Croix du cimetière en granit
MonumentHidden Treasure
Croix du cimetière en granit, located in Nouvoitou (Département 35), 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
- Nouvoitou, Département 35, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.0418, -1.5469
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090643
In the heart of the Nouvoitou cemetery, this 17th-century granite cross fascinates visitors with its fluted shaft and double Christ, who has watched over the dead for over three centuries.
History
Standing in the hushed silence of the cemetery at Nouvoitou, Ille-et-Vilaine, this granite cross is one of those discreet monuments that one discovers with the astonishment of an attentive traveller. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1907, it bears witness to Breton funerary art of rare formal coherence, where each sculpted element is part of a carefully thought-out symbolic programme. What makes this cross truly singular is the superimposition of its iconographic registers: on the north and south faces of the base are finely carved skulls, classic symbols of vanity and death typical of the Baroque period, while the fluted shaft with its circular cross-section rises towards a cross with a double effigy - a Christ sculpted on each of the two main faces. The arms of the cross are linked by four brackets, giving the whole an almost architectural elegance, reminiscent of the mission crosses erected in Brittany during the Counter-Reformation. The visit is a moment of slow contemplation. The granite, a favourite material of Breton religious craftsmen, takes on a silvery-grey hue here that varies according to the light of day. In the morning, when the dew still covers the surrounding gravestones, the cross stands out with particular intensity. Fans of stone sculpture will appreciate the fine fluting on the shaft, a delicate technical exercise on a material that is reputed to be thankless. The cemetery of Nouvoitou, a village on the outskirts of Rennes, preserves in this monument a precious fragment of Breton rural funerary culture from the Grand Siècle. Far from the usual tourist itineraries, this cross is an invitation to a form of artistic and historical pilgrimage, an encounter with a lapidary craft that combined religious fervour with formal mastery.
Architecture
The Nouvoitou cross is an accomplished example of 17th-century Breton funerary sculpture, combining local Romanesque influences with contributions from Continental Classicist Baroque. It comprises three distinct parts forming a coherent whole: the base, the shaft and the cross itself. The base, carved from the same grey granite as the rest of the work, features skulls in bas-relief on its north and south faces, a funerary motif par excellence that anchors the cross in the register of meditation on Christian death and resurrection. The shaft, circular in cross-section and adorned with fluting, is the most remarkable element from a formal point of view: the fluting, borrowed from the vocabulary of ancient and Renaissance architecture, bears witness to a certain decorative ambition and a technical mastery that is rare for a rural monument. Its circular shape gives it a visual lightness that contrasts with the usual massiveness of granite cross supports. The cross itself is adorned with a Christ in the round on each of its two faces, an arrangement that allows the cross to be venerated regardless of the direction from which it is approached - a practical and symbolically rich iconographic solution. The four brackets linking the arms of the cross to the central upright serve both a structural and decorative function, reminiscent of the monumental crosses found in parish enclosures in Finistère, albeit in a more sober and classical version typical of the Rennes region.
Related Figures
Artisan lapidaire breton anonyme du XVIIe siècle, auteur probable de la croixClergé paroissial de Nouvoitou, commanditaire de l'œuvre au XVIIe siècleMissionnaires jésuites et capucins actifs en Bretagne (XVIIe siècle), promoteurs de la dévotion à la croixInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques de la IIIe République, responsables du classement en 1907
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Croix du cimetière en granit located?
Croix du cimetière en granit is located in Nouvoitou, Département 35 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Croix du cimetière en granit built?
Croix du cimetière en granit dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Croix du cimetière en granit open to visitors?
Croix du cimetière en granit is currently closed to visitors.
