Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Poitiers.
Cathédrale Saint-Pierre à Poitiers.
Photo: 18 August 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: ArnoLagrange
(Wikimedia Commons)
The High Altar, Poitiers Cathedral.
Photo: 6 August 2021.
Source: Own work.
Author: Chatsam
(Wikimedia Commons)
Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.
Poitiers Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Poitiers) is a Roman Catholic Church in Poitiers, France. It is the Seat of the Archbishop of Poitiers.
Its construction began in 1162 by King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine on the ruins of a Roman Basilica, and work was well advanced by the end of the 12th-Century. It is the largest Mediæval monument in the City of Poitiers.
It is the best known example of a Hall Church of the Angevin Gothic Style. It consists of a Nave, flanked on either side by an Aisle.
The High Altar,
Poitiers Cathedral.
Photo: 6 August 2021.
Source: Own work.
Author: Chatsam
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Nave and Aisles are almost equal in height and width, all three of which decrease towards the West, thus enhancing the perspective.
Its length is 308 feet (ninety-four metres), and the keystone of the central Vaulted Roof is eighty-nine feet (twenty-seven metres) above the pavement.
The Exterior generally has a heavy appearance. The facade, which is broad, relative to its height, has unfinished Side-Towers 105 feet (thirty-two metres) and 110 feet (thirty-four metres) tall, begun in the 13th-Century.
Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Poitiers.
La cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Poitiers.
Available on YouTube
Most of the Windows of the Choir and the Transepts preserve their Stained-Glass from the 12th-Century and the 13th-Century; the end Window, the Crucifixion Window, contains the figures of King Henry II and Queen Eleanor. It was complete about 1165, making it one of the earliest Stained-Glass Cathedral Windows in France.[1]
The Choir Stalls, carved between 1235 and 1257, are also among the oldest in France.
The Crucifixion Window at Poitiers Cathedral depicts three stories in three registers of the Lancet Window. At the top of the Window, in the Lunette section, is a portrayal of the Ascension of Christ. Here, a bearded Christ appears in a Mandorla, with a Cruciform Halo, clothed in a White Tunic with Wine-Coloured Robes.
In his Left hand, he holds a Yellow Book, and the Right hand is upraised in Benediction. On either side of the Mandorla, is an Angel. Below the Ascension panel, but still included in the Ascension scene, are Christ’s Apostles.
In the middle section of the Window, is the Crucifixion panel. In this panel, an abstract body of Christ appears nailed to a Ruby Red Cross. This representation of The Cross with a leaf border symbolises the Tree of Paradise.
Below The Cross appears The Virgin Mary. Here, she is dressed in Blue and Rose coloured robes. Next to Mary, is Longinus, a bearded Roman soldier. He holds a Spear to Christ, ready to plunge it into His side. Under The Cross, appears Saint John the Evangelist, carrying a Jewelled Book.
Next to Saint John, is Stephaton, another Roman soldier, ready to thrust upward a Pole with a Sponge.
There is a use of a hierarchical scale in this Window. Christ, being the most important figure, is the largest, and, in diminishing degrees of size and importance, appear The Virgin, the Apostles, the Centurion, and the Sponge-Bearer.[3]
The bottom register of the Window includes a Quatrefoil design with the crucifixion of Saint Peter at the centre. Here, Saint Peter is being crucified upside down, with Roman soldiers on ladders on either side of him.[2]
Peter asked to be crucified in this manner, as he did not feel worthy to die the same way as Christ. In the upper Right panel, outside of the Quatrefoil, are the three Marys, coming with Staffs and Flacons (Bottles) of Perfume.
On the Left upper panel, is the Angel of Resurrection, seated on a Stone Bench. In the lobes of the Quatrefoil, are scenes of Adam and Eve, Nero being crowned, Saint Paul about to be decapitated, and the bottom lobe, being the donor’s lobe, shows King Henry II and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.[4]
Henry II and Eleanor hold a model of the Window. They look upwards, to present the Window to those that rank above them. The section that the Royal Couple hold is a 19th-Century restoration.[5]
Cathedral of Saint-Pierre, Poitiers, France.
François-Henri Clicquot historic Organ (1787-1791),
played by Jean-Baptiste Robin.
Available on YouTube
The Quatrefoil panel as a whole represents the idea that Abbot Suger created at St. Denis. This bottom panel represents a link between the Crucifixion and the Ascension. There are stylistic identifications with the Ascension panel at Le Mans, the paintings at the Baptistry of Saint Jean, and the remaining Windows at the Cathedral.[6]
On the night of 25 December 1681, the Organ was destroyed by fire. It was not until 1770 - 1778 that a campaign was launched to build a replacement. François-Henri Clicquot, at that time the leading Organ-builder in France, was appointed to undertake the work, but died on Pentecost 1790 before completing the work. His son, Claude-François Clicquot, finished the job, handing it over in March 1791.
The instrument is a beautiful example of 18th-Century Organ design and is still largely intact.[7]
