Product Code Database
Metz Cathedral is the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Metz, the seat of the bishops of Metz. It is dedicated to Saint Stephen. The diocese dates back at least to the 4th century and the present cathedral building was begun in the early 14th century. In the mid-14th century, it was joined to the collegiate church of Notre-Dame, and given a new transept and late Gothic chevet, finished between 1486 and 1520. The cathedral treasury displays a rich collection assembled over the long centuries of the history of the Metz diocese and include sacred vestments and items used for the Eucharist.
Metz Cathedral has the third-highest nave of cathedrals in France (41.41 meters (135.9 ft), after the cathedrals of Amiens and Beauvais. It is nicknamed la Lanterne du Bon Dieu ("the Good Lord's lantern"), on account of its displaying the largest expanse of stained glass in the world, totalling .Jolin J.L. (2001) La lanterne du Bon Dieu. Eds. Serpnoise. . The stained glass windows include works by Gothic art and Renaissance art master glass makers Hermann von Münster, Theobald of Lixheim, and Valentin Bousch. Later artistic styles are represented by Charles-Laurent Maréchal (Romanticism), Roger Bissière (Tachisme), Jacques Villon (Cubism), Marc Chagall, and Kimsooja.
The cathedral was built on an ancient site dating to the 5th century and dedicated to Saint Stephen.Vallery-Radot J. (1931): La cathédrale de Metz, description archéologique. Eds A. Picard, Paris. It is said to have contained a collection of his relics. According to Gregory of Tours, the shrine of Saint Stephen was the sole structure spared during the sack of 451 by Attila's Huns. It was a royal residence of the grandsons of Clovis I, king of the Franks, and of Theudebert I, who became the Merovingian ruler in 534.
Gregory of Tours mentioned the existence of the church in 584, and a cathedral under the archbishop Arnoul is mentioned in 616. The Archbishop and Saint Chrodegang (742-766) is mentioned in accounts of the time as a papal envoy to the Franks. He is credited with introducing the Roman liturgy and chants, with the support of King of the Franks, Pepin, between 751 and 768. Chrodegang is also credited with establishing the first cathedral chapter in western Europe, and also the first cathedral close, combining chapels, dormitory, refectory, and other functional buildings. This system was formally adopted by other Frankish cathedrals under the Capitulary of Aix-en-Chapelle of 816. This first cloister, on the south side of the cathedral where the Place des Armes is located, survived until its demolition in 1754.
The construction of a new cathedral began under bishop Thierry I between 965 and 984, and was completed under his second successor Thierry II of Luxembourg, between 1006 and 1047. It was built in what was later called Ottonian style, a form of pre-Romanesque. This church had two towers and three bays on the west front, a nave with three vessels, and a larger tower over the transept. Because of its placement on a terrace next to the Moselle River, the cathedral could not have the traditional east to west orientation from the choir to the west front. Instead, it was oriented on an axis from southeast to northwest. The roof, following a regional tradition, was covered with tiles of white limestone.
A smaller church, the Collegiale of Notre-Dame-la-Ronde, was built close to the old cathedral in the 8th century, and was entirely rebuilt between 1200 and 1207 to be oriented directly with the axis of the cathedral. The complex of early buildings also included the cloister and a palace for the archbishop, where the market square is located today. Marot P. (1931): La cathédrale de Metz, histoire de la construction. Eds A. Picard, Paris.
The plan integrated the neighbouring Collegiate church of Our Lady into the western end of the cathedral, which resulted in the absence of a traditional west-end portal. The south-western porch of the cathedral became the entrance of the former collegiate church.Villes A. (2004): Remarques sur les campagnes de construction de la cathédrale de Metz au XIIieme siecle. Bulletin Monumental 162, Paris
The nave, with the exception of its vaults, was probably finished between 1245 and 1250. Then a decision was taken to make the cathedral much taller, with the addition of a new level of large windows about forty meters high, equal in height to the two levels below. New more massive columns were added, and the triforium between the arcades and high windows was enlarged and strengthened to support the greater weight. Between 1250 and 1255 the south side walls west of the transept were also strengthened to support the new higher walls. The south façade was also built higher to match the greater height of the new nave. The piers of the flying buttresses were also reconstructed, doubling their height. In about 1270–75, the tower of the Chapter was raised to the height of the cornice of the new nave.
Since the new nave was now twice as high as planned, the towers also had to be made taller. Between 1275 and 1280, A second level and the beginning of a third level were added to the Tour de la Mutte. By 1359 the nave was entirely covered, but work on the upper walls continued for another twenty years. In 1380–81, the canons of the cathedral decided to demolish the wall which separated the cathedral from the adjoining nave of the church of Our Lady. This was resisted by the clergy of the collegiate church, but the work went ahead, modified by the installation of a grill between the two naves. In 1381 the cathedral chapter engaged the glassmaker Herman of Münster to make a rose window for the west front, which was finished in 1392.
