Chapelle expiatoire

The Chapelle expiatoire (French pronunciation: [ʃapɛl ɛkspjatwaʁ], "Expiatory Chapel")^[3] is a Roman Catholic chapel located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. The chapel was constructed by Louis XVIII on the grounds where King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette had been buried after they had been guillotined, and it is dedicated to them as an expiation for that act. The remains of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are not in the chapel; they are in the Basilica of Saint-Denis, near Paris, with other French monarchs.^[4]

Quick Facts Expiatory Chapel, Location ...

Expiatory Chapel
Chapelle expiatoire

Expiatory Chapel
48°52′25.5″N 2°19′22.9″E
Location	29 rue Pasquier, 8th arrondissement of Paris
Country	France
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	Official website
History
Status	Memorial Chapel
Founded	1816
Founder(s)	Louis XVIII, Duchess of Angoulême
Consecrated	January 21, 1824
Architecture
Functional status	Museum
Heritage designation	Monument Historique PA00088809^[1]
Designated	1914
Architectural type	church
Construction cost	3,000,000 livres
Specifications
Length	168 feet (51 m)
Width	93.5 feet (28.5 m)^[2]

A commemorative mass is celebrated in the chapel every year on the Sunday closest to 21 January, the anniversary of the death of Louis XVI.

The closest métro station is Saint-Augustin .

History

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The chapel was designed in 1816 by the French Neo-Classical architect Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, who, with his partner Charles Percier, was among Napoleon's favourite architects. Fontaine's assistant Louis-Hippolyte Lebas oversaw the construction. The chapel was constructed on the grounds of the former Madeleine Cemetery, where King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette had been buried after they had been guillotined.

King Louis XVIII shared the 3 million livres expense of building the chapel with the Duchess of Angoulême. Construction took ten years. The chapel was inaugurated in 1826 in the presence of King Charles X.

Later history

In 1862, the Cypress trees surrounding the chapel were cut down, and a public park (Square Louis XVI) was created around the complex.

In May 1871 the Paris Commune demanded that the Chapel be torn down, but the Commune was ended before this could be done.

The chapel was formally listed as an historic monument in 1914.^[5] It was severely damaged by storm in 2009.

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Exterior

The chapel and its surroundings were designed to create a solemn promenade for the visitor. The Chapelle expiatoire stands on a slight rise, while a building on Rue Pasquier is the entrance. The pathway from entrance to the chapel takes the visitor through an enclosed cloister-like courtyard lined with symbolic tombs, monuments to the Swiss Guards who were killed defending the King.^[6]

The facade of the chapel has a peristyle in the classical form, with Doric columns, an etablement with triglyphs and a fronton with sculpture of adoring angels.^[7]

Symbolic tombs of the Swiss guards in the entry garden
The facade

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Interior

The Chapelle expiatoire is an uncompromising late neoclassical religious building. Chateaubriand found it "the most remarkable edifice in Paris." The Chapel sanctuary at the center of a Greek cross, is composed of three coffered half-domed lateral galeries They contain monuments and supplement the subdued natural light entering through the skylight of the main dome. In the center, the main cupola is decorated with pendantives representing sculpted angels. They were made by sculptor Francois-Antoine Gerard (1760-1843) The crypt contains a black and white marble altar which marks the place where the Royal remains were at one time located.^[8]

The cupola and smaller oculus
The altar
Lateral gallery
The Crypt

Art and Decoration

White marble sculptures of the king and queen angels were made by François Joseph Bosio and Jean-Pierre Cortot. They depict the moments that the King and Queen, about to die, were supported by angels. A bas-relief by French sculptor François-Antoine Gérard depicts the exhumation and removal of the remains of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to the Basilica of St Denis.

"Louis XVI, called to immortality, supported by an angel" by Francois-Joseph Bosio
"Marie Antoinette supported by an angel", by Jean-Pierre Cortot

Pendatives

The pendatives which suoport the cupola have their own elaorate sculptural decoration.

The Holy Trinity
Hi tres unum sunt,
(These Three are One)
The Ten Commandments
Si vis ad vitam ingredi serva mandata,
(If you want to enter into life keep the commandments)
The Eucharist
O salutaris hostia,
(O saving Host)
The Sacrificial Lamb
Ecce agnus dei,
(Behold the Lamb of God)