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ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC CHURCHES

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Art graphique

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SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS

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Peinture

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SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT

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SAINT BENEDICT

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Sculpture

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LITURGICAL COMB

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Orfèvrerie

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SHRINE OF SAINT EVROUL

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NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL IN SÉES

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LAST JUDGMENT

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BLESSED MARGARET OF LORRAINE

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ALTARPIECES

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PORTRAIT OF LOUIS D’AQUIN

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SAINT CATHERINE

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SAINT JOHN EUDES

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SAINT CHARLES BORROMEO

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OFFERING OF THE ROSARY

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CATECHISM

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MONSTRANCE

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Objet

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CIBORIUM

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SAINT BARBARA

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CROSS PEDESTAL

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MURDER OF PRIESTS DURING THE TERROR

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SHRINE

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19th CENTURY CHURCHES

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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

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VIEW OF THE VATICAN I ECUMENICAL COUNCIL HALL

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COMMEMORATIVE IMAGE

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OUR LADY OF LOURDES

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SOUVENIR CARD

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INVENTORIES OF 1906

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CHALICE

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PROCESSION OF THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI

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SAINT TERESA OF THE INFANT JESUS

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PRESENCES

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CORPUS CHRISTI IN ALENÇON

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Mentions légales

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The religious heritage bears witness to a tradition of embellishing church decor that has been uninterrupted since the Middle Ages, with constants and original features specific to the region, in this case Normandy. 
From the white coat of churches of the evangelization of the territory to the contemporary dechristianization, the evolution of the forms and images proposed to the faithful translates the historical ruptures and the evolution of the mentalities, the conception that the man makes of God and that which the Church seeks to promote. 


By the rhythm of the centuries

The great Christian feasts punctuate our calendar, but the Christian year begins on December 1st, which inaugurates the time of Advent dedicated to the expectation of the birth of Christ on December 25th. The resurrection of Christ is celebrated at Easter, whose moving date determines those of the Ascension and Pentecost. August 15 is the Assumption, the most important feast dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Finally, November 1st celebrates All Saints' Day, which commemorates all saints, known or unknown, and is extended to all the deceased.

By the rhythm of the holidays

Surprise

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As soon as it was recognized by the Roman emperor Constantine in 313, Christianity spread widely throughout the Empire and was structured following the network of Roman cities. As in all of Western France, it is Saint Martin, apostle of the Gauls, soldier of Christ and bishop of Tours in the 4th century who is at the origin of the first wave of evangelization of our territory. Sées is from this time the seat of the bishop.

A second wave of evangelization occurred in the 6th and 7th centuries with the installation of holy hermits, founding priories and monasteries. The Scandinavian invasions in the 9th century led to the ruin of these first monastic establishments, including the abbey of Saint-Evroult en Ouche. The 10th and 11th centuries were marked by the rivalry of the great lordly families, who were continually at war. It is also the great period of the Dukes of Normandy which saw the blossoming of Romanesque art in Normandy between 1050 and 1180. 

In 1204, the Duchy of Normandy became part of France and this loss of political autonomy coincided with the adoption of the Gothic style born in the Île-de-France. 

The Black Death, which reached the Duchy in 1348, the Great Schism between East and West which divided Christendom between 1378 and 1417, and the Hundred Years War and its procession of depredations: so many misfortunes perceived as the manifestation of the divine anger towards a sinful world. Haunted by the fear of death, convinced of their personal guilt and worried about what to do at the very moment of death when eternal life is at stake, the faithful were constantly asking questions about sin and salvation.

The end of the Hundred Years War and the English occupation marked the beginning of a period of prosperity in the middle of the 15th century. The arrival of Marguerite of Lorraine in 1488 gave a strong impetus to the reconstruction of the Duchy of Alençon and the county of Perche with the financing of large churches and the foundation of monasteries of Poor Clares in Alençon, Argentan and Mortagne. 

476-1492

Middle Ages

Marked by the wars of the League, the birth and rise of Protestantism, the bloody conflicts between Catholics and Protestants which culminated around 1562, the 16th century ended with a vigorous reaction from the Church, which implemented the decisions taken at the Council of Trent (1545-1563). Indeed, in addition to theological problems, the Council of Trent devoted a large part of its work to the disciplinary reform of the Church with a view to pastoral efficiency. The bishop had to take great care in appointing parish priests, who were now trained in seminaries, and he undertook long tours of pastoral visits.

