Memory of Stones
Notre Dame de l'Assomption Cathedral in Clermont -Ferrand
Notre-Dame de l'Assomption is a Gothic cathedral located in Clermont-Ferrand. It was built from 1248 in the center of the city of Clermont, the historic capital of Auvergne . It replaced a Romanesque cathedral located in the same place which itself had been preceded by two other Christian shrines. Its initial patronage is that of Saint-Vital and Saint-Agricol. Most of the current construction dates from the second half of the 13th century, it is the first example of use in architecture of the stone of Volvic .
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Its construction took place in two phases. In the Middle Ages, from 1248, the chevet, the choir, the transept and the first three bays of the nave gradually replaced the Romanesque cathedral, of which only the facade remained in 1350. After an interruption of 500 years, the old Romanesque facade was demolished in 1851 and Viollet-le-Duc and his successors completed the cathedral from 1866 to 1902.
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We find there the main characteristics of the radiant Gothic style:
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choir surrounded by a vast ambulatory with radiating chapels,
five-bay nave extending the transept and the choir,
three-storey elevation (two rows of high arcades of the same height separated by a blind triforium),
lightness of the narrow pillars where each rib extends to the ribs of the vaults irresistibly attracting the gaze upwards,
wide opening to the light filtered by the stained-glass windows of the chapels, the windows of the choir and the roses of the transept.
Viollet-le-Duc takes over and completes the project of the architects of the Middle Ages by building in the 19th century the last two bays of the nave and the porch in neo-Gothic style from the 13th century.
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What is called the choir is actually made up of two spaces: the sanctuary, and the space where the clergy gathered who sang the liturgical celebrations.
The choir of the cathedral was built from 1248 to 1273, on plans, according to tradition, by the master builder Jean Deschamps. It is one of the most beautiful in France, contemporary with Beauvais and Cologne. It was here that in 1262 the marriage of Philip the Bold, son of Saint Louis, with Isabelle of Aragon took place.
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The characteristic features of this architectural success are:
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The three-story ordinance, usual in thirteenth-century cathedrals.
The lightness of the columns and arches, which gives the impression of a great height.
The elegant arcade of the triforium with its triangular gables.
The predominance of vertical lines.
The admirable glass roofs of the radiating chapels.
The absence of formeret arches above the high windows, a blind triforium, the first use of penetrating arches, a use that will become widespread over the following centuries ...
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The transept separates the choir and the five-bay nave, it measures 32.70m long and 12.33m wide. This width is also that of the choir and the central nave, the crossing of the transept forming a square topped with a crossing of large ribs.
The north and south walls of the transept form a large space where splendid rosettes are inscribed. During construction in the thirteenth century, the architect had planned a blind triforium, and his successors followed this layout for the nave. But, under the rosettes, it becomes luminous, and it underlines in a marvelous way the flow of light which invades the transept. And what daring to have placed the rosettes, with their stone lace, so heavy and so fragile, above such a frail arch!
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Rosettes
They are built on a square plan of 8.50m side with openwork angles, which is a technical feat. Those that were built on this type, around the same time, in Tours and Troyes, had to be reinforced by a central trumeau.
The south rose window
From the heart of the flower unfold four corollas.
The colors are warm, red and gold, and the afternoon sun makes the multicolored glass roof shine with all its fires.
It was restored by Gaudin in 1906, without having suffered major damage over time.
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The north rose window
The glass roof placed to the north is less luminous. In addition, the architect removed the fourth corolla, replacing it with a scallop of 32 oculi supported on an interlacing of alternating bolsters and scallops.
The glass roof suffered serious mutilations during a violent storm in 1837. It was repaired by the glass painter Thévenot, who remade the five largest oculi, and placed “medieval heads” there.
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Looking at the Great Organ of the cathedral, one can only admire that it blends in perfectly with the building, and marvelously marries the West rose window. The reason is simple: its sideboard was designed and built at the same time as the bay where it is located. It was Viollet-le-Duc who built the last two bays of the nave, as well as the two spiers of the cathedral, in the second half of the 19th century.
In 1876, Joseph Merklin installed the current organ in a new Gothic-style oak sideboard. It was restored in 2010 by Saby-Dalsbeck:
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Two side naves flank the main nave. The central vessel is 11.70m wide and 28.70m high. The two side naves are vaulted halfway up. The elegance of the small columns, grouped by five, which join with a single jet the ribs of the ribs and ribs of the vault increases the impression of height. The length of the nave and the transept is 47m.
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This chapel was built according to the plans of Viollet-le-Duc; it was originally dedicated to Saint Zita, patroness of servants, whose stained glass window has been moved to the south.
The statue of the Virgin in polychromed limestone was sculpted in 1855 by Pierre-Marie Froget. Canon Craplet acquired it in 1980.
The stained glass window of the Apocalypse was designed and executed from 1980 to 1982
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The front of the altar in gilded lead represents the coronation of the Virgin and the tabernacle, of very sober design, recalls the Ark of the Covenant placed under the sacred tent.
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The cross fixed to the wall, in gilded wood, is decorated in romantic style with bunches of grapes, to recall the sacrament of the Eucharist
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A Virgin in Majesty is placed in a niche to the right of the altar. This Romanesque Virgin, of unknown origin, was rediscovered in the cathedral in December 1974. Since 1833 it had been in the funeral chapel of the bishops. It is in wood, formerly polychrome; the face and hands were painted black and the clothing gilded around 1830.
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Stained glass
These are the oldest Gothic stained glass windows (around 1260?). The medallions are encircled with iron, as in the Sainte-Chapelle, and not integrated into square panels. As in the Sainte-Chapelle, on the right and left windows, the medallions are on a seedling of lilies and towers of Castile.