Statues - Hither & Thither

 

Description

The first stone of the Church of Saint Roch (Église Saint-Roch) was laid by Louis XIV in 1653, accompanied by his mother Anne of Austria. Originally designed by Jacques Lemercier, construction was halted in 1660 and was resumed in 1701 under the direction of architect Jacques Hardouin-Mansart, brother of the better-known Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Work was finally completed in 1754. The Jesuit style façade was started by Robert de Cotte and completed by his son in 1740, shortly before the consecration of the church.

The two statues on the upper level and the groups on the sides were commissioned in 1868 (Revue du XIXe siècle 11, p. 269-270):

L'église Saint-Roch: deux groupes en pierre pour la façade, l'un par M. Victor Vilain, l'autre par M. Vital-Dubray; sainte Clotilde, statue en pierre pour la façade, par M. Loison; sainte Geneviève, statue en pierre pour la façade, par M. Aizelin.

Saint Roch, (14th century), saint from Montpellier, he is specially invoked against the plague. (Wikipedia). by Pierre Loison, 1873

Saint Honoré / Saint Honoratus († 600), bishop of Amiens (Wikipedia). by Eugène-Antoine Aizelin, 1873

Sainte Genevieve, (Nanterre, c. 419/422 - Paris 502/512), patron saint of Paris (Wikipedia). by Eugène-Antoine Aizelin, 1872

Sainte Clotilde, (475-545), second wife of the Frankish king Clovis I (Wikipedia). by Pierre Loison, 1872.

Left and right top corners two sculptures of four church fathers (Les Pères de l'église) by Victor Vilain and Vital-Dubray, 1872 (according to the Paris 1900 website by a certain "Chauvenet Michelet", who is not traceable; the website EUTouring identifies him with Marcelin Firmin Michelet, who lived 1875-1951).

Sculptors

• Eugène-Antoine Aizelin (Paris 1821 - Paris 1902), French sculptor (Wikipedia).
  
• Pierre Loison (Mer, Loir-et-Cher, 1816 - Cannes 1886), French sculptor (Wikipedia).
  
• Victor Vilain (Paris 1818 - Paris 1899), French sculptor (Wikipedia).
  
• Le marquis Vital Gabriel Dubray, dit Vital-Dubray (Paris 1813 - Paris 1892), French sculptor (Wikipedia).

Sources & Information

• paris1900.lartnouveau, L'Église Saint-Roch.
• Le Monde des arts, in: Revue de XIXe siècle 3, 9 (1868), p. 270 (Google books)
• Chronique, in: Revue de l'art chrétien (1873), p. 491 (Google books)
• Wikipedia, Église Saint-Roch (Paris).

Tags

Locatie (N 48°51'53" - E 2°19'55") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

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