The Saint Servais Parish close (

Enclos paroissial Enclos Corp, referred to as Enclos, is a specialty glazing and exterior facade contractor in the United States. The firm provides design, engineering, fabrication and assembly services for custom curtainwall systems and structural glass facades. ...

) is located at Saint-Servais in the arrondissement of

Morlaix Morlaix (; , ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. History The Battle of Morlaix, part of the Hundred Years' War, was fought near the town on 30 Septembe ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

in north-western

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It comprises the parish church of Saint Servais, with galleried bell tower, an ossuary, and calvary. The church was built in the 17th century on the ruins of an old 13th century chapel founded by the Duschastels, an old Breton family. It has three

transepts A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") churches, in particular within the Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architectu ...

and a

chevet In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. In Byzan ...

dating to 1688. The clock tower dates to 1610 and rises to 36 metres. It is a listed

historical monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

since 1914. Eglise Saint-Servais

The choir altarpiece

This is the work of Louis Magado and dates to 1760. The base of the main altar has a painting at the centre by YanI' Dargent depicting "Christ en majesté". The stained glass windows on the north side and at the back of the altar represent Saints Luke, Peter and John and on the south side and again behind the altar are Saints Matthew, Mark and Paul. To the left of the main altar is a statue of Saint Servais.

The "Virgin Mary" altarpiece

This is on the

epistle side In the liturgical traditions of Western Christianity, the Epistle side is the term used to designate the side of a church on which the Epistle is read during a church service. It is the right-hand side of the chancel as viewed by the congregation ...

of the altar and has a painting by Dargent, "la Vierge au Rosaire".

The Saint Joseph altarpiece

This is on the evangelist side and has another Dargent oil painting.

The door to the
Sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

A Renaissance style door leads to the sacristy.

The door at the north side of the church

This door is decorated with panels depicting amongst other subjects, War, Peace and the Inquisition.

The pulpit

Dates to 1666 and has four carved panels. One depicts the prophet Nathan reciting a parable to David. The others depict the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the crowning of the Virgin Mary.

The baptismal fonts

Dating to 1678, the fonts are by Christophe Kerandel. The six-columned baldaquin is of more recent vintage. The font has an inscription in Latin reading "qui credit et baptisatus erit salvus erit" (whomsoever believes and is baptized will be saved").

Miscellaneous

A large painting by Dargent depicting the legend of Salaün ar Foll can be seen in the church.

The ossuary

The ossuary is built in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style of architecture and dates to 1643. The buttresses are topped with lanterons and the façade decorated with bays separated by

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s. The ossuary contains

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

s by the artist

Yani' Dargent Jean-Édouard Dargent, known as Yan' Dargent and in his later years Yann Dargent, was born in Saint-Servais on 15 October 1824 and died in Paris on 19 November 1899. He was a French painter and illustrator. Most of his paintings depicted Britta ...

who also designed the main window in the ossuary which was the work of M. Nicolas from

. Dargent is buried in Saint-Servais' cemetery.

The calvary

The

calvary Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

here is the work of the Roland Doré workshop and was started in 1610. The pietà is regarded as one of Doré's best works. Amongst the statuary is a depiction of Saint Servais with key as well as Saints Peter and Paul. On the reverse side of the depiction of Jesus on the cross there is "Christ aux liens" capturing that poignant moment when Jesus sits awaiting crucifixion. John the Evangelist and the Virgin Mary are on the reverse side of Peter and Paul as Doré uses the Breton tradition of statues "géminées". The cross stands on a square base which carries four bas-reliefs dating to 1548. These depict the flagellation, the crowning with a crown of thorns, Jesus carrying the cross and the Resurrection.

The south porch

The porch is somewhat plain by Brittany standards but there is a fine

stoup A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or other Christian art. It is used in Catholic, as well as many Lutheran and Anglica ...

at the side of the door dating to 1681. It is the work of Christophe Kerandel who also worked on the church's baptistery.

Miscellaneous images

File:Image0.église Saint Servais.jpg, View of the bell tower File:Saint-Servais (29) Église 11.jpg, An "Ecce Homo" on the church gable File:Image1.porte église Saint Servais.jpg, The door on the north side of the church

Note

The painter and illustrator Jean-Édouard Dargent was known as Yani' Dargent. He was born in Saint-Servais in 1824 and died in Paris in 1899. File:Landerneau St-Houardon 21-09-2014.JPG, Dargent's painting depicting Saint Houardon File:Lavandières.jpg, A Yani' Dargent oil painting ''Les Lavandières de la nuit''

References

{{coord, 48.5116, -4.1554, display=title Churches in Finistère Calvaries in Brittany Parish closes in Brittany