Croix du 17e siècle
MonumentHidden Treasure
Croix du 17e siècle, located in Remungol (Département 56), 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
- Remungol, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.9331, -2.9000
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091634
Standing in the parish enclosure in Remungol, this monumental 17th-century granite cross features an exceptionally fine range of sculptures on both sides: Christ on the Cross, the Virgin and Child and a procession of saints.
History
In the heart of Morbihan, in the discreet village of Remungol, a granite cross rises 4.30 metres above the ground in the parish cemetery. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1930, it belongs to that very special family of Breton enclosure crosses, silent witnesses to a popular faith carved into the hard local stone. Far from the grandeur of the famous parish enclosures of Cornouaille, it has an intimacy and iconographic concentration that compel admiration. What makes this cross truly singular is the density of its sculpted programme. At a modest height, the craftsman has managed to organise a veritable theological narrative in stone: two sides, two mysteries, six identifiable figures. On the front, Christ on the Cross is flanked by Saint Matilda and Saint Mary Magdalene, an unusual combination that perhaps reveals a local devotion or the commission of a specific patron. At the back, the Virgin and Child, flanked by two apostles, offers a scene of tenderness contrasting with the solemnity of Calvary. The experience of the visit is one of contemplation and meticulous discovery. You have to take the time to walk around the cross, to let the low morning light reveal the relief of the moulded capital and the frozen expressions of the figures. The texture of the local granite, slightly grainy and speckled with lichen, adds to the authenticity of a monument that has not been overdone or over-restored. The setting of the parish cemetery reinforces the emotion: these crosses were not decorative objects, but markers of the world of the dead and the living, points of contact between the temporal and the sacred. In Brittany, the cemetery enclosed around the church was the most symbolically charged space in the village. The Remungol cross is still the central pivot, watching over successive generations of parishioners.
Architecture
The Remungol cross is an accomplished example of a 17th-century Breton parish cross, carved from the local granite typical of the inland Morbihan region. Standing 4.30 metres high, it follows a rigorously ordered vertical composition found in the workshops of regional sculptors of the period. The base is made up of a two-step base with an altar table, which was used for open-air services during processions. On this table rests a square base with canted sides - a refined technical detail that visually lightens the transition between the solid base and the shaft - which supports an octagonal shaft. This octagonal section is characteristic of Breton crosses of the period: it multiplies the number of sides exposed to light and offers a dynamic perception depending on the angle of observation. A carefully crafted moulded capital links the shaft to the crosspiece itself. The cross itself is adorned on both sides with a remarkable sculpted relief: six figures in the round or in high relief occupy the entire available space. The treatment of the drapery, the hierarchy of the figures and the symmetrical composition betray the hand of a sculptor trained in the iconographic conventions of the Counter-Reformation. The granite, an unglamorous material for sculpture due to its hardness, nevertheless allows the faces and attributes to be sufficiently legible, testifying to the solid technical mastery of the workshop that executed the work.
Related Figures
Saint Mathilde — reine de Germanie (†968), dont la présence iconographique sur la croix révèle une dévotion locale rare et intriganteMarie-Madeleine — figure centrale de la dévotion contre-réformiste, fréquemment représentée sur les calvaires bretons du XVIIe siècleLa Vierge Marie — représentée en Vierge à l'Enfant sur la face arrière, cœur de la piété mariale bretonneMissionnaires jésuites et capucins du XVIIe siècle — dont les missions paroissiales en Bretagne intérieure inspirèrent l'érection de nombreuses croix monumentales
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Croix du 17e siècle located?
Croix du 17e siècle is located in Remungol, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Croix du 17e siècle built?
Croix du 17e siècle dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Croix du 17e siècle open to visitors?
Croix du 17e siècle is currently closed to visitors.