Notre-Dame-de-Lorette is a Roman Catholic Church located in the

9th arrondissement of Paris The 9th arrondissement of Paris (''IXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as the neuvième (; "ninth"). The arrondissement, called Opéra, is loc ...

, It was built between 1823 and 1836 in the

Neo-classical architectural Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

style by architect Louis-Hippolyte Lebas, in a neighbourhood known as the New Athens, for its many artistic and scholarly residents in the 19th century, including

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "R ...

, and

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

. While the exterior is classical and austere, the church interior is known for its rich collection of paintings, sculpture, and polychrome decoration.

History

A 17th-century chapel dedicated to Notre-Dame-de-Lorette existed on the same site at 54 rue Lamartine but during the French Revolution, it was nationalised by the Revolutionary government, closed, sold and demolished. In 1821, as the population of the neighbourhood was growing rapidly, plans were made to build a new church, with

Louis-Hippolyte Lebas Louis-Hippolyte Lebas (31 March 1782 in Paris – 12 June 1867 in Paris) was a French architect working in a rational and severe Neoclassical style. Life and career He was trained in the atelier of Percier and Fontaine, the favoured architects ...

as the architect. Originally, the church was planned to face northward towards Montmartre, but eventually faced southward towards rue Laffitte. Two notable figures in French culture were

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. Composer

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

received his baptism at the church on March 16, 1840, while painter

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

was baptized on May 20, 1841. In the 1840s The name of the church inspired the term "Lorette" for a woman of loose morals. The term appeared iin the 1840s in n newspapers, asongs and novels, due to the women of questionable reputations who residential buildings near church.

Exterior

The facade features four Corinthian columns, and an entablement and a fronton with sculpture. Atop the fronton are three statues, depicting the virtues; Faith, carrying the a calice and a Bible (right); Charity, with two infants (top); and Hope, represented by a woman with an anchor (left). These are the work of Charles René Laitié (1782-1862). Below, the triangular tympanum depicts "Homage to the Virgin", a bas-relief depicting angels worshipping the Virgin Mary. The tympanum was made by the sculptor Charles-François Leboeuf-Nanteuil (1792-1865) France's motto ''

Liberté, égalité, fraternité ''Liberté, égalité, fraternité'' (), French for "liberty, equality, fraternity", is the national motto of France and the Republic of Haiti, and is an example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, it ...

'' (Liberty, equality, fraternity) was added above the church's main entrance in 1902. File:NotreDameDeLoretteFacadeSud.JPG, The façade, topped with statues of Faith, Charity and Hope File:Église Notre Dame Lorette - Paris IX (FR75) - 2021-06-27 - 2.jpg, The apse and the bell tower File:PA00088905 - Église Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Paris (detail fronton).jpg, Detail of the tympanum; "Homage to the Virgin".

Interior

The early 19th century was characterized with neoclassical building styles, with the church also being designed in this manner. Instead of decorative paintings being placed on the church's walls, murals were painted directly onto them, similarly to the

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...

in Rome. The façade features Charles-François Lebœuf's sculpture ''Six angels in adoration before the Madonna and Child''. Inside are the statues of

Charles-René Laitié Charles-René Laitié (1782 – 11 December 1862) was a French sculptor. Early years Charles-René Laitié was born in Paris in 1782. He became a pupil of Claude Dejoux (1732–1816). He also studied under Pierre Cartellier. He won a medal from ...

Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire (9 January 1798, Valenciennes - 2 August 1880, Paris) was a French sculptor, working in a neoclassical academic style. Life and career He was a pupil of Pierre Cartellier, and won the Prix de Rome for sculpture i ...

and

Denis Foyatier Denis Foyatier (21 September 1793 at Bussières, Loire – 19 November 1863 at Paris) was a French sculptor in the neoclassical style. Biography Foyatier was the child of a family of modest means (his father was a weaver and later a farmer ...

, who represent the three theological virtues of charity, hope and faith, respectively. File:Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Paris 11 July 2014 013.jpg, Interior of Église of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. File:Eglise Notre-Dame de Lorette @ Paris (31086893113).jpg, upper walls of the nave lined with paintings File:Paris, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Hauptorgel (8).jpg, The grand organ on the tribune of nave entrance

The Choir

Since the church does not have a transept, the border between the nave and the choir is marked by a large triumphal arch. The choir of the church, the area where the altar is located, is particularly packed with decoration. which includes murals, sculpture, inlaid walls, and coffered arches and ceilings. File:Eglise Notre-Dame de Lorette @ Paris (31086982533).jpg, The choir and altar File:Eglise Notre-Dame de Lorette @ Paris (31056147994).jpg, The dome over the altar

Collateral aisles

THe collateral aisles are separated from the nave and choir by roles of Doric columns, and give access to the side chapels. They have their own elaborate decoration, including coffered ceilings. File:Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Paris 11 July 2014 010.jpg, Collateral aisle behind the pulpit

Chapels

The church has four large chapels at the corners and six smaller chapels aligned along the side aisles. The Chapel of the Virgin and of Marriage also has very colorful murals by the painter

Victor Orsel (André Jacques) Victor Orsel (25 May 1795, Oullins, Rhône - 30 November 1850, Paris) was a French painter. A student of Pierre Révoil in Lyon then of Pierre-Narcisse Guérin in Paris, he then spent 7 years at the villa Médicis in Rome (1822� ...

