Tugal Caris (active 1630 – 1666),
[Marie-Dominique Menant]
"Tinténiac, Ensemble 1 du maître-autel"
''Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel: Bretagne'', 2006, archived fro
the original
on 14 December 2014 . also spelled Carris or Cariste, was a 17th-century French ecclesiastical sculptor and ecclesiastical architect who worked in
Nantes
Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
and
Rennes
Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...
. He was one of the creators of in a new style invented by sculptors from
Laval.
Biography
Caris was born in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, and was from Laval; in 1630 there is a record of him living there.
[Jules-Marie Richard, "Notes sur quelques artistes lavallois du xviie siècle. — Les Constructeurs de Retables", ''Bulletin de la Commission historique et archéologique de la Mayenne'' 1906, offprint Goupil, 1907, p. 18 .] He later moved to
Rennes
Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...
and died in
Nantes
Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
.
He married Jeanne Barais, probably the sister of Catherine Barais, wife of the architect Michel Bellier. One of their children, Jacques Caris, also became an architect in Nantes.
Altarpieces
His first known commission for an altar was at
Vaiges in 1634;
[ this is no longer extant. The altars in the church of St Denis at ]Saint-Denis-du-Maine
Saint-Denis-du-Maine () is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.
Geography
The Vaige forms most of the commune's eastern border.
See also
*Communes of Mayenne
The following is a list of the 240 communes of the Mayen ...
(1632) and in St Peter's at Nuillé-sur-Ouette (1633) can probably also be attributed to him. From 1634 to 1636, he created the altarpiece at Redon Abbey
Redon Abbey, or Abbey of Saint-Sauveur, Redon ("Abbey of the Holy Saviour"; ), in Redon in the present Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, France, is a former Benedictine abbey founded in 832 by Saint Conwoïon, at the point where the Oust flows into the ...
.[Paule Maloubier-Tournier]
"Les retables du XVIIe et du XVIIIe siècle en Ille-et-Vilaine"
''Annales de Bretagne et des pays de l'Ouest'' 69.1 (1962), p. 97 .
Châtillon-sur-Colmont (53) Église Retable du Rosaire.JPG, Altarpiece of the Rosary of St. Martin's church, Chatillon-sur-Colmont
Brée (53) Église 06.JPG, Main altar with altarpiece attributed to Caris, Brée
Brée () is a commune in the Mayenne department in northwestern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of Mayenne
The following is a list of the 240 communes of the Mayenne department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following ...
Caris's most important altarpieces were created while he was living in Rennes. In 1642 he is believed to have created the high altar ensemble with side altars in the church at Availles-sur-Seiche, as well as the altarpiece at Rannée. The altarpiece of the high altar of the church at Tinténiac may also be his work.[ In 1651 he was responsible for the main altarpiece at Gaël.][
Caris's altarpieces are relatively restrained in their ornamentation compared to those of other sculptors in the Laval school, such as Pierre Corbineau and his son , and the .
]
Architect at Rennes and Nantes
In 1640, his reputation in 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 ...
led the chapter
Chapter or Chapters may refer to:
Books
* Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document
* Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10
* Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...
of Rennes Cathedral
Rennes Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic church architecture, church located in the town of Rennes, France. It has been a monument historique since 1906. The cathedral, dedicated to Saint Peter, is the seat of the Archbishops of Rennes, Archbisho ...
to engage him to oversee the completion of the façade, and he worked there until 1654, when Pierre Corbineau took over; according to , Caris directed the work as far as the cornice on the first floor.
In 1648 he left Rennes for Nantes, where in 1656 he was contracted to oversee work on the cathedral.[Charles Durville, ''Études sur le vieux Nantes'', Volume 2, Nantes: Durance, 1915, ]
p. 26
.
References
Further reading
* Roger Blot, "Les retables de Tugal Caris", ''Vie Diocésaine, Rennes'', 20, 10 November 1999, pp. 532–33
* Jacques Salbert, ''Les ateliers de retabliers lavallois aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. Étude historique et artistique'', Paris: Klincksieck, 1976,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caris, Tugal
Renaissance architects
17th-century French sculptors
17th-century French architects
Date of birth unknown
16th-century births
1660s deaths
Place of birth missing