The Madeleine

Pierre-Alexandre Barthélémy Vignon (1763-1828)

Interior by Jacques-Marie Huvé (1783-1852)

Consecrated 1842

Place de la Madeleine, Paris

Another view and Related Material

The Madeleine (front elevation)

Triqueti's bronze doors

Thou shalt not commit adultery

Detail of adultery panel

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house

Marochetti's Brunel in London

Marochetti's Robert Stephenson in London

Photograph, caption, and commentary below by Jacqueline Banerjee, 2009.

You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.

The construction of this grand neo-classical edifice was based on the famous "Maison Carrée" in Nîmes. It had a long and chequered history, and was at one point earmarked as the city's first railway station. David Watkins describes it has having an "imposing if somewhat lifeless exterior" and an "opulent interior," and explains that while the outside is on the Roman Corinithian model, the inside (curiously, for a church) was "modelled on Roman baths" (442). Nevertheless, it looks impressive from a distance, with its flight of broad steps and its 20m.-high columns going all round the church: there are 52 of these columns in all (see "Monuments in Paris: Madeleine"). One of the biggest events to take place here in its first decade was Chopin's funeral, attended by 3000 people, on 30 October 1849.

In general, this church's sculpture is more important than its architecture. Among the main points of interest are the pediment frieze depicting the Last Judgement, by the important French neo-classical sculptor Philippe-Henri Lemaire (1798-1880), completed in 1842; the huge bronze doors with dramatic bas-reliefs illustrating the Ten Commandments by Henri de Triqueti; and, inside the church, the group above the high altar depicting "The Elevation of Mary Magdalene" by two angels. The latter was by the Italian-born Baron Marochetti, like Triqueti a sculptor with strong English connections. Both soon followed Louis-Philippe into exile in England after the fall of the July Monarchy, and spent most of the rest of their lives there, becoming favourites of the British royal family. Their work would again appear in close proximity: Triqueti's, in the Albert Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle, and Marochetti's in the Royal Mausoleum of Frogmore, in the Castle's grounds.

References

"Monuments in Paris: Madeleine." Viewed 30 March 2009.

Watkin, David. A History of Western Architecture. 4th ed. London: Laurence King, 2005.

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Last modified 30 March 2009