The work of the atelier "Le grand atelier ducal du Folgoët"[a]—one of the two main workshops, with the other being the "atelier cornouaillais du Maître de Tronoën"[b], that emerged during the veritable "golden age" of carving in stone in 15th-century Brittany, considered a marked renaissance, after little activity in the 13th and 14th centuries—can be broken down into two sections, the so-called "first atelier" (active 1423–1468) and "second atelier" (active 1458–1509).
The article will deal with each of these two workshops. For ease of reference, the first atelier's work has been divided into sections:
work on porches in either granite or kersanton stone, calvaries, flagstones/effigies for tombs (gisant), statues, and
some miscellaneous items.
The second atelier section deals with the porch of the Église Saint-Herbot in Plonévez-du-Faou and the Église at Plourac'h.[1]
The Église Notre-Dame at Le Folgoët
What started as the "Chapelle du Folgoët" originated in the reign of John IV, the foundations being laid from 1350 to 1360 but it was during the reign of John V, Duke of Brittany that real progress was made between 1420 and 1422 and in 1423, the Duke founded the chapel college. This is marked by an inscription over the west porch reading "JOHAANES ILLVSTRISSIMVS DVX B(R)ITONVM FVNDAVIT PRAESZE(N)S C(OL)LEGIVM ANNO D(OMI)NI.CCCC.XX.111". Work here was the atelier's first major commission and the carvings are amongst the atelier's best known works.[1][2]
The nave entrance/portal
This entrance leads to the nave. It has double doors and in a niche in the trumeau is a statue of Alain, the Bishop of Léon. The entrance suffered damage in the 1708 fire[3] but has been restored.
The south entrance/portal
This entrance features three of the bishops mentioned below and a tympanum with a depiction of the Virgin Mary with child.
The "porche des Apôtres" and the gable of the sacristy
At the entrance to this porch, the "porche des Apôtres", so called because it holds statues of the apostles, there is a small statue on the right side bearing a scroll which reads "B(IE)N SOIEZ VE(N)US" and on the left a statue depicting an old man stroking his beard. In a niche in the porch's left side buttress there is a statue of Margaret the Virgin slaying a dragon and in niches in the buttress on the right side are statues of Saint Christopher carrying the baby Jesus on his shoulders, of the Virgin Mary with child and Jean V. In the two doored entrance to the basilica itself at the far end of the porch there is a statue of Saint Peter in the trumeau, the saint seeming to preside over the other apostles whose statues adorn each side of the porch interior.
The west porch
The west porch suffered badly from the fire of 1708 and the carving in the tympanum was damaged. This carving featured scenes depicting the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi and the Adoration of the Shepherds. There is a sculpture depicting Saint Michael fighting the dragon to the left of the west porch entrance.
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The south façade
On the church's south façade are depictions of four saints in the attire of a bishop. The first is on the right side of the second window, The second is in the niche to the left of the south entrance, the third in the trumeau of the south entrance and the fourth in a niche in the right side buttress of the south entrance.[1]
The fountain has its source beneath the main altar inside the basilica and it emerges by the chevet. The fountain comprises a statue of the Virgin Mary within an elaborate arcade. This arcade was restored in 1999. The statue of Mary is a copy, the original now being kept inside the basilica. It is much eroded after so many years exposure to the elements.[4]
Images of the atelier's work in the Église Notre-Dame at Le Folgoët
The south portal with statue of a bishop in the trumeau.
The fountain of the Basilica Notre-Dame du Folgoët
View of the Le Folgoët Basilica
One of the statues of the apostles in the interior of the "porche des Apôtres"
Another view of the statues of the apostles in the interior of the "porche des Apôtres"
Part of the west portal tympanum
Statues of the Virgin Mary and Saint Christopher by the "porche des Apôtres"
Photograph circa 1930 depicting a procession at Le Folgoët's "Pardon"
Decoration of porches and portals-mainly using granite
Decoration of the church porch and portal was one of the main areas of activity for the Folgoēt atelier, which will be referred to in the rest of this article as the "atelier", and there are at least nine porches attributed to them. They specialized mainly in adding carvings of angels, saints and prophets to the niches of the voussures of porch arches, working in either granite or Kersantite, Those six porches built predominately using granite can be seen at Quimper cathedral, at Saint-Pol-de-Léon in the Kreisker chapel, in what is left of the ancient chapel of Notre-Dame des Portes at Châteauneuf-du-Faou, at Kernascléden, Saint-Fiacre du Faouët and Quimperlė
Quimper's Cathédrale Saint-Corentin
The south porch known as the Notre-Dame porch has this statue of the Virgin Mary with child in the tympanum. She has angels on either side paying homage, with other angels playing musical instruments and holding phylacteries in the arch's voussures.
