Monument aux morts, situé dans le cimetière de l'église Saint-Pierre
MonumentHidden Treasure
Monument aux morts, situé dans le cimetière de l'église Saint-Pierre, located in Saint-Pol-de-Léon (Département 29), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Medieval (11th-15th century)
- Location
- Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.6807, -3.9826
- Mérimée Reference
- PA29000029
The first war memorial to be inaugurated in Finistère in 1920, this masterpiece by René Quillivic sublimates the medieval recumbent statue: a dying soldier carried by four poignantly beautiful Breton women in traditional costume.
History
Nestling in the cemetery of Saint-Pierre church in Saint-Pol-de-Léon, in the heart of the Léonard region, this monument to the dead is no ordinary cenotaph. It is one of the most moving and original commemorative works in France, combining medieval funerary art, a strong Breton identity and the universal sorrow of the Great War. What immediately strikes visitors is the narrative force of the sculpted composition: a dying soldier lies on a monumental slab, like a Burgundian recumbent from the Middle Ages, while four women in local leonard costumes carry him with hieratic gravity. René Quillivic, a Breton sculptor of genius, has infused this scene with an archaic dignity that transcends simple patriotic homage. Here, Brittany mourns its sons with its own symbols, in the silent language of its headdresses and granite. The monument is part of a larger, coherent whole, comprising a calvary and an exedra decorated with a Way of the Cross, created after 1875 by the sculptor Larhantec. This continuity between nineteenth-century religious art and twentieth-century memorial gives the site a rare temporal depth, where Christian mourning and civic remembrance come together naturally within the confines of the cemetery. The visit invites you to take a slow, contemplative stroll. The setting of the Saint-Pierre cemetery, with its steles and enclosures, heightens the atmosphere of meditation. The changing light of the Finistère coast, sometimes pearly and sometimes dramatic, gives the stone sculptures an extra presence, depending on the time of day and the season. Photographers and lovers of funerary art will find plenty of material here for intense shots. Listed as a historic monument since 1997, this ensemble bears witness to the belated but well-deserved recognition of a commemorative heritage that was long underestimated. Today, it is a must-see on any tour devoted to the memory of the First World War in Brittany.
Architecture
The Saint-Pol-de-Léon war memorial is made up of three distinct elements that form a coherent whole in the cemetery of Saint-Pierre church. The first is the calvary sculpted by Larhantec after 1875, in the tradition of Breton parish enclosures; the second is the semi-circular exedra decorated with a Stations of the Cross, also by Larhantec, which frames and structures the space. These two elements, carved from the characteristic grey granite of the Léonard region, anchor the site in the repertoire of nineteenth-century Breton religious art. The monument itself, the work of René Quillivic to a design by the architect Chaussepied, adopts a horizontal, monumental composition directly inspired by the medieval recumbent statue. A stone slab bears the body of a dying soldier, tipped backwards in a gesture of ultimate abandonment. The slab itself rests on the shoulders and arms of four standing female figures, depicted in traditional Léonard costumes - headdresses, aprons, embroidered dresses - with meticulous realism and a remarkable ethnographic concern. The size of the figures, slightly smaller than life-size, accentuates the solemnity of the scene without making it overwhelming. The work as a whole reveals Quillivic's characteristic style, which combines influences from archaic sculpture - simplification of volumes, frontal poses - with an attachment to Breton ethnographic detail. The treatment of the stone, probably local granite or kersanton, plays on textures to distinguish the drapery of the costumes from the smooth surfaces of the soldier's body. This material duality reinforces the work's symbolism: a living Brittany bearing its dead.
Related Figures
René Quillivic (1879-1969), sculpteur finistérien, auteur de la composition centrale du monumentLarhantec, sculpteur breton du XIXe siècle, auteur du calvaire et du chemin de croix de l'exèdreArchitecte Chaussepied, concepteur du projet architectural du monument aux mortsLes élus de Saint-Pol-de-Léon ayant voté la construction dès le 8 septembre 1914
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Monument aux morts, situé dans le cimetière de l'église Saint-Pierre located?
Monument aux morts, situé dans le cimetière de l'église Saint-Pierre is located in Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Monument aux morts, situé dans le cimetière de l'église Saint-Pierre built?
Monument aux morts, situé dans le cimetière de l'église Saint-Pierre dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Monument aux morts, situé dans le cimetière de l'église Saint-Pierre open to visitors?
Monument aux morts, situé dans le cimetière de l'église Saint-Pierre is currently closed to visitors.