Particular attention was paid to the "decency" of the images offered for veneration by the faithful in the churches in application of the decision taken in 1563 at the last session of the Council of Trent: "The Holy Council forbids the placing in churches of any image that is inspired by an erroneous dogma and that could mislead the simple.” This was the birth of an iconography valid for all of Catholic Europe from the end of the 16th century until the Revolution.

The Catholic Reformation also strongly reaffirmed the dogma contested by the Protestants of the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine consecrated by the celebrant. The tabernacle and the altar became the most important elements in the church, at the center of a real scenography composed by the altarpieces. A profound renewal of the churches' decoration was then taking place.

1492-1789

Early modern period

The Revolution marks a break. In November 1789, the property of the clergy became national property, handed over to the new Departmental administration. Religious orders were dissolved and religious were expelled from their monasteries and convents. A series of reforms led to the adoption by the Constituent Assembly of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy on July 12, 1790. The religious map was modelled on the administrative map with one diocese per Department. The state paid the bishops and parish priests who had to be elected. Finally, the priests and bishops were invited to take an oath of loyalty to the French Constitution.

Faced with these measures, unrest arose in the provinces and, on November 26, 1790, the Constituent Assembly gave priests two months to take their oath. This sparked the rupture between the Catholics and the Revolution. A clandestine cult assured by refractory priests is set up, especially in the western regions. These priests would spread counter-revolutionary ideas. 

From 1792 on, the Convention was frankly hostile to Catholic worship, authorizing only one place of worship per parish and confiscating the metal objects kept in the churches to melt them. Measures of dechristianization continued in 1793 and 1794, with the development of the cult of Reason and the Supreme Being, and the closing of churches to worship from May 31, 1793. Refractory priests were severely repressed, especially during the Terror. 

Nevertheless, churches were reopened on May 31, 1795 and the Catholic religion was once again tolerated. With the Consulate, from the coup d'état of 18 brumaire (9 November 1799) which brought Bonaparte to power, freedom of worship was guaranteed by the constitution and the tense relations between the State and the Church relaxed.

1789–1799

The Revolution

The resumption of worship after the Revolution, ratified by the signing of the Concordat of 1801 by Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, coincided with a significant increase in population and the industrialization of the territory. Many churches were then enlarged, or even rebuilt, in an effort to evoke the rebirth of Catholicism after the Wars of Religion. The bishops were the leaders of this recovery movement. 

The interest of archaeologists in antiquity and the Middle Ages led them to reconsider the role of color in architecture. Wall decoration tended to become widespread in the second half of the 19th century, accompanying a global coloring of the architecture. Stained glass windows and mural paintings then took over from the altarpieces of the previous period to offer a catechesis in images that spread new devotions. This new decoration reflected a Church militating for the recovery of an increasingly dechristianized population. 

For new churches, as well as for old churches that had suffered from a prolonged lack of maintenance or from revolutionary vandalism, numerous commissions for furniture were placed, providing a large volume of work for specialized workshops. The appearance of new techniques and the development of national marketing favored the reproduction of models distributed by specialized magazines such as the Revue de l'art chrétien founded in 1857. The workshops gained notoriety through catalogs and advertisements in the Semaine Catholique, the journal of the diocese of Séez created in 1866.

The separation of church and state in 1905, the law of 1913 on historical monuments and the First World War marked a break. While neo-Gothic churches continued to be built and Sulpician statues acquired, sacred art, theorized by artists gathered in societies, became the object of renewed interest. New materials and techniques such as glass engraving or metal hammering were used and, above all, the entire building was taken into account, from the decoration to the goldsmithing. 

The Vatican II Council in the 1960s promoted a stripped-down liturgy requiring a reflection on the liturgical space and its furnishings. Many objects were no longer used and disappeared from the decoration, relegated in the best of cases to the sacristy.

Religious art is adapting to these changes and offers a sensitive translation, combining permanence of references and formal renewal. 

1800-2020

Contemporary period