| Expiatory Chapel | |
|---|---|
Chapelle expiatoire | |
 | |
  Expiatory Chapel | |
| 48°52′25.5″N2°19′22.9″E / 48.873750°N 2.323028°E /48.873750; 2.323028 | |
| 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 | 3,000,000livres |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 168 feet (51 m) |
| Width | 93.5 feet (28.5 m)[2] |
TheChapelle expiatoire (French pronunciation:[ʃapɛlɛkspjatwaʁ], "Expiatory Chapel")[3] is a Roman Catholicchapel located in the8th arrondissement of Paris,France. The chapel was constructed byLouis XVIII on the grounds where KingLouis XVI and QueenMarie Antoinette had been buried afterthey had been guillotined, and it is dedicated to them as anexpiation for that act. The remains of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are not in the chapel; they are in theBasilica of Saint-Denis, near Paris, with other French monarchs.[4]
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 closestmétro station isSaint-Augustin
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The chapel was designed in 1816 by the FrenchNeo-Classical architectPierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, who, with his partnerCharles Percier, was amongNapoleon's favourite architects. Fontaine's assistantLouis-Hippolyte Lebas oversaw the construction. The chapel was constructed on the grounds of the formerMadeleine Cemetery, where KingLouis XVI and QueenMarie Antoinette had been buried after they had been guillotined.
KingLouis XVIII shared the 3 millionlivres expense of building the chapel with theDuchess of Angoulême. Construction took ten years. The chapel was inaugurated in 1826 in the presence of KingCharles X.
In 1862, theCypress trees surrounding the chapel were cut down, and a public park (Square Louis XVI) was created around the complex.
In May 1871 theParis 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.
The chapel and its surroundings were designed to create a solemn promenade for the visitor. TheChapelle 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 theSwiss 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]
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TheChapelle expiatoire is an uncompromising late neoclassical religious building.Chateaubriand found it "the most remarkable edifice in Paris." The Chapel sanctuary at the center of aGreek 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) Thecrypt contains a black and white marble altar which marks the place where the Royal remains were at one time located.[8]
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White marble sculptures of the king and queen angels were made byFrançois Joseph Bosio andJean-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 theBasilica of St Denis.
The pendatives which suoport the cupola have their own elaorate sculptural decoration.
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