There was a lull of nearly a century before major work was resumed on the construction of the transept and the choir. In 1388 a wooden belfry was installed by the city government on the La Mutte tower, and a new chapel, the Bishop's Chapel, was added on the lower south aisle in 1443. Its patron, Bishop Conrad Bayer of Boppard, died a few days after the chapel was consecrated, and was interred within it in 1459.
In 1468 a serious fire broke out on the new balustrade of the roof. In the years before the fire, from 1452 to 1467, there had been a bitter dispute between the city leaders and the cathedral authorities over who was responsible for the maintenance and safety of cathedral property, which Bishop George of Baden ended by excommunicating the city leaders. When the fire broke out, the city leaders refused to assist the clergy in fighting the fire, only sending men to put out the fire on the bell tower, which was owned by the city. Relations thereafter between the city and clerical authorities were strained.
The last work on the La Mutte bell tower was completed between 1477 and 1483. The stone shaft forty meters high was topped by a tall spire, giving it a total height of almost ninety meters. The finished cathedral was consecrated on 11 April 1552.
Metz and the Duchy of Lorraine formally retained their independent status, but the French political and cultural influence grew from 1737 until 1766, when France formally annexed the Duchy. In 1741, proponents of the new French classical style, popular in Paris, proposed to redecorate the choir of Metz Cathedral in the new style. They presented a neoclassical program for the choir by the royal sculptor from Paris, Sébastien Slodtz. However, Slotdtz's proposed decoration was fiercely resisted by the more conservative chapter and was finally rejected in 1762.
In 1754 another large modification was begun by the governor of Metz. He destroyed the old cloisters next to the church, with their chapels and arcades, with the intention of creating a parade ground for official celebrations. However, this project was abandoned in 1758. Instead, the space was filled by a group of houses, shops and a large pavilion.
Another classical addition to the cathedral was proposed in 1755 by the royal architect Jacques-François Blondel. He was commissioned by the Royal Academy of Architecture to build a Neoclassical Doric portico which would serve as the main entrance to the cathedral. This was funded partially by Louis XV, to celebrate his recovery from a serious illness from which he had nearly died in Metz in 1744. It was duly built between 1764 and 1766, However, the work on this new portal caused more problems; it was found that the portico would block some of the stained glass windows, and the digging of the deep foundations for the portico immediately created weaknesses in the west front and north buttress. Lejeaux J. (1931): La cathédrale de Metz, L'œuvre de Blondel à Metz. Eds A. Picard, Paris.
The cathedral was in a deplorable state in the early 19th century. The vaults shook when the bells in the tower rang. The arch supporting the right side of the bell tower was broken, and the windows of the tower had to be removed. The arch was finally replaced in 1829. Weaknesses of the foundation made the new portico unsteady. The wood of the belfry of the Chapter tower was rotting, and falling in pieces onto the street below; workmen refused to enter the unstable tower. The government finally agreed to finance the complete reconstruction of the tower of La Mutte, which was completed in 1843. The government of Emperor Louis-Napoleon promised a full restoration of the cathedral.
Following the Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Lorraine and Metz were taken from France in 1871 and annexed to the new German Empire. In 1877, the cathedral was heavily damaged by a major fire caused by fireworks. The King of Prussia and Emperor William I took a particular interest in the rebuilding of Metz Cathedral, to win the support of the population.
A young architect from Munich, Paul Tornow, became master of works of the cathedral in 1874 and held the position for thirty-two years, until 1906. He first constructed a new roof, built on a metal frame, which raised its height by 3.5 meters. He then removed the collection of structures that had been built up against the walls, and restored the Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Mont-Carmel, which had previously belonged to the adjoining church of Notre-Dame-la-Rond. He reopened the windows which had been blocked by the 19th-century construction. He also cleared out the crypt of the cathedral, which had been turned into a storeroom for the neighbouring shops in the gallery. Between 1874 and 1877 he restored the vaults and buttresses that had been weakened by age and the fire. Between 1898 and 1903 he removed Blondel's classical portico over the portal.
