Tarascon-Sainte-Marie l'égyptienne-Parrocel (cropped)

Église Sainte-Marthe de Tarascon or Collégiale Royale Sainte-Marthe is a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...

Tarascon Tarascon (; ), sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune situated at the extreme west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Inhabitants are referred to as Tarasconnais or Taras ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, dedicated to Saint Martha. It is where, according to a local tradition, the

biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...

figure Martha is buried.

History

Collegiate Sainte-Marthe was dedicated in 1197 and enlarged in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was built half- Romanesque in the 12th century and half-

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 ...

in the 14th century. The tympanum and lintel of the Romanesque southern portal were severely damaged during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. The tip of the church tower was destroyed during Allied bombings on August 16, 1944. It was later rebuilt.

Features

The

crypt A crypt (from Latin '' crypta'' " vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a c ...

dates from the 3rd century. It houses the relics of Martha in a sarcophagus of the 4th century. Church paintings include: Painting by

Charles-André van Loo Carle or Charles-André van Loo (; 15 February 1705 – 15 July 1765) was a French painter, son of the painter Louis-Abraham van Loo, a younger brother of Jean-Baptiste van Loo and grandson of Jacob van Loo. He was the most famous member of a ...

: * ''Mort de Saint François'' or ''Saint François d'Assise recevant les stigmates'' (1730) * ''Sainte Marthe domptant la Tarasque'' (1730). Originally in the convent of the

Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from t ...

and later in Eglise Saint-Jacques. Paintings by

Joseph-Marie Vien Joseph-Marie Vien (sometimes anglicised as Joseph-Mary Wien; 18 June 1716 – 27 March 1809) was a French painter. He was the last holder of the post of Premier peintre du Roi, serving from 1789 to 1791. Biography He was born in Montpellier ...

. Based on the narrative of the ''

Golden Legend The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...

'', they were initially part of a series painted for the convent of the

in Tarascon. * ''Sainte Marthe recevant le Christ à Bethanie'' (1747) * ''La résurrection de Lazare'' (1747) * ''L'embarquement de sainte Marthe'' (1751) * ''L'arrivée de sainte Marthe en Provence'' (1748) * ''La prédication de sainte Marthe'' (1748) * ''L'agonie de sainte Marthe'' (1748) * ''Les funérailles de sainte Marthe'' (1748) Paintings by

Nicolas Mignard Nicolas Mignard, called Mignard d’Avignon, (7 February 1606 (baptised) – 20 March 1668) was a French painter known for his religious and mythological scenes and portraits.Lada Nikolenko. "Mignard." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. O ...

: * ''L'Assomption'' (1643) * ''Arrivée du Christ à Béthanie'' (1640) Paintings by

Pierre Parrocel Pierre Parrocel (1664–1739) was a French painter of the late-Baroque period. Life He was born in Avignon to a large family of artists, including his uncle Joseph Parrocel and his father, Louis Parrocel. He was first instructed by his uncle, a ...

: * ''Sainte Cunégonde et sainte Cécile'' * ''Sainte Marie l'égyptienne'' * ''Le Christ sur la croix'' * ''Sainte Catherine de Sienne''Base Palissy: * ''Saint Thomas d'Aquin'' * ''Adoration des Mages'' * ''Adoration des Bergers'' * ''L'Annonciation'' * ''Notre Dame du peuple'' Painting by Philippe Sauvan: * ''Saint Dominique'' (1789) Base Palissy:

References

External links

Church of Saint Martha
, Tarascon Monuments and Museums, Official website of Tarascon's tourist office.
Collégiale Sainte-Marthe / Tarascon

Entry at pays-arles.org
Tarascon

{{coord, 43.805614, 4.656084, display=title

History

Features

References

Further reading

External links