Eglise Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais, located in Naveil (Loir-et-Cher), 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
- Naveil, Loir-et-Cher, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.7940, 1.0298
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00098526
In Naveil, a Romanesque church with unsuspected Renaissance treasures: its 16th-century choir houses exceptional painted panelling featuring apostles, arabesques and coats of arms supported by angels.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
Nestling in the market town of Naveil, on the outskirts of Vendôme, Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais church is one of those country buildings that offer the attentive visitor artistic surprises of a rare quality. Its sober exterior, heir to a long rural tradition, conceals an interior with a remarkable wealth of colour and iconography, the result of two major building campaigns separated by five centuries. What makes this monument truly unique is the exceptional state of preservation of its 16th-century painted panelling, which covers the entire choir ceiling. Extremely rare in a rural setting, this decoration features long bands of Renaissance arabesques, punctuated by copings, and a gallery of twelve apostles whose hieratic, colourful silhouettes evoke the illuminations in the books of hours of the Loire region. The structural joists are themselves part of the ornamental programme: their ends are decorated with gules of monsters, while at their junction with the puncheons appear armorial bearings held by angels, veritable miniatures sculpted in polychrome wood. A visit to the church offers a superimposition of temporal sensations: you enter the 11th-century Romanesque nave, a sober and restrained stone space, and enter the 16th-century choir, where the intimacy of the place is suddenly transfigured by the colourful profusion of the paintings. The stained glass window at the head of the choir, whose coat of arms dates its construction precisely from between 1537 and 1548, bathes the whole room in a subdued light that brings out the old pigments. The setting of Naveil, a discreet village in the Loir-et-Cher region, adds to the charm of this discovery. Just a few kilometres from Vendôme and the Loir valley, the church is part of a rich architectural heritage, from Romanesque abbeys to Renaissance manor houses. Far from the tourist crowds, it offers heritage lovers a rare, almost confidential experience of authenticity, that of a masterpiece that time has spared.
Architecture
The architecture of Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais church is clearly divided into two phases. The nave, built in the 11th century according to the canons of Romanesque architecture, adopts a simple, elongated plan typical of rural parish churches in the Vendôme region: local limestone rubble masonry, plain walls pierced by a few narrow round-headed bays, and a wooden roof frame crowning the whole. The austerity of this space contrasts deliberately with the ornamental richness of the choir. The choir, rebuilt in the 16th century, has a roughly square floor plan, a compact and concentrated form that enhances the overall perception of the painted decoration. Its main architectural feature is its painted panelling, a veritable masterpiece of Renaissance carpentry and painting. Far from being mere technical elements, the joists are fully integrated into the ornamental programme: their ends terminate in sculpted monster gules, a medieval-inspired motif reinterpreted with the grotesque fantasy so dear to the Renaissance, while their intersections with the points are marked by coat-of-arms escutcheons framed by sculpted angels. The surfaces of the panelling itself are covered with bands of painted arabesques - interlacing plants, foliage and geometric motifs borrowed from the ornamentalist repertoire of the 16th century - punctuated by cover strips, between which are the twelve figures of the apostles. The bedside stained glass window, a valuable heraldic source, completes the ensemble by diffusing coloured light onto the paintings on the panelling.
Related Figures
Saints Gervais et Protais — martyrs milanais du Ier siècle, titulaires de l'église, dont le culte fut promu en Occident par saint Ambroise de MilanMécène(s) local/aux inconnu(s) — seigneur ou notable du Vendômois dont les armoiries figurent dans le vitrail de chevet, finançant la reconstruction du chœur entre 1537 et 1548Artisans peintres et menuisiers du XVIe siècle — auteurs anonymes du lambris peint, probablement issus des ateliers actifs dans la région ligérienne à l'époque du chantier de Chambord et de Blois
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais located?
Eglise Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais is located in Naveil, Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Eglise Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais built?
Eglise Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Eglise Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais open to visitors?
Eglise Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais is currently closed to visitors.