Eglise de la Madeleine 20100508 Aix-en-Provence 1

The Église de la Madeleine is a Roman Catholic church in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

Location

It is located on the

town square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...

of ''Place des Prêcheurs'' in Aix-en-Provence.Dominique Auzias,

Le Petit Futé Petit Futé (founded 1976) is a series of French travel guides broadly equivalent to the Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History ...

, 2008 p. 14

/ref>Dominique Auzias, Jean-Paul Labourdette, ''Aix-en-Provence 2012'', Le Petit Futé, 2012, p. 29

/ref> It is next door to the Collège des Prêcheurs, Couvent des Prêcheurs, now a secondary school, also listed.

History

A convent of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

and a Gothic church was built in the 13th century on the Place des Prêcheurs. However, it was burned down in 1383. It was rebuilt, but came down in 1465. The current church building was constructed in its place in the seventeenth century. It was designed by architect Laurent Vallon (1652-1724), and it was built from 1691 to 1703. The facade was designed by architect Henri Révoil (1822-1900) from 1855 to 1860, and it serves as an example of

Second Empire architecture Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts originating in the Second French Empire. It was characterized by elements of many different historical styles, and al ...

. It was renamed in honour of

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

in 1822. Over the centuries, a number of renowned figures have been baptised in this church. On July 21, 1535, the son of François de Malherbe (1555–1628), also named François de Malherbe, was baptised in the church. A century later, André Campra (1660–1744) was baptised here on December 3, 1660. Eighteen years later, Gaspard de Gueidan (1688-1767) was also baptised in the church. Additionally, a century later, Louis-Charles-Jean-Baptiste Michel, who served as Bishop of

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

and

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

from 1829 to 1845, was baptised in the church on July 12, 1761. More recently, the painter

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

(1839-1906) was also baptised in this church. Emmanuel de Fonscolombe (1810-1875) served as a chapel master. The church has a fair amount of art pieces. For example, paintings inside the church include: ''La mort de St.Joseph'' by

Jean-Baptiste van Loo Jean-Baptiste van Loo (14 January 1684 – 19 December 1745) was a French people, French subject and portrait painter. Life and career He was born in Aix-en-Provence, and was instructed in art by his father Louis-Abraham van Loo, son of Jac ...

(1684–1745), ''Madeleine chez Simon'' by Michel Serre (1658-1733), ''La nativité de Jésus'' by Pierre Mignard (1612-1695), '' Annunciation Tryptych'' by

Barthélemy d'Eyck Barthélemy d'Eyck, van Eyck or d' Eyck ( 1420 – after 1470), was an Early Netherlandish artist who worked in France and probably in Duchy of Burgundy, Burgundy as a painter and manuscript illuminator. He was active between about 1440 to about ...

(c. 1420–after 1470), and ''Le Martyre de Saint-Paul'' by Théodore Beyermann. There are also paintings by Joseph-Marie Vien (1716-1809) and Jean Daret (1613–1668). The

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

, designed by Jean-Esprit Isnard (1707-1781), dates back to 1743. Additionally, it is listed. The church building was damaged by the 1909 Provence earthquake on June 11, 1909.

At present

It has been closed for refurbishment since 2006.Le béton au secours de l’église de La Madeleine
Aix-en-Provence, May 10, 2013 It will reopen in 2014. The paintings inside are temporarily housed in an air-conditioned warehouse in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

for the duration of the refurbishment of the church.Sébastien Cyffers, 'L’église de la Madeleine soumise à un titanesque inventaire', '' La Provence'', Aix-en-Provence, October 10, 2010, p. 6.

Heritage significance

It has been listed as a

Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

since October 24, 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madeleine 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France Roman Catholic churches in Aix-en-Provence Monuments historiques of Aix-en-Provence Mary Magdalene