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ARTEFACTS Sculptures

 

Mausoleum of Marie Maignard. White Carrara marble, early 17th century. In 1620, Millen, in his Antiquités Nationales said: "She has such a well carved dress that one could feel the silk." 1

Marie Maignard was the daughter of Charles Maignard, sieur de Bernières, presiding over the Parliament of Normandy. She died in 1610 at the age of 23. Her memory is important for Vernon because she presented the church with the organ in 1607. 1

This monument used to be in one of the churches that were destroyed during the French Revolution and it was transferred here later.   1

Foundation stone of a local prominent person at the end of the 16th century. This may be an opportunity to have a look at men's and women's fashion of the time! Click here for the Latin text of the stele and the translation . . ... .5

Many different statues, the fruit of many artists' work, can be seen in churches, and each one seeks to disclose and portray some facet of the Divine. As such, these objects are meant to move us to meditation and reflection.

The Collegiate church of Vernon is proud to possess this rood showing Christ on the Cross attended by the Virgin and St John (1664), the work of Jean Drouilly, one of the great sculptors of the second half of the 17th century. 3. - More information about Jean Drouilly

Remarkable wood statue of the Virgin, dating from the 17th century, to be seen in the Rosary chapel.   2

Saint Ann and the Virgin as a child. (16th century) 6

Exceptional Virgin sitting, in painted and gilded wood from the late 13th or early 14Th century. It was Queen Blanche de Navarre who had the chapel built and decorated with this statue after 1350. More information about Blanche de Navarre ............................................4

Specialists date it from 1280 - 1320. It used to be a shrine. (If you look carefully, you can still see a circular pattern across the chest. This is where the relic was, probably behind glass.) 4

Mauxe is a local spelling for Maxime and the saint whose18th century statue is displayed in the church is also known as Saint Mayme in some regions.. (However some specialists beleive the statue can be dated from the mid-16th century  since a few details, such as the mitre, are still very medieval looking.) Particularly honoured in the South of France, Saint Maxime was Abbot of Lérins (a small island off Cannes on the French Riviera) and Bishop of Riez ( in the South of the French Alps) in the 5th century. Devotions to this saint began in the parish as early as the 12th century. (18th century  ? wood ) 7

Saint Catherine of Alexandria was honoured everywhere in Europe but especially in the Seine valley as far as Rouen. This statue recalls a former nunnery dedicated to her here in Vernon. Until the early years of the 20th century, still unmarried girls used to walk there in procession on November 25th. Undoubtedly young men must have been in attendance to admire the girls parading in their best clothes and ogle them! This local procession is at the origin of today's Catherinettes celebration (Single 25 year old girls hold various parties and celebrations on Nov. 25 throughout France.) The statue used to be in the North porch, but, as it has just been restored, it has been thought wiser to place it inside the church. 8

One cannot leave the nave without noticing the twelve statues rising on the piers. They were carved in the 19th century by sculptor Decorchemont as a substitute for those that had been destroyed during the French revolution. However the canopies date back to the 15th century and are excellent examples of flamboyant style. Originally, as today, these were the statues of the twelve apostles. In the 18th century, visitors of the church used to be told that these statues represented the twelve sons of the first Lord of Vernon, who had also founded this church! Such reputation may explain why the statues were hammered away during the Revolution. 9

In the 13th century architects and clerics began placing statues of the twelve apostles against piers and columns. They were referring to St Paul's Epistle to the Galatians which compares the apostles to the columns that support a building as well as to John's Apocalypse which describes the City of God as resting on "twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (21,14) Also note that these men are barefoot to recall Evangelic poverty, a tradition based on Christ's words when He assigned his apostles their first missions, that they should take no purse, no bag and no shoes. 9

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