys : lThe Nativity;, The presentation; the Annunciation; the Visitation; The Revelation to the Shepherds; the Nativity of Our Lord; The Baptism of Jesus; The Sermon on the Mount; The Resurrection of Lazarus; The Flagellation; The Crown of Thorns; The Crucifixion; The Descent from the Cross; The Visit to Limbo; The Resurrection; The Ascension; and The Pentacost.
Altar of the Aygosi
This stone altar, originally installed in the church of the Carmelites in Aix, was placed at Saint-Sauveur in 1823. On the left side is the inscription. "Anne, la glorieuse mère de la Vierge Marie est vénérée dans la présente chapelle. Noble homme Urbain Aygosi a exposé ici le comble de l'amour. En la présente année du Seigneur 1470, la chapelle est achevée par la grâce de Dieu, le 28 janvier. (Anne, the glorious mother of the Virgin Mary, is venerated in this chapel. The nobleman Urbain Aygosi shows here the overflowing of his love. In the year of Our Lord 1470, the chapel is finished, by the grace of God, on January 28.")
This monument includes:
- an altar surmounted by a false tabernacle, with, at its edge, the coat of arms of Urbain Argosy.
- a tabernacle decorated with a Christ with the inscription, "Look, mortal, it is for you that such a victim is delivered."
- a retable of stone with six figures; Saint Anne with the Virgin Mary, holding the infant Jesus; Saint Maurice in a coat of armor of the 15th century; St. Marguerite with a dragon; and Christ on the Cross. Some other parts of the altar, statues of the Virgin and of St. Jean, are displayed at the Musee Granet. The sculptor of the altar, Audinet Stéphani, was originally from Cambrai, and worked in Aix and its region between 1446 et 1476.
Lost Art Works
- A stained glass window by Jean Joye, was destroyed during the French Revolution.
External Links
Bibliography
- La Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix-en-Provence, Pierre Coste et al., Édisud, Aix-en-Provence, 1982, 1988.
- Les Rues d'Aix, Roux-Alphéran, 1846.
- Évocation du vieil Aix-en-Provence, André Bouyala d'Arnaud, éd. de Minuit, 1964.
- Annales de la sainte église d'Aix, J.-S. Pitton, Lyon, 1668.
References
- ^ Guidebook to the Saint Sauveur Cathedral in Aix-en-Provence, bu Pierre Cost, Rollins Guild, Jean Guyon, and Lucien Rivet, Edisud, Cathedrale Vivante, August 2006
- ^ Guidebook, pg. 19
- ^ Guidebook pg. 14
- ^ Student of sculptor Pierre Puget.
Aix Cathedral in fiction
- Aix Cathedral features prominently in the urban fantasy novel Ysabel by fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay.