The Église Saint-Augustin de Paris (Church of St. Augustine) is a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
church located at 46
boulevard Malesherbes
Boulevard Malesherbes is a boulevard in central Paris, France, running northwest between the Church of the Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement, and the Porte d'Asnières in the 17th arrondissement. It is one of the streets created during the ...
in the
8th arrondissement of Paris
The 8th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, the arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le huitième'' ("the eighth").
The arrondissement, ...
. The church was built between 1860 and 1871 by the Paris city chief architect
Victor Baltard
Victor Baltard (9 June 180513 January 1874) was a French architect famed for work in Paris including designing Les Halles market and the Saint-Augustin church.
Life
Victor was born in Paris, son of architect Louis-Pierre Baltard and attended Lyc ...
. It was the first church in Paris to combine a cast-iron frame, fully visible, with stone construction. It was designed to provide a prominent landmark at the junction of two new boulevards built during
Haussmann's renovation of Paris
Haussmann's renovation of Paris was a vast public works programme commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III and directed by his prefect of Seine, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, between 1853 and 1870. It included the demolition of medieval neighbourho ...
under
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
.
The closest
métro station is
Saint-Augustin
In 1886, Saint-Augustin was the site of the conversion of
Charles de Foucauld
Charles Eugène de Foucauld de Pontbriand, Viscount of Foucauld (15 September 1858 – 1 December 1916) was a French soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnographer, Catholic priest and hermit who lived among the Tuareg people in the Sahara in Alg ...
, who was canonised as a Saint by
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
on 15 May 2022. The church includes a chapel dedicated to Foucauld, in which is preserved the
confessional
A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall in which the priest in some Christian churches sits to hear the confessions of penitents. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches, but sim ...
where he returned to the Catholic Church.
History
In the 1850s and 1860s
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
carried out a massive reconstruction of the center of Paris, which was carried out by
Georges-Eugène Haussmann
Georges-Eugène Haussmann, commonly known as Baron Haussmann (; 27 March 180911 January 1891), was a French official who served as prefect of Seine (1853–1870), chosen by Emperor Napoleon III to carry out a massive urban renewal programme of n ...
. Wide boulevards were built to cut through the overcrowded medieval city, with monumental new buildings at the meeting points of the new boulevards. Saint-Augustin was intended to be the anchor of
Boulevard Malesherbes
Boulevard Malesherbes is a boulevard in central Paris, France, running northwest between the Church of the Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement, and the Porte d'Asnières in the 17th arrondissement. It is one of the streets created during the ...
, balancing
The Church of La Madeleine at the other end. It was also designed to be visible from the
Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...
down the avenue de Friedland. The size and design of the church was inspired by Saint Paul's and other great churches of London, where Napoleon III had lived in exile before becoming President of France and then Emperor.
The church was designed by Haussmann's fellow
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, architect
Victor Baltard
Victor Baltard (9 June 180513 January 1874) was a French architect famed for work in Paris including designing Les Halles market and the Saint-Augustin church.
Life
Victor was born in Paris, son of architect Louis-Pierre Baltard and attended Lyc ...
, who from 1849 onwards was Chief Architect of the City of Paris. He was responsible for the restoration of several Paris churches damaged in the French Revolution, including
Saint-Étienne-du-Mont,
Saint-Séverin, Paris, and
Saint-Germain-les-Prés. In the 1850s he designed his most famous work,
Les Halles markets, also using an iron structure. They were demolished in the 1970s and replaced by an underground shopping mall.
The chosen site was trapezoid-shaped lot at the intersection of four streets, which meant that the back of the church was wider than the front. The length of the boulevard, the small site the need to make the church visible from far away, called for a dome of which covered virtually the entire church. The key innovation of Baltard was the use of cast iron for the structure of the church which permitted Batlard to greatly reduce the thickness of the walls, and to eliminate the need for heavy buttresses outside.
By the end of the 20th century in the period of modernism, the church design was considered out of fashion. In 1995 one critic described the church as "an eyesore: ridiculously sited, without proportion, crushed beneath an outsized dome".
Exterior
The church was built between 1860 and 1871 in an eclectic style combining Tuscan
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
,
Romanesque and
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
elements. The church is very large: one hundred meters long and eighty meters high to the lantern of the dome, which has a diameter of 25 meters. Because of the boulevards that converge at the site, it also has an unusual shape, a trapezoid, with the front much narrower than the rear. The dome occupies almost the entire facade.
Saint-Augustin's facade features a frieze by sculptor
François Jouffroy
François Jouffroy (1 February 1806 – 25 June 1882) was a French sculptor.
