Nancy - mostly Gargoyles

Audrey:  We do like gargoyles, they are such fun and we found lots of fabulous 'goyles in Nancy, on the Basilique Saint-Epvre and, just around the corner, on Le Palais Ducal (it now houses the Musee Lorrain, which we showed you in a previous Post).

Lillian:  St-Epvre is a minor basilica (not a full Cathedral) in the Gothic Revival Style, the architect was Prosper Morey and building was started in 1864.  When we saw it in the spring of 2011 the building was being renovated and we did not see the interior.

Audrey:  The renovated parts were almost white - like a lot of buildings in Nancy.

Lillian:  Yes, this is Euville stone - a limestone famed for its whiteness - the Opéra Garnier in Paris is of the same stone.  Unfortunately it does need cleaning frequently - pollution makes it go grey.

 Audrey: Before we look at all the Gargoyles, lets see that tympanum in detail -

 

What is the story with the 4 winged ones Lillian?

Lillian: They represent the 4 Evangelists; the angel is St Matthew, the eagle is St John, the bull or ox is St Luke and the lion is St Mark.

Audrey:   Ahah - because there are statues of these winged ones out the front of the Basilica.  I really liked the cow,  but I am glad that cows can't really fly!

 

 Lillian:  Ummm  time for some gargoyles I think.

 

 

 

Audrey :  That one is a bit of a goat!

 

and this one has the body of a wallaby or kangaroo.  An Aussie gargoyle in Nancy, France!   How wonderful!

 

Here is a lady having a Very Bad Hair Day!

This guy is not being very nice to his dog!  And you would think he'd be nicer to his doggy seeing as he seems to be a bit of a dog himself!

 

 

Dear me, even the King is having a terrible time!  

 Audrey : We also found a lion round the side of the Basilique Saint-Epvre - I like lions and this one was quite friendly.

Lillian: We walked all round St-Epvre and up & down some lovely gothic stairs - keeping a good look out for more lions; as not all lions are friendly! 

 Lillian:  Although the current Basilique dates only from the mid-1800s there had been a church there since 1080 and the square - the Place et Basilique Saint-Epvre was the major market place in Nancy until the end on the 19th C.  There is a fountain and statue of Duke René II in the square - these days it is rather dwarfed by the surrounding buildings and all the cars.
 



Audrey:  What have we found out about René No: 2?  he is often depicted like this - flourishing a sword aloft like a toothpick in need of a cocktail onion.

Lillian:  Oh Audrey!   Duke René II of Lorraine, he defeated Charles the bold, Duke of Burgundy, at the Battle of Nancy in 1477.

Audrey:  He was also Duke of Bar, Duke of Calabria, Count of Harcourt, Count of Guise, King of Naples & Jerusalem.  Quite a busy person!

Lillian:  Just around the corner, on the Grande Rue is the le palais Ducal - the Duke's Palace

Audrey:  Sorry to interrupt but - Grande Rue / Great or Big Street ... that is something of a misnomer!   It is really narrow, not straight and quite marvelous - we have a photo taken about mid-way looking back at the bell tower of the Basilique Saint-Epvre.

Audrey:  Back to the Duke's Palace - this fabulousness is over the main doorway.  Another statue of a man on a horse, is this Duke René II again?

Lillian:  No, although the palace was originally built for René II, that statue is of Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (1489-1544).  He was a son of Rene and was known as Antoine the Good.

Audrey:  Tee hee, was there also an Antoine the Bad?!
His horsey is getting its tummy tickled by a thistle - the thistle is one of the heraldic symbols of Lorraine.   These babies have more heraldry ...


Lillian:  Let's see -
there are lots of fleur-de-lis, the "Crusader's Cross" for Jerusalem, twinned fish for the Duchy of Bar & three flying eagles in the middle.

 Most of the facade of the Palace dates from about 1520, late gothic but it was heavily restored in 1871 and the supervising architect was Prosper Morey - who designed St-Epvre.

Audrey:  The roof has really pretty lacework along the top ...












and there are really massive Gargoyles, many animal based.

a furry bear gargoyle

pig gargoyle

though the pig's paws are not trotters

Panther Gargoyle - with a brave pigeon

Griffon 'goyle

Audrey :  And a man with a bad hang-over.   Originally gargoyles were rain-spouts; meant to send rainwater as far from the walls of the building as possible.   So the original of this gargoyle would once have vomited water all over the people walking down the Grande Rue! 