The new portal was the subject of careful study by Tornow. He decided upon a 14th-century Gothic style, in harmony with the rose window. With the French sculptor Auguste Dujardin, he visited twenty-one cathedrals in Burgundy, the Ile-de-France, Normandy and Champagne, taking photographs to act as the basis for his design. The final plan adapted elements of the 13th and 14th centuries, and borrowed particularly from the portals of Auxerre Cathedral, Chartres Cathedral and Amiens Cathedral. He also rebuilt triangular gables at the top of the north and south facades in the late Gothic style, with spires and pinnacles. The new south portal was completed and inaugurated on 14 May 1903. The final project of the exterior renovation was the La Mutte tower, which was granted back to the church by the city, which had taken it as the municipal bell tower.
Major restoration and rebuilding also took place inside the cathedral, under another architect, Wilhelm Schmitz. He enlarged the choir, restored damaged windows, constructed new choir stalls, and installed a new stone choir screen, new altars, and new bronze doors for the west portal. In 1914 war interrupted the work. In 1918, at the end of the First World War, Lorraine and the cathedral were returned to France. The forty-four new choir stalls, made in Colmar in 1914, were finally installed in 1922.
Between the First and Second World Wars, little funding was available to restore or improve the cathedral; the only significant addition was a new bishop's chair, installed in 1932. However, after the Second World War, chief architect Robert Renaud began a campaign to restore and renew the art. He had a copy made and installed of the angel-musician statue which had decorated the roof–it had been blown down in a storm in 1952. In 1965, a stained glass window of David and Bathsheba, designed by Marc Chagall was installed in Bay 9, along with windows by other contemporary artists.
Until 1960 all the furnishings of the cathedral were either original Gothic or recreations of Gothic. That year the cathedral began to acquire modern works of furniture and art, including windows designed by Marc Chagall, Jacques Villon and other artists.
In 1999 another wind storm broke loose a pinnacle from the roof, which fell through the roof of the sacristy, requiring major work. The west rose window also showed signs of weakness, due to the absence of a supporting buttress on the west, and began to crack. It was reinforced with two steel supports between 1995 and 2000. The La Mutte tower was restored beginning in 2009, including the restoration of the bells and their mechanism.
The nave is supported by and culminates at high, making it one of the highest naves in the world. The height of the nave is contrasted by the relatively low height of the aisles at high, reinforcing the sensation of height of the nave. This feature permitted the architects to create large, tall expanses of stained glass. Throughout its history the cathedral has been subjected to architectural and ornamental modifications with successive additions of Neoclassical and Neogothic elements.
The present major city bell in the tower is named "La Mutte" and was cast in 1605. It weighs 11,000 kilograms (24,250 pounds). A second bell, called Tocsin, made in 1501, weighs 1500 kilos, and is rung to signal the end of the day; along with a third small bell, called Mademoiselle de Tourmel, made in 1802 and recast in 1875. It weighs just 45 kilograms.
The Chapter Tower (Tour de Chapitre), was built at the same time, at the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th century, and in the same style and plan as the tower of La Mutte. This tower also contains a portal to the cathedral, the Portal of St. Stephen. The medieval sculpture was nearly all destroyed by the end of the 18th century, with the exception of a scene on the lintel of the stoning of Saint Stephen, and two scenes from the life of St. Clement.
The west front of the cathedral receives support from a massive buttress on the north, while on the south the facade gets support from the Tower of the Horloge, an eight-sided tower, more slender and shorter than the tower of La Mutte, whose lower portion, with sections of white stone, probably belonged to the original collegiate built in 1207. It is capped by an octagonal belfry and an open pyramid, which were added in 1896. The exterior of this tower features an angel holding a sundial, decorated with the coat of arms of the city, and the date 1504. This tower formally belonged to the city of Metz, and contains a second set of cathedral bells. The largest bell, which sounds the hours, was made in 1413, and weighs 2000 kilograms; a smaller bell sounds the quarter hours, and was made 1398 (60 kilograms); and there is a third bell from the 16th century (also weighing 60 kilograms).
The transept and the chevet at the northeast end of the cathedral were constructed together between 1487 and 1450. In this part of the cathedral, the vaults reach a height of 45 meters. The triangular north transept gable was a later addition of Neo-Gothic, made in 1886 in the 15th-century style. It is crowned with a statue of the Virgin Mary, marking the chapel of the Virgin. The south transept facade has a matching gable made in 1883–85, in the more ornate flamboyant style. It is crowned by two statues, Saint Nicholas and a local medieval bishop, Saint Goëry. There is also a flamboyant gable over the large south window, also an elaborate flamboyant style, with curves and counter-curves. It was damaged by the 19th-century fire and was replaced. At the top is a statue of Saint Stephen, the patron saint of the cathedral.
The chevet, at the southeast end of the cathedral, was built between 1503 and 1508 atop the earlier Romanesque crypt and the earlier Rayonnant style chapels. It contains the apse and disambulatory, and three radiating chapels; the axis chapel of the Virgin; and chapels of the Sacred Heart and Notre-Dame of Mount-Carmel. The doorway to Rue du Vivier was added in 1889.