Biography
Jouffroy was born in Dijon, France, the son of a baker, and attended the local drawing school before being admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 18 ...
depicting
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
and the
twelve apostles
In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...
above the
four evangelists. The rose window was designed by
Prosper Lafaye (1806-1833). It has the unusual feature of being reinforced with an armature of cast iron. The dome is surrounded by four towers which serve as buttresses.
File:Church in Paris412.jpg, The facade
File:Paris, Saint-Augustin, Außenansicht (3).jpg, The apse or rear of the church, surrounded by chapels
Interior: the nave and choir
The most striking feature of the interior is the great open space, without traditional pillars or columns, made possible by the cast-iron frame and roof. The frame, which is fully visible, serves as well as a decorative element; the cast-iron columns line the walls, and are painted and decorated with gilding and with polychrome angels, created by Louis Schroeder (1828-1898).
The choir is the portion of the church reserved for the clergy in the centre of the church, and is raised. Over the altar is a ciborium or baldaquin, an opem walled domed structure made of gilded cast iron, in the Renaissance style.
File:Paris, Saint-Augustin, Innenansicht (2).jpg, The nave, choir and the ciborium over the altar
File:Dome @ Eglise Saint-Augustin @ Paris (31411198736).jpg, The interior of the dome, eighty meters high, showing its iron structure
File:Baldaquin StAugustin.jpg, THe Ciborium or baldequin over the main altar
Chapels
A series of chapels, filled with art, surround the nave and choir. On the right side of the nave is a chapel dedicated to the soldier, geographer and priest
Charles de Foucauld
Charles Eugène de Foucauld de Pontbriand, Viscount of Foucauld (15 September 1858 – 1 December 1916) was a French soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnographer, Catholic priest and hermit who lived among the Tuareg people in the Sahara in Alg ...
, who was converted to Christianity in the church in 1886. It displays documents related to his life. He was beatified 2005 and declared a saint in 2022.
THe largest chapel is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and by tradition is located in the apse at the east end of the church.
Three chapels are placed around the choir, and are decoration with lavish materials; they are entered through archways with rose-colored marble columns and arches, and altars decorated with mosaics.
File:P1030116 Paris VIII église Saint-Augustin Chapelle de la Vierge rwk.JPG, The Chapel of the Virgin
File:Chapelle du Sacré-Cœur de l'église Saint-Augustin de Paris.jpg, Chapel of the Sacred Heart
File:Chapelle Saint-Joseph de StA.jpg, The Chapel of Saint Joseph
File:Chapelle Foucauld.jpg, The austere Foucauld Chapel, dedicated to Saint Charles de Foucauld
Charles Eugène de Foucauld de Pontbriand, Viscount of Foucauld (15 September 1858 – 1 December 1916) was a French soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnographer, Catholic priest and hermit who lived among the Tuareg people in the Sahara in Alg ...
, who was cannoized in 2005.
Art and Decoration
The church is lavishly decorated with art. The stained glass windows depict bishops and martyrs of the first centuries and the cast-iron columns are decorated with polychrome angels. A
statue of Joan of Arc, by
Paul Dubois
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
, was erected in the church in 1896. The church features paintings by
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...
,
Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin
Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin (23 March 1809 – 21 March 1864) was a French Neoclassical painter. His most celebrated work, '' Jeune Homme Nu Assis au Bord de la Mer'' ("Young Male Nude Seated beside the Sea"), from 1836, is held in the Louvre.
Bio ...
,
Émile Signol
Émile Signol (March 11, 1804 – October 4, 1892) was a French artist who painted history paintings, portraits, and genre works. Although he lived during the Romantic period, he espoused an austere neoclassicism and was hostile to Romanticism ...
,
Alexandre-Dominique Denuelle
Alexandre-Dominique Denuelle, a French decorative painter and architect, was born in Paris in 1818. He studied under Delaroche, and afterwards served on the Commission for Historical Monuments. He died at Florence in 1879. He was largely engaged ...
and sculpture by
Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse
Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (born Albert-Ernest Carrier de Belleuse; 12 June 1824 – 4 June 1887) was a French sculptor. He was one of the founding members of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and was made an officer of the Legion of H ...
and
Henri Chapu
Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu (29 September 1833 – 21 April 1891) was a French sculptor in a modified Neoclassical tradition who was known for his use of allegory in his work.
Life and career
Born in Le Mée-sur-Seine into modest circumstances, ...
.
[ The large oval paintings of Saints and angels on the upper walls were made by ]William Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...
