Church of the Val-de-Grâce
Encyclopedia
This article describes the church of the Val-de-Grâce. For the surrounding hospital and former abbey, see Val-de-Grâce
.
The Church of the Val-de-Grâce is the church of a former royal abbey in the 5th arrondissement of Paris
, in what is now the Val-de-Grâce
Hospital. The dome of the church is a principal landmark of the skyline of Paris. The church was initially designed by François Mansart
, succeeded by Jacques Lemercier
, who designed the dome.
, Queen Consort
of Louis XIII in 1621. Anne, a devout Roman Catholic and counter-reformationist
, had visited a priory in the deep valley of the Bièvre river and had become a friend of the prioress, Marguerite de Veny d'Arbouse. Anne suggested that an abbey be established with a suitable church. Construction began in 1634 on land given by the crown, the former Hôtel du Petit-Bourbon. Construction proceeded slowly, particularly after Anne fell from favor with the King. The estranged Anne spent time at the abbey, watched by Cardinal Richelieu and participating in intrigues with others who were out of favor. Louis finally forbade Anne to visit the abbey, but soon after, Anne became pregnant with Louis' heir, the Dauphin Louis Dieudonné
.
After the death of her husband, Anne became Queen-Regent to her four-year-old son, now Louis XIV. In gratitude for her son, Anne pressed forward with the construction of an entirely rebuilt church and monastery, "to spare no expense and to leave an eternal mark of her piety." In 1645 Anne engaged François Mansart as the project's architect, but Mansart departed after only a year after disagreement over the scope and cost of the project. The church was finally finished in 1667, after the successive participation of Mansart, Jacques Lemercier, Pierre Le Muet
and Gabriel Leduc.
During the French Revolution
the royal symbols were effaced. The abbey, still a model of religious construction of the 17th century, was disestablished during the French Revolution
and became a military hospital in 1796 at the order of the National Convention
. In 1979 the hospital was moved to a new facility, built on the former kitchen garden of the Benedictines. Today, the abbey contains the museum and library of the of the Army Health Service, the school of the Val-de-Grâce, and hospital staff offices.
When the abbey was disestablished in 1790 the furniture was removed along with the organ. The church itself was preserved as an architectural monument, and was spared the fate of several nearby convents, such as those of the Ursulines
and the Feuillantines. The baldachino was preserved, but the high altar was moved to the care of the Petis-Augustins, and the small figures of the baldachino's nativity crèche were installed at the Église Saint-Roch
. The high altar was rebuilt at the order of Napoleon III by Victor Ruprich-Robert. The priest at Saint-Roch declined to return the original Anguier crèche, so a duplicate was created, using three sculptors. Clement Denis sculpted the infant Jesus, Justin-Marie the Virgin, and Joseph was sculpted by Louis Desprez.
. Mansart's plan envisioned towers flanking the nave and an elevated entrance, giving the impression of a castle rather than the façade of a traditional church.
The two-story facade, with its double stages of twin columns supporting a pediment
and flanking consoles, recalls church elevations from the first part of the 17th century, such as the Église des Feuillants, also designed by Mansart in 1623-24. More clear and sober than the Mannerists, Mansart's facade squares his façade with linked vertical lines using the columns and entablatures. The dome, with baroque accents, contains an inner dome decorated by Pierre Mignard
: "La Gloire des Bonheureux" (1663) and a baldachino inspired by that at Saint Peter's Basilica.
To give thanks for the birth of her son, Anne of Austria dedicated the church in honor of the Virgin Mary. The dedication on the porch pediment reads "IESU NASCENTI VIRGINIQ (EU) MATRI."
A copy of the Val de Grâce baldachino exists at the Church of Saint-François de Sales in Neuville, Quebec
.
before the French Revolution
, when it was dismantled and dispersed, apart from the name of its builder, Germain Pilon, who also built the organ at St. Louis des Invalides
. The Val-de-Grâce had no organ until the late 19th century, when an Aristide Cavaillé-Coll
organ which had been installed in 1853 in the church of Sainte Genevieve
became available with the church's transformation into the Panthéon. The organ was moved to the Val-de-Grâce in 1891. The organ was lightly renovated and expanded in 1927 by Paul-Marie Koenig. The organ was restored in 1992-93, removing Koenig's additions, and the "petit grande-orgue" of Cavaillé-Coll is one of the few organs in the Paris region that has not been changed to suit the taste of the times.
Val-de-Grâce
This article describes the hospital and former abbey. For the main article on Mansart and Lemercier's central church, see Church of the Val-de-Grâce....
.
The Church of the Val-de-Grâce is the church of a former royal abbey in the 5th arrondissement of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, in what is now the Val-de-Grâce
Val-de-Grâce
This article describes the hospital and former abbey. For the main article on Mansart and Lemercier's central church, see Church of the Val-de-Grâce....
Hospital. The dome of the church is a principal landmark of the skyline of Paris. The church was initially designed by François Mansart
François Mansart
François Mansart was a French architect credited with introducing classicism into Baroque architecture of France...
, succeeded by Jacques Lemercier
Jacques Lemercier
Jacques Lemercier was a French architect and engineer, one of the influential trio that included Louis Le Vau and François Mansart who formed the classicizing French Baroque manner, drawing from French traditions of the previous century and current Roman practice the fresh, essentially French...
, who designed the dome.
History
The church was founded by Anne of AustriaAnne of Austria
Anne of Austria was Queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish Infanta by birth...
