Croix située sur la place centrale
MonumentHidden Treasure
Croix située sur la place centrale, located in Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre (Indre), 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
- Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre, Indre, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 46.4858, 2.0701
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00097464
In the heart of Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre, this cross-calvary from the reign of François I features a pilastered shaft crowned with a Renaissance capital of rare elegance, bearing Christ and the Virgin and Child facing each other.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
Standing in the central square of Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre, the Berry village made famous by Jacques Tati, this cross-calvary from the second quarter of the 16th century is one of the finest examples of monumental outdoor statuary in the Indre region. It stands out not for its height, but for the quality of its ornamental vocabulary, which betrays the hand of a workshop sensitive to the new forms coming from Italy, as they spread to the French provinces under the impetus of King François I. What makes this cross truly singular is the combination of two iconographic registers on the same monument in a public square: on one side, Christ on the Cross, the image of Passion and Redemption; on the other, the Virgin and Child, the image of tenderness and intercession. This double face transformed the liturgical object into a veritable theological compendium that could be read by all passers-by, whether literate or not, who crossed the square on a daily basis. The visit is an intimate experience: you walk slowly around the four-sided shaft to let the reliefs reveal themselves according to the angle and the light. In the morning, when the low-angled sun catches the fluting of the pilasters, or in the late afternoon when the golden stones gently vibrate, the cross exudes an almost silent presence, in keeping with the surrounding tranquillity of the Berrich region. The setting of the central square reinforces this emotion, with its half-timbered houses and facades of local tufa and sandstone creating an unspoilt village setting that places visitors in a suspended time. The cross is not a monument isolated from its context; on the contrary, it is the focal point, the axis around which the life of the village has been organised for five centuries.
Architecture
The cross-calvary is made up of three superimposed elements that follow a logic that is both structural and symbolic. At the base, a massive plinth ensures the stability of the whole and anchors it in the ground of the square; its trapezoidal or square shape is characteristic of monumental crosses from the first half of the 16th century in central France. The base was also used as a surface for dedicatory inscriptions or coats of arms, now perhaps erased by erosion. The shaft is the most remarkable part of the building from an ornamental point of view. Designed with four faces and adorned with pilasters, it borrows directly from the repertoire of Renaissance architecture as it spread through France under François I: flat pilasters with composite or simplified Ionic capitals replace the round medieval columns, introducing an elegant and measured sense of verticality. Each face of the shaft thus offered a decorated surface that was consistent from every angle of approach to the monument. The shaft is crowned with a capital of the "François I" style, adorned with foliage, ovals and probably pearls or gadroons, a vocabulary typical of the early French Renaissance. At the top, the cross itself has two sides sculpted in the round or in high relief: Christ on the cross on the main side, and the Virgin and Child on the opposite side. This dual iconography is typical of 16th-century devotional crosses. The material used is probably local limestone or tufa, the preferred stones of the Berrichon and Tourange sculptors of the period, both soft to work with and capable of great finesse of detail.
Related Figures
François Ier — roi de France dont le règne (1515-1547) donne son nom au style architectural du chapiteau ; son mécénat artistique impulsa la diffusion de la Renaissance en provinceCommanditaire local inconnu — notable, fabrique paroissiale ou seigneur de Sainte-Sévère ayant financé l'érection de la croix vers 1525-1550Sculpteur anonyme de l'atelier berrichon ou tourangeau — artisan maîtrisant le nouveau vocabulaire Renaissance, auteur du fût à pilastres et du chapiteauJacques Tati — cinéaste qui tourna 'Jour de Fête' (1949) à Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre, contribuant à la notoriété contemporaine du bourg et de sa place centrale
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Croix située sur la place centrale located?
Croix située sur la place centrale is located in Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre, Indre department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Croix située sur la place centrale built?
Croix située sur la place centrale dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Croix située sur la place centrale open to visitors?
Croix située sur la place centrale is currently closed to visitors.