Chapelle de Christ et croix
MonumentHidden Treasure
Chapelle de Christ et croix, located in Trégrom (Département 22), 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
- Trégrom, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.6106, -3.3945
- Mérimée Reference
- PA22000049
Perchée sur sa colline bretonne, cette chapelle Renaissance en granite abrite une tribune polychrome du XVIIe siècle issue d'un jubé médiéval, véritable trésor de la sculpture sur bois en Trégor.
History
Standing at the top of a wooded spur overlooking the village of Trégrom, in the Côtes-d'Armor region, the chapel of Christ and the Cross is one of those discreet jewels that the Trégor region knows so well how to hide in its folds of granite and greenery. Surrounded by a vast placître - a typically Breton parish enclosure - bordered by a slope planted with venerable trees, the building presents itself with a sober dignity that immediately commands respect. An ancient cross, a familiar silhouette in the Armorican countryside, watches over the whole from the embankment. What really sets this chapel apart from the many other rural chapels in Brittany is the exceptional quality of its interior furnishings. Its polychrome wooden gallery, created at the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, is a masterpiece of reuse: it was composed from seven panels carved in the sixteenth century, depicting scenes from the Passion of Christ with an expressiveness and refinement that betray the hand of a first-rate workshop. These panels came from a former rood screen, a piece of liturgical furniture that had long since disappeared from the nave, and have thus found a second life in this gallery of warm, deep colours. A visit to the Chapel of Christ and the Cross is like diving into the long history of Breton devotion. The interior space, compact and restrained, highlights every sculpted detail: sorrowful faces, nervous draperies, remarkably legible narrative scenes. The light filtered through the granite windows gives the polychrome woodwork an added depth, depending on the time of day. The exterior setting is also an integral part of the experience: the promontory offers a peaceful panorama of the hedged farmland of the Trégor interior, and the silence that reigns in the cloister invites contemplation. Far from the tourist crowds, this monument, listed as a Historic Monument since 2015, remains a rare place of authenticity, at the crossroads of Breton folk art and great Renaissance sculpture.
Architecture
The chapel of Christ and the Cross adopts a square plan typical of Breton seigneurial chapels of the 16th century, combining a liturgically oriented main rectangular nave (choir to the east) and a side chapel to the north, reserved for seigneurial use. The chevet is flat, a common solution in Breton religious architecture during the Renaissance, which breaks with the semi-circular apse of classical Gothic architecture. The whole structure is built of large granite units, the local stone par excellence, carefully cut and laid in regular courses to give the building a solid, homogenous appearance. The exterior architecture is characterised by its sobriety: there is no exuberant sculpted decoration, but the quality of the granite cut and the balanced proportions of the volumes bear witness to the mastery of the local masons. Inside, the dominant feature is undoubtedly the polychrome wooden gallery, a veritable showcase that focuses the visitor's attention. Made up of seven panels carved in the 16th century and installed in the 17th or early 18th century, this tribune illustrates the Passion scenes with vigorous relief and polychromy that is still legible despite the centuries. The figures, expressive and anatomically meticulous, reveal an influence from Flemish sculpture and the French Renaissance. The original colour scheme - ochres, reds, blues and golds - gives the whole a striking visual presence in the austere space of the granite vessel. The placître, bounded by a planted embankment, and the ancient cross that punctuates it, form a coherent whole with the chapel, testifying to the persistence of Breton devotional practices.
Related Figures
Seigneur local (non identifié) — commanditaire présumé de la chapelle seigneuriale au XVIe siècleSculpteur anonyme de l'atelier trégorois — auteur des sept panneaux de la Passion vers 1530-1560Menuisier-sculpteur anonyme — réalisateur de la tribune polychrome au XVIIe-début XVIIIe siècleCommunauté paroissiale de Trégrom — gardienne et conservatrice du mobilier sur plusieurs sièclesDirection Régionale des Affaires Culturelles de Bretagne — instructeur de l'inscription MH en 2015
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Chapelle de Christ et croix located?
Chapelle de Christ et croix is located in Trégrom, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Chapelle de Christ et croix built?
Chapelle de Christ et croix dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Chapelle de Christ et croix open to visitors?
Chapelle de Christ et croix is currently closed to visitors.
