Croix de l'ancien cimetière Saint-Projet
MonumentHidden Treasure
In the heart of Bordeaux, this 15th-century flamboyant Gothic cross, the only vestige of the former Saint-Projet cemetery, boasts a sculpted shaft of rare delicacy, crowned with belfries and statuettes under their poly-lobed canopies.
History
Nestling in the urban fabric of Bordeaux, the cross of the former Saint-Projet cemetery is one of those discreet heritage objects that condense, in a few dozen centimetres of stone, several centuries of funerary art and popular devotion. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1926, it is one of the rare examples in Bordeaux of a flamboyant Gothic cemetery cross that is still legible in its original composition. What makes this cross truly unique is the sculptural virtuosity of its medieval shaft, the only authentic 15th-century element to have survived. The four pilasters that frame it, resembling slender buttresses, rise up to tapering belfries and are joined by remarkably well-crafted counter-curved arches: their extrados are covered with curly cabbages, a plant motif characteristic of late Gothic, while their poly-lobed intrados house small niches with statuettes. This miniaturised iconography is reminiscent of the great Gothic cathedrals, here transposed to the scale of funerary furniture. The experience of the visit is one of contemplation at human level: the cross invites you to come closer, to let your gaze wander over the sculpted details, to decipher the flamboyant ornamentation covering the hexagonal pilasters and to imagine the crowd of faithful who used to stop there, between two prayers, in the old parish cemetery. It's an intimate encounter with the Middle Ages in Bordeaux, far removed from the major tourist attractions. Today's urban setting, inherited from the city's successive transformations, lends this monument a poignant dimension: where generations of Bordelais were buried, the cross alone bears witness to this vanished funerary vocation, a veritable stone sentinel in the midst of the living city.
Architecture
The cross in the former Saint-Projet cemetery is an accomplished example of a flamboyant Gothic funerary cross, a style characteristic of late 15th-century Aquitaine. Its composition follows an elaborate ornamental scheme: a square plinth supports an equally square base, which gradually changes to an octagonal shape, a geometric transition common in late Gothic art, symbolising the passage between the earthly world (the square) and the celestial (the circle, here approximated by the octagon). The shaft itself is the most spectacular element. Four buttress-like pilasters frame it and rise up to slender bell towers. They are linked by counter-curved arches - a sinuous shape emblematic of the flamboyant style - the extrados of which are sculpted with curly cabbages, a swirling plant motif dear to late Gothic workshops, and the poly-lobed intrados of which serve as canopies for four statuettes. These figures rest on half-engaged hexagonal pilasters, decorated with a profusion of flamboyant motifs that literally cover every available surface. Above these canopies, the octagonal shaft tapers gradually to a cornice, from which rises the summit cross, rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century to replace the lost original. The whole thing was probably carved from local limestone, the material of choice in medieval Bordeaux workshops.
Related Figures
Saint Projet (Projectus) — évêque martyr de Clermont (VIIe siècle), patron de la paroisse éponyme à laquelle appartient le cimetièreArtisans lapicides bordelais du XVe siècle — tailleurs de pierre anonymes auteurs du fût sculptéRestaurateurs du début du XXe siècle — auteurs de la reproduction de la croix sommitaleInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques (1926) — signataires de l'arrêté d'inscription protégeant la croix
