Chapelle de Kermaria-an'Isquit
MonumentHidden Treasure
Chapelle de Kermaria-an'Isquit, located in Plouha (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
- Plouha, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.6850, -2.9757
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089487
Au cœur de la Bretagne, cette chapelle médiévale recèle l'une des plus rares danses macabres peintes de France, chef-d'œuvre du XVe siècle où la mort convie rois et manants à l'ultime bal.
History
Nestling in a green setting in Plouha, in the Côtes-d'Armor region, the chapel of Kermaria-an'Isquit - whose Breton name literally means "house of Mary who restores health" - is one of those Breton shrines that seem suspended in time. Discreet from the road, it reveals itself to visitors as a veritable treasure trove of medieval heritage, combining Gothic architecture with wall paintings that are exceptionally rare in France. What makes Kermaria a monument in its own right is above all its danse macabre, painted between 1470 and 1480 on the interior walls of the nave. A veritable visual encyclopaedia of medieval society, this fresco features a fantastic procession of figures of all ranks - popes, emperors, knights, merchants and peasants - led by dancing skeletons towards the inevitable end. Preserved to a remarkable standard, it is one of a very small number of painted dances of death still visible in Europe. Even before entering the chapel, visitors are greeted by a flamboyant Gothic porch whose arches house a gallery of sculptures representing the twelve apostles. These figures, carved from Brittany grey granite, are strikingly expressive. Inside, the spandrels of the arcades are adorned with representations of prophets dressed in oriental costumes, forming with the danse macabre an iconographic programme of remarkable theological coherence. A visit to Kermaria is both intimate and moving. The building, modest in size, is an invitation to meditation as much as to artistic contemplation. The light filtered through the ancient stained-glass windows bathes the paintings in a golden hue that accentuates their evocative power. Lovers of medieval art, photographers in search of unusual atmospheres and curious families will find plenty here to marvel at and reflect on. The site's rural setting adds a bucolic dimension to the visit: the chapel stands in the middle of a parish enclosure surrounded by old walls and shaded by centuries-old oak and beech trees. The silence of the place contrasts delightfully with the evocative power of the works it houses, making Kermaria one of those Breton stops you won't forget.
Architecture
The chapel at Kermaria-an'Isquit is an elongated building with a single nave, typical of Breton rural chapels of the late Middle Ages. Built of grey granite, a material that is ubiquitous in Armorique, it has a robust, squat silhouette, reinforced by the eaves buttresses that regularly punctuate its exterior elevations. The steeply pitched roof, as is customary in Brittany, is covered in natural slate. The wall-belfry with its bell-towers, raised above the west facade, completes the composition with a sober Gothic style. The most remarkable architectural feature of the exterior is undoubtedly the flamboyant Gothic porch on the southern façade. Its moulded archivolts house a carefully crafted statuary depicting the twelve apostles arranged in columns, each identifiable by its iconographic attribute. The quality of the carving, despite the inevitable deterioration over time, bears witness to a workshop that perfectly mastered the plastic vocabulary of the late Middle Ages in Brittany. Inside, the nave is covered with an exposed wooden roof frame, the joists and runners of which are delicately carved with plant and figurative motifs. The walls are entirely plastered with lime mortar, on which the scenes from the Dance of Death and the figures of the prophets, which make up the entire iconographic programme, have been painted in tempera. The choir arch, with its slightly broken semicircular arch, marks the transition between the popular nave and the liturgical space reserved for the clergy, in a spatial setting typical of medieval pilgrimage chapels.
Related Figures
Fondateur anonyme de 1240, probablement un seigneur local de la famille de KermariaArtiste anonyme de la danse macabre (vers 1470-1480), peintre itinérant breton ou normandLes seigneurs de Kermaria-Sulard, famille noble du Goëlo protectrice de la chapelle au XVe siècleArthur de la Borderie, historien breton du XIXe siècle ayant contribué à la reconnaissance du monumentLes architectes des Monuments Historiques ayant conduit les restaurations du XXe siècle
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Chapelle de Kermaria-an'Isquit located?
Chapelle de Kermaria-an'Isquit is located in Plouha, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Chapelle de Kermaria-an'Isquit built?
Chapelle de Kermaria-an'Isquit dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Chapelle de Kermaria-an'Isquit open to visitors?
Chapelle de Kermaria-an'Isquit is currently closed to visitors.
