Chapelle et cour Sainte-Anne

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

The Sainte-Anne chapel was built from 1827 by the diocesan architect Jean-Pierre Laffon (1787-1865), at the location of the first bays of the church of Saint-Jacques. Henri Bach (1815-1899), architect of the Saint-Étienne workshop, replaces in the 1890s the vault with a flat coffered ceiling. The chapel presents a refined neoclassical architecture, characteristic of several religious or public buildings of the 1830s in the Toulouse region. The Sainte-Anne courtyard was arranged in place of the cloister which constituted the heart of the canonical quarter, located to the south of the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne. Occupation of the site is attested since Antiquity. The early Christian episcopal complex was structured at the location of a religious complex of the High Empire, established against the rampart built at the beginning of the 1st century and reflecting the importance of the city in Roman times. It probably had very early two churches: the cathedral and the church of Saint-Jacques which is already mentioned in 844 in a diploma of Charles the Bald. The Sainte Anne chapel preserves, at the level of its western wall, portions of masonry that can be linked to this primitive building. Before 1073, the date at which Isarn de Lavaur, bishop of Toulouse between 1071 and 1105, requires canons to live in community, we have only sparse information on the organization of the chapter. Extending over approximately 4 hectares, the canonical quarter which was bounded to the north by the cathedral, to the east by the Augustan rampart, to the west by the episcopal palace and to the south by the rue Saint-Jacques, was surrounded by an enclosure. Its area remained stable until the Revolution. The cathedral, the church of Saint-Jacques and the cloister were rebuilt between the end of the 11th century and the first half of the 12th century. The great cloister, without doubt the largest in southern France, separated the cathedral from the church of Saint-Jacques. Until the nationalization of church property in 1789, the canonical quarter consisted of the cathedral, the chapter house, a refectory, dependencies, the cloister, the church of Saint-Jacques and the provostry. The chapter disappeared on 18 August 1792 at the suppression of religious congregations. At the end of 1799, the cloister is destroyed and following it all the buildings that surrounded it. In 1811, the piercing of the rue Sainte-Anne sounds the knell of the cloister of which only a few sculptural elements have survived and of the church of Saint-Jacques. The subsoil of the cour Saint-Anne preserves the remains of the prestigious arrangements of this quarter which was studied by Quitterie Cazes as part of her thesis defended in 1993 and published in 1998 (https://www.theses.fr/1993TOU20073 )

Description

The Sainte-Anne chapel, built in the 19th century, presents a sober neoclassical architecture with regular and symmetrical volumes, inspired by Italian architecture. The chevet of the Sainte-Anne chapel is oriented to the south; the main façade opens to the north onto the Sainte-Anne courtyard. The external facing is in exposed brick on the front façade, the corner chains, the bay framings and cornices. The other façades show traces of render. The south gable is surmounted by a small bell tower. It is composed of a single nave of five bays with a flat chevet, flanked by aisles vaulted with groin vaults. The nave is covered by a flat wooden coffered ceiling which replaced the primitive vault. The aisles are pierced with windows in the form of a semi-circle. The first level of the nave's avant-corps is decorated with four pilasters crowned by stylised Ionic capitals in stone. They bear a smooth entablature and a moulded cornice with dentils. The door with frame in brick cut table-fashion and crowned by a pediment, is framed by niches. The centre of the second level is pierced by a semi-circular bay, walled up in the course of the second half of the 20th century. This part presents continuous table-fashion bossage and is surmounted by a pediment. Contrasting with the smooth treatment of the first level, the aisles are animated with bossage cut in brick. This bossage work is repeated on the lateral façades of the aisles. The western elevation is largely concealed by the prefecture buildings. The nave with 5 bays possesses an apse in the form of a semi-dome. The pillars of the 5 round-arch arcades are decorated with fluted pilasters with Ionic capitals at the 1st level and with fluted pilasters with Corinthian capitals at the second; a dentil cornice separates the two levels. The base of the walls is covered with oak boarding which conceals cupboards and confessionals on the west side. The flat ceiling which was installed during the campaign of works in the 1890s, is covered with square wooden panels whose centre is occupied by a flower in relief. Gas radiants were suspended from the ceiling by piercing this beautiful ceiling. The elegant altarpiece of the high altar, in wood and stucco, consists of a central body with one bay accompanied by two wings with one bay arranged obliquely towards the front. The base is decorated with two niches framed by tables painted in false red marble whereas the pedestals of the columns are in griotte marble. Four columns in griotte marble frame the bays; they bear an entablature with interrupted dentil frieze. Griotte marble is also used for the thick moulded frames of the central niche and of the two canvases. A statue of Virgin and Child in plaster (19th century) occupies the niche whereas the lateral bays present two 19th century paintings of rather clumsy execution, evoking the life of Saint Anne. The organ gallery is carried by two columns in red marble with Corinthian capitals.