Eglise Saint-Bruno
ChurchHidden Treasure
A Baroque gem of 17th-century Bordeaux, the église Saint-Bruno dazzles with its trompe-l'œil paintings covering the entirety of its vault and its choir woodwork of rare magnificence, legacies of a charterhouse founded by a visionary archbishop.
History
Nestling in the Chartreuse district of Bordeaux, the church of Saint-Bruno is one of the few surviving examples of a Carthusian monastic complex that left a lasting mark on this part of the city. Built at the dawn of the seventeenth century on land that had been hard won from the marshes, it exudes an atmosphere of rare intensity, halfway between the meditation typical of Carthusian monasteries and the Baroque magnificence of the great century. What makes Saint-Bruno truly unique is the coherence of its interior décor. Where so many religious buildings have suffered the ravages of successive revolutions and fashions, the church has preserved its original chancel panelling, sculpted choir stalls and marble columns. But it is above all its painted vault that stuns the visitor: in 1742, the artists Gonsalis and Berinzago covered the entire vault and the upper part of the walls with a trompe-l'œil composition of dizzying proportions, creating an architectural illusion that gives the nave a celestial height and depth. The visitor experience is one of progressive revelation. Crossing the threshold, the eye naturally travels upwards to the painted vault, whose skies, draperies and figures seem to push the boundaries of the building well beyond its actual walls. Niches housing statues, finely carved cornices and marble pilasters structure the space with aristocratic elegance. The single nave, sober in plan, contrasts with the ornamental profusion of the sanctuary, creating a typically Baroque interplay of tensions. The external setting, in this part of Bordeaux marked by the history of religious orders, retains some of the outbuildings of the former Carthusian monastery. Although the cloister, gardens and monks' cells have disappeared, the presence of these evocative remains invites visitors to mentally reconstitute the contemplative life that animated these places more than four centuries ago. A monument apart, intimate and sumptuous, that Bordeaux has kept to itself for too long.
Architecture
The church of Saint-Bruno is part of the French religious Baroque movement with Italian influences, as it developed in the establishments of the Reformed orders in the 17th century. The plan adopted is that of a single nave, with no transept, flanked by a side space that could have served as a side aisle. This sober plan, in keeping with the Carthusian ideal of simplicity, contrasts radically with the richness of the interior. The interior is in fact the real masterpiece of the building. The choir contains most of the original furnishings: carved wooden stalls frame the sanctuary, while high panelling structures the lower walls around the entire perimeter of the church. Above, marble columns and pilasters support carefully carved cornices, punctuating the space with niches housing statues. The whole forms a coherent and rich decorative ensemble worthy of the great contemporary Jesuit works. The most spectacular feature is the trompe-l'œil painting created in 1742 by Gonsalis and Berinzago, which covers the entire vault and the upper part of the walls. Exploiting the resources of illusionist perspective inherited from the great Roman and Bolognese decorators, the two artists created a fictitious space - open sky, imaginary architecture, celestial figures - that visually multiplies the real dimensions of the building. This work, rare in the Gironde for its scale and conservation, makes Saint-Bruno an exceptional example of eighteenth-century religious decorative painting in south-western France.
Related Figures
François d'Escoubleau de Sourdis — archevêque de Bordeaux (1599), fondateur de la chartreuse et commanditaire de l'égliseHenri d'Escoubleau de Sourdis — neveu et successeur de François, archevêque de Bordeaux, qui poursuivit le développement de l'établissement chartreuxGonsalis — peintre ayant réalisé les décors en trompe-l'œil de la voûte en 1742Berinzago — peintre co-auteur des peintures murales de 1742, probablement d'origine italienneSaint Bruno de Cologne — fondateur de l'ordre des Chartreux (XIe siècle), saint patron de l'égliseProsper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, dont l'action conduit au classement de l'édifice en 1862
