Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Confort
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Confort, located in Meilars (Département 29), 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
- Meilars, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.0505, -4.4277
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090110
Joyau Renaissance du Finistère, Notre-Dame-de-Confort à Meilars stupéfie par ses douze statues du XVIe siècle ornant son fronton occidental et ses vitraux exceptionnels signés R. de Loubes.
History
Nestling in the Finistère bocage between Douarnenez and Audierne, the church of Notre-Dame-de-Confort in Meilars is one of the most accomplished expressions of the Breton Renaissance in the Bigouden region. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1914, its elaborate pinnacles and triangular pedimented windows reach for the sky with an elegance that stands in stark contrast to the surrounding Armorican granite. What immediately sets Notre-Dame-de-Confort apart from other Breton buildings is the profusion and quality of its sculpted decoration. The western pediment, a veritable stone altarpiece, displays an iconographic programme of twelve remarkably well-crafted 16th-century statues. Apostles, saints and sacred figures coexist in a skilful balance between the flamboyant Gothic heritage and the early humanist influences that penetrated Brittany via the merchant ports on the Atlantic seaboard. Inside, there is a major surprise in store: a series of 16th-century stained glass windows attributed to R. de Loubes, whose saturated colours - deep reds, sky blues, emerald greens - filter the Atlantic light in a striking display of colour. These windows constitute one of the best-preserved groups of windows from this period on the Armorican peninsula. The visit is best undertaken slowly, almost meditatively. Take the time to decipher the grimacing caryatids on the south pediments, these hybrid figures that seem to watch over the faithful with a mixture of humour and medieval gravity. The gargoyles in the canted apse, perched between the pinnacles adorned with four-leaf clovers, complete this bestiary of stone that testifies to an astonishing creative freedom. The village of Meilars, with its landscapes of Finistère bocage overlooking the Bay of Douarnenez, offers a serene setting for a visit, far from the saturated tourist circuits. It is here, in this discreet hollow of south Finistère, that Breton Renaissance art reveals all its originality.
Architecture
The church of Notre-Dame-de-Confort is a shining example of the late Breton Gothic style enriched by Renaissance decorative contributions, a syncretism that Finistère architects and stonemasons brought to a remarkable level of sophistication in the 16th century. The layout of the building follows the tradition of Breton parish churches: a main nave flanked by aisles, a polygonal chancel - in this case with canted sides - and a porch bell tower to the west, remodelled in the 18th century in a more classical style. The exterior is striking for the richness and coherence of its decoration carved from local granite. The windows, topped on the outside by ornate triangular pediments, introduce this classical vocabulary into a Gothic envelope. The canted apse is crowned with elaborate pinnacles, adorned with four-leaf clovers and animated by expressive gargoyles that drain off rainwater with a sense of detail characteristic of the period. The western pediment is the centrepiece of the whole complex: twelve 16th-century statues make up a veritable open-air museum, featuring a wealth of hagiographic iconography. The pediments on the south facade, adorned with grimacing caryatids, bear witness to a pronounced taste for the grotesque and the fantastic, a legacy of medieval illuminations transposed into stone. Inside, the space is punctuated by tiers-point arcades that maintain the Gothic verticality, while the 16th-century stained glass windows by R. de Loubes bathe the nave in coloured light of rare intensity. These stained glass windows, arranged in narrative registers illustrating scenes from the life of Christ and the saints, are the main attraction of the interior of the church and in themselves justify a visit.
Related Figures
R. de Loubes — maître verrier du XVIe siècle, auteur des vitraux remarquables de l'égliseCommanditaires paroissiaux anonymes de 1560 — bourgeois et nobles locaux ayant financé la reconstruction Renaissance de l'édificeMaîtres tailleurs de pierre bretons du XVIe siècle — sculpteurs anonymes des douze statues du fronton occidental et des cariatidesArchitecte du XVIIIe siècle (non identifié) — auteur du remaniement du clocherInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques (1914) — responsables du classement protecteur de l'édifice
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Confort located?
Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Confort is located in Meilars, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Confort built?
Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Confort dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Confort open to visitors?
Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Confort is currently closed to visitors.
