Our Blog - Chapel of the Carmelites

The other day, we went to a concert of a small group of singers that one of our friends is a member of, and it was held in the Chapel of the Carmelites. We had been by the small chapel before, so I figured I would go ahead and get the blog written for it. It is a small chapel sitting on a side-street a few minutes from Place du Capitole. It was built in the 17th Century and the chapel is the only part of the the convent that was not destroyed during the Revolution. The exterior is a bit drab, but the interior is remarkable, with 17th century painted murals by Jean-Pierre and 18th Century paintings by Jean-Baptiste Despax. More on the paintings in a bit.

In 1622, King Louis XIII and his wife Anne of Austria, laid the first stone of the chapel. The chapel was completed in 1643 in a very simple plan with a single nave, a vaulted ceiling supported by decorative bases, and lit by 8 tall windows. The facade of the church is very simple with a triangular pediment with a statue of the Virgin and Child found in the central niche. This statue dates from 1881 and replaced the one offered in 1667 by a canon of Saint-Sernin, Jean de Cambolas.

As you walk into the chapel, you are immediately struck by the decoration, as it is everywhere. The vaulted ceiling with murals ... the paintings that cover basically every inch of the walls ... the white things you see on the floor were actually an art exhibit that was shown here a little while ago.

We'll start with the ceiling murals ...Above the altar Despax depicts the rays of light that represent God along with characters representing the prophets and righteous of the Old Testament who announced the coming of Christ and his Passion (Abraham, Samson, Noah, Adam and Eve, Daniel, Job, Cain and Abel, Solomon, Isaiah, Joshua, Moses with the 10 commandments, Jeremiah and David).

Then the the counter-façade, which shows an Apotheosis of St. Teresa.

On the vault is painted a sky and ornaments in trompe l'oeil.

Around each of the windows, you find theological and contemplative virtues: Charity, Faith, Hope, Penance, Purity, Obedience, Work, Vigilance, Contemplation, Silence, Humility, Science of the Saints, Submission, Poverty, Zeal, and Prudence. Between these virtues, you see the ribbed vaults holding up the ceiling, each decorated by a carved base.

And now, the paintings on the walls of the nave ... there was actually a different set of paintings originally, done by Jean-Pierre Rivalz and his son Antoine, which were redone by Jean-Baptiste Despax between 1747 and 1751. These paintings follow the themes of the order of the Carmelites, including the origins of the Carmelite order, the prophet Elijah and his disciple Elisha, devotion to the Virgin, and the glorification of St. Teresa of Avila.