Calvaire
MonumentHidden Treasure
Calvaire, located in Plougastel-Daoulas (Département 29), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Plougastel-Daoulas, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.3739, -4.3701
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090241
Erected between 1602 and 1604 in memory of a devastating plague, the Calvary of Plougastel-Daoulas features some 150 figures sculpted in kersantite, offering a stone Passion fresco of rare intensity.
History
In the heart of the Plougastel-Daoulas peninsula, in Finistère, stands one of the most impressive monumental calvaries in the whole of Brittany. Rising out of the dark kersantite stone - Breton sandstone with an almost metallic sheen - the sculpted ensemble unfurls on its sides a hundred and a half figures caught up in the drama of Christ's Passion, forming a veritable open-air stone bible. What sets Plougastel apart from its peers is above all the narrative density of its composition. Where other Breton calvaries spread their scenes out over a generous surface area, the Plougastel calvary concentrates them with an almost theatrical tension, leaving groups of figures surprisingly legible despite their abundance. Each corner spur bears the massive statue of an evangelist, like four sentinels watching over the building, while a sculpted frieze runs around the base, uniting the narrative in a continuous movement. To visit Calvary is to agree to slow down. You turn around the base, looking up, trying to decipher the scenes: the Last Supper, the kiss of Judas, the flagellation, the ascent to Calvary, the Crucifixion between the two thieves... Each panel calls for attention, each face carved into the black rock seems to bear the imprint of a people who confide their pain to the stone rather than to words. The immediate surroundings heighten the emotion. The parish enclosure that houses the calvary - with its church, ossuary and triumphal gate - forms a coherent whole typical of Lower Brittany in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The changing, vivid light of Finistère alters the appearance of the stone as the hours go by, changing from slate grey to almost blue at dusk. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1889, the Plougastel Calvary is a collective work of art borne by an entire community in mourning, a memorial that transcends the simple gesture of devotion to achieve a truly artistic dimension. For anyone interested in Breton art, stone sculpture or the popular expression of the sacred, this monument is simply a must-see.
Architecture
The calvary at Plougastel-Daoulas follows the canonical layout of the monumental Breton calvary as codified in Guimiliau, its illustrious predecessor, but interprets it with its own rigour. The base is made up of an imposing square mass, the four corners of which are reinforced by oblique spurs each pierced by an arched bay. On the outside of each spur is a statue of an evangelist - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - transforming these functional buttresses into niches for a sacred figure. A sculpted frieze runs around the entire upper part of the base, framing the Passion scenes that unfold like a stone procession. The three Crucifixion crosses rise from the platform that crowns the base. Christ's cross, with its double crossbeam - known as a two-armed cross - dominates the ensemble, flanked by those of the two thieves. Around these crosses, some one hundred and fifty figures form identifiable scenes: the arrest in the Garden of Olives, the trial before Pilate, the scourging, the carrying of the cross, the deposition and the burial. The arrangement of these figures follows a narrative logic that the faithful of the 17th century read naturally, educated as they were by preaching and holy images. The entire structure is carved from kersantite, a fine-grained volcanic rock typical of the Brest harbour, whose dark colour - somewhere between slate-grey and blue-black - gives the building an immediate visual gravity. Its resistance to erosion explains the relatively good preservation of the sculpted details after four centuries of exposure to the sea spray and rain of the Finistère region.
Related Figures
Les sculpteurs anonymes de l'atelier breton (vers 1602-1604) — maîtres de la taille du kersantiteLes paroissiens de Plougastel-Daoulas — commanditaires collectifs du vœu de 1598Prosper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, promoteur de la protection du patrimoine breton au XIXe siècleLes victimes de la peste de 1598 — mémoire collective à l'origine du monument
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Calvaire located?
Calvaire is located in Plougastel-Daoulas, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Calvaire built?
Calvaire dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Calvaire open to visitors?
Calvaire is currently closed to visitors.