(1825-1925}. He simplified and enlarged the figures because of their height on the walls and the dim light, and often placed them against a background of a blue sky.
File:P1030126 Paris VIII eglise Saint-Augustin façade détail rwk.JPG, The frieze depicting Christ and the Twelve Apostles over the west portal
File:Charles Marville, Eglise St. Augustin - portes, ca. 1850–70.jpg, Portal doors by Charles Marville
Charles Marville, the pseudonym of Charles François Bossu (Paris 17 July 1813 – 1 June 1879 Paris), was a French photographer, who mainly photographed architecture, landscapes and the urban environment. He used both paper and glass negatives. ...
(1850-70)
File:Charles Marville, Eglise St. Augustin, Moreau, Mathurin, sculpteur 2, ca. 1853–70.jpg, Sculpture by Charles Marville
Charles Marville, the pseudonym of Charles François Bossu (Paris 17 July 1813 – 1 June 1879 Paris), was a French photographer, who mainly photographed architecture, landscapes and the urban environment. He used both paper and glass negatives. ...
(c. 1853-70)
File:P1030365 Paris VIII église Saint-Augustin 4 Evangelistes Saint-Mathieu rwk.JPG, Saint Matthew on the facade
File:Rosace saint Augustin Paris.jpg, Rose window exterior
File:Poteau St Augustin Paris.jpg, A sculpted cast iron post from the interior
File:Paris (75008) Église Saint-Augustin - Extérieur - Façade principale - 18.jpg, Decoration on the facade: "Faith", painted by Paul Balze
File:Paris (75008) Église Saint-Augustin - Extérieur - Façade principale - 17.jpg, Facade: "Hope" by Paul Balze
Stained glass
Unlike the custom in other 19th-century churches, the architect Baltard did not install white glass to bring more light into the nave. On the two lower levels of the nave, he employed windows with geometric figures. On top level, he used images of saints and martyrs, The stained glass of the windows on the dome over the choir are coloured with grisaille
Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...
, heightened with jaune d'argent. This accounts for the rather dim light in the nave.
The stained glass portraits of saints surrounding the dome are examples of monocrhome grisaille
Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...
windows, highlighted with gilded designs The chapels around the nave and the choir feature windows devoted to saints and apostles, noting the names of the donors at the bottom.
Site on church history and art (in French)
File:Paris Saint-Augustin531.JPG, the rose window, made with an iron framework
File:Paris Saint-Augustin545.JPG, "An Angel" (detail - click to enlarge)
File:Paris Saint-Augustin536.JPG, "The Visitation" (apse)
File:Paris Saint-Augustin530.JPG, "Descent from the cross" (Apse)
File:Paris Saint-Augustin11.JPG, "Saint Vincent de Paul, a Grisaille
Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...
window on the drum of dome
File:P1030108 Paris VIII église Saint-Augustin vitrail rwk.JPG, Geometric window designs (nave)
File:Paris Saint-Augustin671.JPG, Window detail (nave}
Organs
The organ is celebrated in the world of organ building. The church's main organ was built by
Charles Spackman Barker, famous in the organ design world for inventing « machine Barker » which revolutionised the means of transmission from the keyboard to the organ pipes. It was constructed in 1867-1868, and dedicated on June 17, 1868. The same organ was also one of the first to employ electricity. It was removed for restoration by Cavaillé-Coll (1899), Beuchet-Debierre (1961) and Dargassies (1987). It features 54 stops with three 54-key
manual keyboards and
pedalboards.
The church has a smaller organ located just over the choir. The choir organ was built by Cavaillé-Coll-Mutin in 1899, rebuilt by Danion-Gonzalez in 1973,and(1983) It has two keyboards with 61 notes, a pedalier with 32 notes, electric transmission, and 30 pipes, 21 working.
File:Paris, Saint-Augustin, Hauptorgel (2).jpg, The grand organ over the west entrance of the nave
File:P1030123 Paris VIII église Saint-Augustin orgue rwk.JPG, The grand organ and the rose window
File:P1030119 Paris VIII église Saint-Augustin Orgue du choeur rwk.JPG, The choir organ
The Church and its setting
The church was designed to be a highly-visible landmark at the meeting of two boulevards, and to be seen from the top of the Arc de Triumphe.
File:St. Augustine Church, Paris, France-LCCN2001698532.jpg, The church in the 1890s
File:Toits Paris Saint Augustin depuis arc de Triomphe 2.jpg, From the Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...
References
Sources
*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)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eglise Saint-Augustin De Paris
Augustin
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1868
Church buildings with domes
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France