(1795-1850), wh9ch depict "Litanies of Notre Dame de Lorette". Orsel was the head of a school of French religioua painters known as the Nazaréens. The Chapel of Baptism, located near the entrance, is decorated with murals by Adolphe Roger (1800-1880), depicting events from the Old Testament, beginning with Adam and Eve and the Original Sin, to the Baptism of Christ. on the half-dome overhead, he painted "The Spirit of Christians renewed by baptism" and on the pillars "The Four Continents." Roger made direct references to the Italian primitive artists, including

Masaccio Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, ...

and

Fra Angelico Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro; February 18, 1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Vasari in his '' Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".Giorgio Vasari, ''Lives of the Artists''. Pengu ...

. He was a leading practioner of the new style "Archaisant", inspired by the art of earlier periods, which became an important school during the 19th century. File:Paris, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Innenansicht (3).jpg, The Chapel of the Virgin File:Eglise Notre-Dame de Lorette @ Paris (31779953141).jpg, Adam and Eve in the Chapel of Baptism, File:Eglise Notre-Dame de Lorette @ Paris (31523367060).jpg, The Chapel of Baptism

Ceilings

The

coffered A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also c ...

ceilings of the church are among its most famous features. They were created by Hubert-Nicolas Lamontagne, and are composed of interlocking cruciform coffers or caissons made of gilded wood. Similar ceilings are found at the

Santa Maria Maggiore The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...

Basilica in Rome and the

Palazzo Vecchio The Palazzo Vecchio ( "Old Palace") is the City hall, town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria, which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David (Michelangelo), David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent ...

in Florence. The designs of the ceiling represent the monogram of the Virgin Mary, the dove of the Holy Spirit, and roses; in theology, Mary is "the Mystic Rose". File:Ceiling in the Église Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (Paris) (01).jpg, Coffered ceiling of collateral aisle File:Complex ceiling in the Église Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (Paris).jpg, Ceiling of the nave File:Ceiling in the Église Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (Paris) (02).jpg, ceiling

Stained glass

All of windows of the church are made of white or simple colored glass without figures with one exception, "The Window of Assumption". The window was designed by the painter Jérôme-Marie Delorme and made by the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory. The window is almost hidden in the Oratory, in a small room at the end of the lower left side of the church. Visitors much request permission to see it.
Patrimoine-histoire Site File:Paris-Notre-Dame-de-Lorette459.JPG, "The Assumption" window, by Jerome-Marie Delorme

Paintings

There is not a flat surface in the church interior which is not decorated in some way. The paintings and murals in the church give a very good summary of religious art in France in the 1830s, which was influenced by Italian painters of the early Renaissanc, such as

Massacio Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, ...

File:Eglise Notre-Dame de Lorette @ Paris (31896423625).jpg, Chapel of Batpism murals by Adolphe Roger (1800-1880) File:Eglise Notre-Dame de Lorette @ Paris (31056140094).jpg, "Jésus among the Doctors of Lawedi" by Michel-Martin Drolling (1786-1851) (Nave) File:Eglise Notre-Dame de Lorette @ Paris (31086893113).jpg, "Presentation of the Virgin" by Auguste Vinchon (1833) (center) File:Eglise Notre-Dame de Lorette @ Paris (31056147994).jpg, "The triumph of the Virgin" by Pierre-François Delorme (1783-1859) {Over Choir)

Sculpture

File:Paris-Notre-Dame-de-Lorette76.JPG, The pulpit File:Baptismal font @ Eglise Notre-Dame de Lorette @ Paris (31858969186).jpg, The baptismal font, with figure of

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

File:Paris (75009) Église Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Christ par Antoine Desboeufs.JPG, "Christ" by Antoine Desboeufs

The organs

The church has two organs; the grand organ is located on the tribune over the entrance, and fills almost the entire space. The smaller choir organ is located in the choir to the side of the altar. The grand organ of the tribune was completed in 1838 by

Aristide Cavaillé-Coll Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (; 4 February 1811 – 13 October 1899) was a French organ builder. He has the reputation of being the most distinguished organ builder of the 19th century. He pioneered innovations in the art and science of organ buildi ...

, who at the time was twenty-eight years old. He was aided by his father and brother Vincent to complete his first organ. Fitting it into the narrow width of the wall was one of this challenges he had to overcome. The later instruments he built included the organs of

Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

Sacré-Cœur, Paris The Basilica of Sacré Coeur de Montmartre (Sacred Heart of Montmartre), commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica and often simply Sacré-Cœur (french: Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre, pronounced ), is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica in Par ...

and

La Madeleine, Paris , other name = , native_name = , native_name_lang = French , image = Madeleine Paris.jpg , landscape = , imagesize = , caption = , imagelink ...

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Patrimoine-histoire Site File:Paris, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Hauptorgel (11).jpg, The grand organ on the tribune File:Paris, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Chororgel (1).jpg, The choir organ

Art and Decoration

Notes and Citations

Bibliography

*Dumoulin, Aline; Ardisson, Alexandra; Maingard, Jérôme; Antonello, Murielle; ''Églises de Paris'' (2010), Éditions Massin, Issy-Les-Moulineaux, (in French)

External links

Official church website

patrimoine-histoire.fr (Site on history, architecture, art and decoration of church (in French) {{Visitor attractions in Paris Roman Catholic churches completed in 1836 Roman Catholic churches in the 9th arrondissement of Paris Neoclassical architecture in Paris 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France Neoclassical church buildings in France