Croix du cimetière
MonumentHidden Treasure
A Renaissance funerary gem, this 16th-century cemetery cross bears the coat of arms of the Lords of Villemesle - a stone testimony to where faith and noble power meet in Boisgasson.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
At the heart of the small cemetery in Boisgasson, a discreet village in the Perche region of Orléans on the borders of the Eure-et-Loir department, stands a cross that has stood the test of time without losing its eloquence. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1971, it belongs to that category of rural funerary furniture whose sculptural richness surprises by its sophistication in such an intimate setting. What immediately sets this monument apart is the exceptional quality of its Renaissance base. The parallelepipedic limestone block, framed by two columns with bases and capitals adorned with foliate baskets, reveals the hand of a workshop that mastered the codes of classical architecture in its infancy in France. The two storeys of superimposed slabs, crowned by a neat entablature, form a vertical composition that is unusually coherent for a monument of this nature in a rural setting. A discerning eye will notice the sculpted coat of arms of the des Personnes family, lords of Villemesle, on one side of the mound. This aristocratic coat of arms engraved in the funerary stone transforms the cross into a precious heraldic and historical document, testifying to the role of patronage that the great families of the local nobility played in embellishing the sacred spaces of their lands. A visit to this monument offers a quiet meditation on the way in which the Renaissance, an urban and courtly phenomenon par excellence, gradually spread to the remotest parts of the French countryside. There are no crowds here, and no entrance tickets - just the stone, the cemetery grass and the murmur of time passing. An invaluable stop-off for anyone interested in late Romanesque art and vernacular heritage.
Architecture
The monument is made up of two distinct parts: a 16th-century base of great sculptural quality, topped by a modern cross added later. It is, of course, the Renaissance base that provides the greatest architectural interest. This base is made up of a parallelepipedic block of stone, carved from local Perche limestone, flanked on two sides by engaged columns with moulded bases and capitals with baskets of stylised foliage - a typical motif of early French classicism influenced by Italian treatises. These columns support a superimposition of two horizontal slabs forming a two-storey structure, the highest of which forms a carefully profiled entablature. The whole creates a balanced interplay of horizontals and verticals, characteristic of the provincial Renaissance style. On one of the main faces of the masonry, a sculpted cartouche features the coat of arms of the des Personnes family, lords of Villemesle. Despite centuries of exposure to the elements, the relief is still sufficiently legible to identify the main lines of this noble coat of arms. The quality of the carving on this stone bears witness to the work of a specialist workshop, perhaps descended from those active in the Châteaudun and Vendôme areas, where the Renaissance spread early to the Beauce and Perche regions.
Related Figures
La famille des Personnes, seigneurs de Villemesle — donateurs du calvaire au XVIe siècleMembre anonyme de la famille des Personnes — commanditaire direct de la croixArtisan lapicide anonyme — sculpteur du soubassement Renaissance
