Eglise de la Madeleine, ou ancienne église des Prêcheurs
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise de la Madeleine, ou ancienne église des Prêcheurs, located in Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 43.5294, 5.4516
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00080997
Formerly the church of the Dominican Preachers in the heart of Aix-en-Provence, the Madeleine boasts a sumptuous Baroque façade in the Aix style and houses the famous Annunciation triptych, a jewel of Provençal Gothic painting.
History
Standing on the Place des Prêcheurs, one of the liveliest squares in old Aix, the Madeleine church is one of those rare churches that manages to surprise visitors even when they think they know it. Behind its generously curved Baroque façade, typical of the great Provencal century, lies an unexpectedly rich interior, where three centuries of devotion, art and bourgeois piety are superimposed like the layers of a palimpsest. What makes the Madeleine truly unique in the Aix landscape is the cohabitation of several periods without the whole losing its coherence. The side chapels, commissioned by the town's leading parliamentary families, are a veritable museum of Baroque art in situ: carved altarpieces, period paintings, polychrome marble and gilded woodwork all compete in elegance. The church is also the precious guardian of the Annunciation triptych, the central panel of a remarkably fine 15th-century altarpiece attributed to the entourage of the Master of the Annunciation from Aix. To visit the Madeleine is to enter the daily life of Aix's aristocracy of the robe, the councillors at the Parliament of Provence who turned their funeral chapels into veritable artistic manifestos. The Provencal light, filtered through the high windows, bathes the nave in a golden glow that highlights every detail of the interior decoration. The outside setting enhances the experience: the Place des Prêcheurs, with its plane trees and morning market, provides the distance needed to appreciate the façade in all its monumentality. The church fits into the baroque urban fabric of Aix with a disconcerting naturalness, as if it had always been there, unchanging, while the modern city bustled at its feet.
Architecture
The church of La Madeleine is an accomplished example of Provençal Baroque, an original synthesis of Roman influences from Italy and local building traditions. The façade, built in the early 18th century, is arranged over two levels separated by an entablature with dentils. Corinthian pilasters frame a monumental central portal surmounted by a broken pediment, while niches house figures of saints. The locally quarried limestone is tightly grained and has a lovely ochre hue, giving the whole a warm, southern feel. The interior layout, inherited from medieval mendicant traditions and adapted to the requirements of post-Tridentine liturgy, consists of a main nave flanked by interconnecting side chapels, forming a double aisle. The barrel vault, highlighted by moulded transoms, rests on colossal pilasters. The semi-circular apse is illuminated by high round-headed windows that flood the choir with light. Among the remarkable interior features, the altarpieces in the side chapels take pride of place. Made of polychrome marble, painted stucco and gilded wood between the 17th and 18th centuries, they illustrate the different styles of southern Baroque. The Annunciation triptych, the central 15th-century panel preserved in the church, is the centrepiece of the furniture, with its refined palette and hieratic figures of intense spirituality.
Related Figures
Les Frères Prêcheurs (Dominicains) — fondateurs et gardiens du couvent et de l'église depuis le XIIIe siècleLes familles parlementaires aixoises (Coriolis, Forbin, Gallifet) — mécènes des chapelles latérales aux XVIIe-XVIIIe sièclesLe Maître de l'Annonciation d'Aix — peintre anonyme du XVe siècle, auteur du célèbre triptyqueRené d'Anjou (roi René) — figure tutélaire du mécénat aixois du XVe siècle, contemporain de la commande du triptyquePaul Arbaud — érudit aixois du XIXe siècle impliqué dans la sauvegarde du patrimoine religieux provençal après la RévolutionEugène Viollet-le-Duc — théoricien de la restauration dont l'influence marqua les travaux du XIXe siècle sur les monuments provençaux
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise de la Madeleine, ou ancienne église des Prêcheurs located?
Eglise de la Madeleine, ou ancienne église des Prêcheurs is located in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, France.
When was Eglise de la Madeleine, ou ancienne église des Prêcheurs built?
Eglise de la Madeleine, ou ancienne église des Prêcheurs dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Eglise de la Madeleine, ou ancienne église des Prêcheurs open to visitors?
Eglise de la Madeleine, ou ancienne église des Prêcheurs is currently closed to visitors.