The south porch has this statue of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in a niche in the south buttress. She holds a wheel and a sword. It was on a wheel that she was martyred.
The south porch with its elaborate series of voussures.
The west porch
One of the angels in the west porch voussures
Another view of the west porch.
The Lion of Montfort on the west porch.
The north porch of the Kreisker chapel
Notre-Dame des Portes
Kernascléden. The Chapelle Notre-Dame
Saint-Fiacre chapel in Le Faouët, Morbihan
Quimperlé. The Église Notre-Dame
Porches using mainly Kersantite
Tombs/Gisant
Calvaries
Gallery of images
A painting by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret (1852-1929) entitled "Les Bretonnes au pardon" which relates to the Rumengol pardon.
Paul Sérusier's painting "Jeunes Bretonnes"
The stained glass window depicting the "coronation" in the Basilique Le Folgoët
Miscellaneous
The second Folgoēt atelier or workshop
The works attributed to the second Folgoēt atelier are-
The porch at Plourac'h
In the Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste the second Folgoēt atelier are attributed with work on the south porch and in particular with the apostles in the porch interior.[1]
The porch of Saint-Herbot
The Église Saint-Herbot in Plonévez-du-Faou has many works attributed to the second atelier. All of the south porch is by the atelier including external and internal voussures, a statue of Saint-Herbot on the trumeau of the double doored entrance to the church at the end of the porch and the statues of the apostles in the porch interior.[1]
Église Saint-Herbot
The south porch of the Église Saint-Herbot
Statues in south porch of the Église Saint-Herbot
The entrance doors to the church in the south porch of Église Saint-Herbot
Further reading
Sculpteurs sur pierre en Basse-Bretagne. Les Ateliers du XVe au XVIIe Siècle by Emmanuelle LeSeac'h. Published by Presses Universitaires de Rennes. ISBN 978-2-7535-3309-7
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af agLe Seac'h, Emmanuelle (2014). Sculpteurs sur pierre en Basse-Bretagne. Les ateliers du XVe au XV11e siècle (in French). Presses universitaires de Rennes. ISBN 978-2-7535-3309-7.
^"Église Notre-Dame at Le Folgoët". Retrieved 9 August 2015.
^Frey, Roger. "Basilique Notre-Dame du Folgoët". infoBRETAGNE.com. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
^"Fountain at Le Folgoët". Retrieved 10 August 2015.
^"Information on Quimper cathedral". Retrieved 4 August 2015.
^"Information of Kreisker chapel". Retrieved 5 August 2015.
^"The Notre-Dame-des-Portes chapel porch". Retrieved 5 August 2015.
^"Kernascléden Église Notre-Dame". Retrieved 6 August 2015.
^"Saint-Fiacre chapel". Retrieved 6 August 2015.
^"Église Notre-Dame Rumengol". Retrieved 8 August 2015.
^"Tomb of Jean de Kerouzėrė". Retrieved 7 August 2015.
^"The tomb of Sainte Nonne". Retrieved 28 July 2015.
^"eglise Notre-Dame de l'Assomption at Le Faouët in Moriban". Retrieved 31 July 2015.
^"eglise Notre-Dame de l'Assomption at Le Faouët in Moriban". Retrieved 31 July 2015.
^"The tomb of Saint Jaoua". Retrieved 2 August 2015.
^"Calvary at Le Folgoët". Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
^"Le Faou calvary". Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
^"Plogonnec statue Sainte Barbe". Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
^"The calvary at Quemeneven". Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
^"Tympanum at Plouvien". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
^Base Mérimée: Chapelle saint-Fiacre (Le Faouët), Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
^"Annunciation group La Ferrière". Retrieved 31 July 2015.
^Base Mérimée: La Ferrière, Côtes-d'Armor, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
^"Plogonnec statue Sainte Barbe". Retrieved 1 August 2015.
^"The Virgin Mary statue at Plougoulm". Retrieved 2 August 2015.