Croix en granit du 15e siècle
MonumentHidden Treasure
Croix en granit du 15e siècle, located in Hénansal (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
- Hénansal, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.5408, -2.4331
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089198
Dressée dans le cimetière d'Hénansal depuis le XVe siècle, cette croix en granit breton incarne la ferveur religieuse médiévale des Côtes-d'Armor. Son fût élancé et ses sculptures gothiques en font un témoignage rare de la piété funéraire bretonne.
History
In the heart of the village of Hénansal, in this small village in the Côtes-d'Armor region nestling among the gentle hills of Penthièvre, a granite cross has stood silently guard over the dead for over five centuries. Listed as a Historic Monument in 1964, it belongs to that discreet but precious family of 15th-century Breton cemetery crosses, stone markers planted at the entrance to or in the centre of parish enclosures, where the world of the living converses with that of the dead. What sets the Hénansal cross apart is first and foremost the quality of its local granite, the preferred material of Armorican stonemasons, capable of withstanding the test of time. Fifteenth-century craftsmen mastered the art of extracting astonishingly fine shapes from this unglamorous material: elaborate cross-bracing, Christ-like representations imbued with a medieval gravity, and a stepped base whose edges still stand up to the wear and tear of time and the westerly rains. To visit this cross is to agree to slow down, to remove yourself from the tourist flow and enter into an intimate relationship with local history. The cemetery at Hénansal, like so many cemeteries in Brittany, is a place of collective memory where each stone bears the name of a family rooted in the area. The cross that dominates it all is a reminder that medieval funerary art was above all an art of the threshold - that between earthly life and eternity. The surrounding setting reinforces this atmosphere of contemplation: the low granite walls, the sober vegetation, the changing light of the Breton sky filtering through the clouds all add up to a rich contemplative and photographic experience. Enthusiasts of the late Romanesque and rural Gothic heritage, lovers of deep-rooted Brittany and absolute tranquillity will find this an unexpected but memorable stopover.
Architecture
The Hénansal cross is a typical example of a 15th-century Breton cemetery cross, carved from the bluish-grey granite of the Côtes-d'Armor region. It is made up of a cylindrical or polygonal shaft resting on a stepped base - generally two or three superimposed square or octagonal courses - which provide both stability and a typically Gothic architectural setting, reminiscent of the bases of monumental calvaries from the same period. The crosspiece, the central element of the cross, probably features a sculpture in the round or in bas-relief representing the crucified Christ on the front, and a figure of the Virgin or a saint - perhaps Saint Brieuc, patron saint of the diocese - on the back. This double-sided iconographic organisation is characteristic of rural Breton Gothic, which sought to multiply the points of devotion around a single monument. The ends of the crosspieces may be decorated with fleurons or balls, decorative motifs that are sober but effective in their dialogue with the Armorican sky. Granite, a hard and resistant material, gives the whole thing a solidity that can withstand any test, but imposes technical constraints on the sculptors that shape the final aesthetic: the features are more massive than in limestone, the faces more schematic, the drapery more geometric. This sobriety is not a lack; it is the very soul of Breton medieval art, which finds in formal rigour a spiritual intensity that no Baroque could match.
Related Figures
Jean V, duc de Bretagne (1399-1442), sous le règne duquel l'essor de la piété paroissiale et de la construction de croix rurales connut son apogée dans le duchéFrançois II, duc de Bretagne (1458-1488), dont le mécénat architectural encouragea les commanditaires locaux à ériger des monuments religieux dans leurs paroissesArtisans tailleurs de pierre anonymes de la région de Lamballe ou de Jugon-les-Lacs, façonneurs itinérants responsables de la taille et de la pose de la croixRecteur d'Hénansal du XVe siècle, commanditaire probable de la croix au nom de la communauté paroissiale, dont le nom n'a pas été conservéArthur de la Borderie (1827-1901), historien breton dont les travaux sur le patrimoine des Côtes-du-Nord contribuèrent à la redécouverte et à la préservation de monuments comme la croix d'Hénansal
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Croix en granit du 15e siècle located?
Croix en granit du 15e siècle is located in Hénansal, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Croix en granit du 15e siècle built?
Croix en granit du 15e siècle dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Croix en granit du 15e siècle open to visitors?
Croix en granit du 15e siècle is currently closed to visitors.
