Notre-Dame de Beaune.
Second only to the Hospices de Beaune, the collegiate church of Notre-Dame de Beaune is the most beautiful monument that this charming Burgundian town has in store for visitors. There was probably already a church at this spot in the tenth century. The current church dates from the second half of the twelfth century. The Notre-Dame de Beaune was built in the Romanesque style, while the Gothic additions date from after a great fire in 1272. At the end of the thirteenth century the portico at the front was added. The next step was the construction of a series of chapels between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, while the current crossing tower dates from the Renaissance. Between 1860 and 1863 the church was restored by Maurice Ouradou (1822-1884), after designs of his father-in-law Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879). The church has been a monument since 1840 and was promoted to basilica minor in 1958.
If we step inside, the Gothic pointed arches and splendid stained glass windows immediately catch the eye. The latter date from the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. They are the work of the glass artist Édouard Didron (1836-1902), who incorporated fragments of the sixteenth-century stained glass windows in the new windows. The religious importance of the church lay (and still lies) in the presence of a statue of the Madonna and Child, made of nutwood, a so-called Vierge Noire (Black Virgin). The statue from ca. 1200 used to draw hordes of pilgrims.
The most interesting chapel in the church is that dedicated to Saint-Léger[1], which dates from 1329. The chapel is also called the chapel of cardinal Jean Rolin. The cardinal (1408-1483) was the son of Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Duke Philip the Good and founder of the Hospices de Beaune. He was, moreover, bishop of Autun (see The cathedral of Autun). It was Jean Rolin who commissioned the gorgeous frescoes in the chapel, which were painted between 1470 and 1474 and are attributed to the painter Pierre Spicre. We hardly know anything about this Spicre. He may have been the son of Guillaume Spicre, a Dutch painter who worked at the Burgundian court for a while, but we also know very little about this Guillaume. He left some work in Dijon, and perhaps on Sicily. The frescoes in the cardinal’s chapel represent the stoning of Saint Stephen and the raising of Lazarus. Especially the latter fresco is, in spite of extensive damage, still very colourful and detailed. In a corner a man in a turban is ostentatiously waving at the viewer. Could he be the painter himself?
Fresco by Pierre Spicre in the chapel of Saint-Léger.
Raising of Lazarus.
The second treasure of the church are the tapestries featuring scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary. The tapestries date from 1500 and were commissioned by the canon Hugues Le Cocq. The canon has himself been depicted twice. To the right of the scene of the Annunciation we see him kneeling, with Saint John the Baptist holding the Lamb of God behind him. We see him again to the right of the Coronation of the Virgin, now accompanied by his namesake, abbot Hugh of Cluny (1024-1109), one of the most powerful clergymen of the eleventh century.
Annunciation / Hugues Le Cocq with Saint John the Baptist.
Note
[1] Leodegar in English. He was a seventh-century bishop of Autun and saint.