, Queen Consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of Louis XIII in 1621. Anne, a devout Roman Catholic and counter-reformationist
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
, had visited a priory in the deep valley of the Bièvre river and had become a friend of the prioress, Marguerite de Veny d'Arbouse. Anne suggested that an abbey be established with a suitable church. Construction began in 1634 on land given by the crown, the former Hôtel du Petit-Bourbon. Construction proceeded slowly, particularly after Anne fell from favor with the King. The estranged Anne spent time at the abbey, watched by Cardinal Richelieu and participating in intrigues with others who were out of favor. Louis finally forbade Anne to visit the abbey, but soon after, Anne became pregnant with Louis' heir, the Dauphin Louis Dieudonné
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
.
After the death of her husband, Anne became Queen-Regent to her four-year-old son, now Louis XIV. In gratitude for her son, Anne pressed forward with the construction of an entirely rebuilt church and monastery, "to spare no expense and to leave an eternal mark of her piety." In 1645 Anne engaged François Mansart as the project's architect, but Mansart departed after only a year after disagreement over the scope and cost of the project. The church was finally finished in 1667, after the successive participation of Mansart, Jacques Lemercier, Pierre Le Muet
Pierre Le Muet
Pierre Le Muet was a French architect famous for his book Manière de bâtir pour toutes sortes de personnes , and for the châteaux he constructed, most notably Tanlay in Burgundy, as well as some modest houses in Paris, the grandest of which, the Hôtel d’Avaux survives and has recently been...
and Gabriel Leduc.
During the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
the royal symbols were effaced. The abbey, still a model of religious construction of the 17th century, was disestablished during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and became a military hospital in 1796 at the order of the National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
. In 1979 the hospital was moved to a new facility, built on the former kitchen garden of the Benedictines. Today, the abbey contains the museum and library of the of the Army Health Service, the school of the Val-de-Grâce, and hospital staff offices.
When the abbey was disestablished in 1790 the furniture was removed along with the organ. The church itself was preserved as an architectural monument, and was spared the fate of several nearby convents, such as those of the Ursulines
Ursulines
The Ursulines are a Roman Catholic religious order for women founded at Brescia, Italy, by Saint Angela de Merici in November 1535, primarily for the education of girls and the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint is Saint Ursula.-History:St Angela de Merici spent 17 years leading a...
and the Feuillantines. The baldachino was preserved, but the high altar was moved to the care of the Petis-Augustins, and the small figures of the baldachino's nativity crèche were installed at the Église Saint-Roch
Église Saint-Roch
The Church of Saint Roch is a late Baroque church in Paris. Located at 284 rue Saint-Honoré, in the 1st arrondissement, it was built between 1653 and 1722.- History :...
. The high altar was rebuilt at the order of Napoleon III by Victor Ruprich-Robert. The priest at Saint-Roch declined to return the original Anguier crèche, so a duplicate was created, using three sculptors. Clement Denis sculpted the infant Jesus, Justin-Marie the Virgin, and Joseph was sculpted by Louis Desprez.
Description of the church
The plan of the church is a Latin cross crowned by a domeDome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
. Mansart's plan envisioned towers flanking the nave and an elevated entrance, giving the impression of a castle rather than the façade of a traditional church.
The two-story facade, with its double stages of twin columns supporting a pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
and flanking consoles, recalls church elevations from the first part of the 17th century, such as the Église des Feuillants, also designed by Mansart in 1623-24. More clear and sober than the Mannerists, Mansart's facade squares his façade with linked vertical lines using the columns and entablatures. The dome, with baroque accents, contains an inner dome decorated by Pierre Mignard
Pierre Mignard
Pierre Mignard , called "Le Romain" to distinguish him from his brother Nicolas Mignard, was a French painter...
: "La Gloire des Bonheureux" (1663) and a baldachino inspired by that at Saint Peter's Basilica.
To give thanks for the birth of her son, Anne of Austria dedicated the church in honor of the Virgin Mary. The dedication on the porch pediment reads "IESU NASCENTI VIRGINIQ (EU) MATRI."
A copy of the Val de Grâce baldachino exists at the Church of Saint-François de Sales in Neuville, Quebec
Neuville, Quebec
Neuville is a village on the north shore of the Saint Laurence River, just west of Quebec City, part of the Portneuf Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1684, and has remained quite picturesque throughout these years....
.
Organ
Nothing is known of the Val-de-Grâce pipe organPipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
before the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, when it was dismantled and dispersed, apart from the name of its builder, Germain Pilon, who also built the organ at St. Louis des Invalides
Les Invalides
Les Invalides , officially known as L'Hôtel national des Invalides , is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's...
. The Val-de-Grâce had no organ until the late 19th century, when an Aristide Cavaillé-Coll
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll was a French organ builder. He is considered by many to be the greatest organ builder of the 19th century because he combined both science and art to make his instruments...
organ which had been installed in 1853 in the church of Sainte Genevieve
Panthéon, Paris
The Panthéon is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris. It was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve and to house the reliquary châsse containing her relics but, after many changes, now functions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens...
became available with the church's transformation into the Panthéon. The organ was moved to the Val-de-Grâce in 1891. The organ was lightly renovated and expanded in 1927 by Paul-Marie Koenig. The organ was restored in 1992-93, removing Koenig's additions, and the "petit grande-orgue" of Cavaillé-Coll is one of the few organs in the Paris region that has not been changed to suit the taste of the times.