Lillian :  We'll leave this post with a funny little monk that we found on the wall of the Ducal Palace.

Audrey : What will we show people in our next post Lillian?
Lillian :  Perhaps we'll go to the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nancy, lots of wonderful glassware there.

Auxerre - the Église Saint-Eusèbe

Lillian :  In this post we'll look at another lovely church - the exterior of the Église Saint-Eusèbe in Auxerre was under renovation when we saw it last April.

Audrey :  The front facade is rather 'wedding cake' and gothic.


 








Lillian : This church has been built and re-built over the centuries and so there are a variety of styles.  Most of what we saw of the exterior looked, to our untrained eyes, quite gothic.

Audrey :  But we're Blythe dolls - we have 4pairs of eyes each, are they all untwained?

Sign on the Church - lots of building & re-building over the years

Lillian : Oh Audrey, it's a figure of speech - we are untrained in historical architecture.  But here are some links to other web sites if people would like to do further research -
Mapping Gothic France  &
this site is in French

Audrey :  A close-up of a putti and other ornateness.  Let's go inside the church now.




Lillian :  As you step inside the entrance has gothic cruciform pillars then the main parts are Romanesque - lofty, light and lovely. 
White stone, sunshine streaming through all the windows, lots of vertical lines. 


  


Audrey : We saw vaulting like this at the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne - cross vaults or groin vaults.
Lillian : This is down the nave and the last section is more decorated just like in the Cathedral.

Audrey : The chevet or apse was built in the 1530s and is Late Gothic.  Amazing vaulting, a statue of Mary with Baby in the centre and splendid stained glass windows all around.

Lillian :  These windows were renovated in 1967 - click on the picture to enlarge & see some of the detail.  The pair of windows on the left illustrates the Apocalypse, the next two - the Passion of Christ with the Last Supper, then the Resurrection and the pair to the right that you can't really see in this picture show the story of Solomon and Absalom.
 
Audrey :  There were other stained glass 'story' windows too - and I was surprised to see this picture in a church!

Lillian :  Umm one of the stories about Joseph, son of Jacob and the Joseph of the technicolour coat.

Audrey :  Looks like Joseph had a lot of trouble keeping his clothes!

Lillian :  Well, that window depicts the story of Potiphar's wife ... here is a Wikipedia article

 This is another part of the Joseph window - and here Joseph's half brothers are selling the young Joseph (who is without his technicolour coat) to the Ishmailite traders (wearing turbans & gorgeously coloured robes) - their camels are in the background. 

Audrey :  With two humps - Bactrian camels.  Those panels of stained glass have a short version of the stories written on fancy scrolls, in French.  Also, in the bottom RH corner this window is signed "Execute Sur la Garton-De Gaussen".









Lillian :   This beautiful window was in one of the chapels or bays down the side of the church. 
Audrey :   A lovely chandelier too - but what gorgeous blue and yellow glass!

 

Lillian :  Wouldn't that make a lovely fabric?  For curtains or ...
Audrey :  In silk taffeta it would make a really nice sun-dress - 1950's style with a great big skirt & matching bolero.

Lillian : Umm well, the central pictures show the Annunciation (on the left) and the birth of John the Baptist, patron of the Order of Malta - hence the Maltese crosses underneath.




Audrey :  Our stylist likes all the detail of the clothing in these pictures, especially the head-wear ... the young lady in the fore-ground is not about to lose her head scarf, it is tied on around her head & over then under her chin.

 

Lillian :  Well, enough lovely stained glass perhaps?

We also saw this gilded reliquary.

Audrey :  It is very pretty but we did not look inside - too spooky!




Lillian :  It houses relics of Saint Germanus of Auxerre.

Audrey :  Ok, but this is was not a Church of St Germanus - it is the Église Saint-Eusèbe and that is a funny name so we've looked him up - St Eusebius of Vercelli was born in 283 and became the first Bishop of Vercelli.



Lillian : Before we go back outside let's look back towards the entrance - remember those cruciform pillars?  Over that entrance - almost a narthex - is the pipe organ.  

 Audrey :  Outside again - we had a quick look for gargoyles.  Only found one, but we were in a hurry.

Audrey :  It is an excellent Gargoyle - bat-winged, dog nosed and donkey eared.

Lillian :  And after a little game of hide & seek amongst the pillars we walked to the river Yonne - those photos in our next post.