The chapels are separated by the massive buttresses and arches which support the upper walls. The buttresses themselves are decorated with spires, which give them extra weight. The windows of the upper walls are topped with pointed arches and pinnacles, and the chevet is flanked by two additional slender towers with spires on either side of the choir, which give additional support to the structure. On the north is the Tower of the Boule d'Or or Tower of the Pomme d'Or (Named for a gilded copper apple ornament on top of the spire before the Revolution); and to south, the Tower of Charlemagne. This tower has a stairway that gives access to the terraces, triforium, and the narrow pathway around the edge of the roof of the choir.
The nave is the portion of a cathedral, usually at the west end, where the worshippers are seated. The nave of Metz Cathedral is noted for its exceptional height, harmony, and especially the great quantity of stained glass that entirely fills the upper walls, the largest area of glass of any cathedral. It has the traditional elevation of Gothic cathedrals of the 13th century, with three levels; an arcade of pointed arches supported by large pillars on the ground floor, 12.65 meters high; above that a triforium with windows, six meters high; above that a decorative band of two with sculpted foliage and drapery; and above that the high windows extending upwards 25.5 meters into the vaults. Slender run up the walls between the windows from the arcade pillars to support the vaults. The pillars of the arcade, consisting of bundled columns, also have decoration; sculpted grapevines and other vegetal designs, from about 1245.
The four-part of the nave vaults are exceptionally high; between 41.2 and 42.6 meters, exceeded in height only by those of Beauvais Cathedral (48 meters), matching those of Amiens Cathedral (42.3. meters), and taller than those of Reims Cathedral (38 meters). The collateral aisles on either side of the nave are not nearly as high; just 13.3 meters, but they also have walls largely filled with stained glass.
The transept and choir were built later than the nave, between 1487 and 1520, with elaborate decoration in the flamboyant style of the late Gothic in the tracery of the windows and the pillars. Nonetheless, the builders respected the elevations and distribution of space on the walls established in the nave at the end of the 13th century. The high windows of the nave were the model for the high windows in the transept and the choir.
Parts of the north transept also serve an important structural purpose; the section of the transept where it meets the nave, made about 1300, also serves as a buttress for the arches of the nave where they meet the transept. Each level of the transept also has narrow coursières, or passageways, built in the wall on the interior and exterior of the transept.
The vaults of the transept meet the vaults of the nave and choir at the central crossing. The transept is 46.80 metres (153.5 ft) high and 16.34 metres (53.6 ft) wide. The vault in the center of the crossing has additional decorative lierne and tiercon ribs, which form a star, and a large keystone, 1.7 meters high and 3.7 meters across, at the meeting point.
The choir of a cathedral, where the clergy traditionally worships, is usually long, but because of the unusual topography under the cathedral, the choir in Metz is relatively short, and raised up by twelve steps from the transept.
The modern liturgical furniture in the choir was created by the Swiss-born French artist Mattia Bonetti between 2004 and 2006. It includes an altar, Ambon or tribune, and cathedre, or bishop's chair. They are made of bronze, marble and oak, with a motif of reeds gently blowing in the wind, against a dark background.
The Altar of Notre Dame de Lourdes made of red marble in 1911 by the Munich sculptor Max Heilmaler. It was subject to many later alterations. It depicts the Virgin in a red marble mandorle. The additional sculpture of the Announciation, also by Heilmaler. Below the altar a depiction of Christ being presented at the Temple, by Caspar Weis.
With it is the retable made of gilded and painted oak, It was originally made for the altar of a chapel at the shrine of Notre Dame de Lourdes, where it was placed in 1245. It depicts the Virgin, with the moon at her feet, with figures of Saint Barbara and Saint Catherine. It was removed from that church in 1912 because the church authorities in Lourdes felt it clashed with the simplicity of the decor there.
The choir stalls are a prominent feature in the centre of the Choir. They were made by Théophile Klem of Colmar between 1913 and 1914, but they were not put into place until 1922–23. Carvings also decorate the screen of the choir made in 1912.
The following picture presents the ground plan of Saint-Stephen of Metz and the position of the architectural elements:
| 1 | Westwork | |
| 2 | Porch | |
| 3 | Portal Portal of the Virgin | |
| 4 | Narthex | |
| 5 | Side chapel Blessed Sacrament chapel | |
| 6 | Spire Mutte tower | |
| 7 | Lady Chapel | |
| 8 | Aisle | |
| 9 | Organ | |
| 10 | Southern transept | |
| 11 | Entrance of the crypt | |
| 12 | Apse chapel | |
| 13 | Ambulatory | |
| 14 | Apse (Chevet) | |
| 15 | East end | |
| 16 | Apse chapel | |
| 17 | Northern transept | |
| 18 | Aisle | |
| 19 | Bell tower Capitulum tower | |
| 20 | Altar candle | |
| 21 | Nave | |
| 22 | Crossing of the transept | |
| 23 | Altar | |
| 24 | Lectern | |
| 25 | Choir (choirstalls) | |
| 26 | Axis | The elements 1, 2, 4, 13, 14, 15, 19, 21, 22, 23, and 25 constitute the axis (south-southwest/north-northeast, respectively). On its exterior, the cathedral is long. |
The early windows resemble mosaics, made of very small pieces of thick, deeply-colored glass bound together by thin strips of lead. The later windows became much larger and thinner, as glassmaking technology improved, with support of iron bars and stone tracery. They were often colored with silver stain, and enamel paints which could be etched to give different shades and three dimensions, more closely resembling Renaissance paintings. The later Gothic periods also made greater use of grisaille, glass colored white, grey or other pale colors, to bring more light into the interior, and to highlight the colored glass. Most of the original glass was removed in the centuries after the Middle Ages. Most of the glass today is restored or a more modern replacement.
The windows of Metz were made by the master craftsmen including Hermann von Münster in the fourteenth century, and Valentin Bousch in the sixteenth. In the twentieth century, the artist Marc Chagall created three stained glass windows for the cathedral between 1958 and 1968. Roger Bissière and Jacques Villon provided designs for further windows, including the complete chapel of the Holy Sacrament.
Two other abstract windows were made by Roger Bissière for the portal of La Mutte and the portal of the Tower of the Chapter. The former, facing the rising sun, has warm abstract colors, while the latter window, facing the sunset, has cool colors.
The best-known windows are those designed by Marc Chagall. They were commissioned at the same time that he was chosen by André Malraux, French Minister of Culture, to decorate the central dome of the Paris Opera. The first, in Bay 17 of the west of the north transept, made between 1958 and 1961, depicts Genesis and the creation, the original sin, and the expulsion from Eden. Two additional groups were made for two bays in the north disambulatory (bays 11 and 9). They were made between 1961 and 1967, and depict Old Testament scenes, including Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, the Sacrifice of Abraham, the Burning Bush, and other events. The final series done by Chagall was created between 1968 and 1970 in the west triforium. These windows are "Grand Bouquet", a composition of birds and flowers and a rainbow on a background of nacre (Bays 111 and 113) and "Petit Bouquet" (Bays 107–109).
| 1 | Hermann von Münster's windows | |
| 2 | Jacques Villon's windows | |
| 3 | Valentin Bousch's windows | |
| 4 | Valentin Bousch's windows | |
| 5 | Marc Chagall's windows | |
| 6 | Theobald of Lixheim's windows | |
| 7 | Marc Chagall's windows | |
| 8 | Roger Bissière's windows |
Metz Cathedral has two organs. The modern and larger organ is located in the transept. The smaller and older instrument, called the "Renaissance", is perched on the triforium of the last traverse of the nave, closest to the choir. It was placed there above the former rood screen to accompany ceremonies of the clergy taking place within the choir. It was made in 1537, and while the instrument has been regularly modified and updated, the wooden buffet or cabinet is original.
The original romanesque crypt beneath the choir was enlarged at the beginning of the 16th century to serve as a foundation for the new chevet. and contains ambulatory leading to three chapels. It was originally largely filled with tombs, It now serves as a museum of cathedral history.
The crypt displays the Graouilly, a large figure of the mythical dragon which was said in legend to been slain by Saint Clement in about 1000 AD. It was carried in religious processions in Metz beginning the 13th century and was described by Rabelais after his stay in Metz in 1546–47. The body of the current Graouilly is made of canvas covering a metal frame is from the 19th century, while the head is wood from an 18th-century effigy of the creature.
The treasury of the cathedral, located in the old sacristy next to the south transept, lost most of its precious objects during the French Revolution, when they were taken away to be melted down for their gold or stripped of their jewels. The most famous item in the Treasury is the reputed "Cape of Charlemagne", a garment probably made in the 12th century. It is made of purple silk with three large eagles embroidered with gold, whose wings are decorated with roses and griffons. It was further adorned during the Renaissance with a plus a hood embroidered with silver. The treasury also displays a large Bishop's ring made of stone and gold, called the Ring of Saint Arnoul, made in the 7th century. It is one of the oldest Bishop's rings still existing.
|
|
