Sépulcre de Chaource (église Saint-Jean-Baptiste)

Chaource

In a half-buried chapel of the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, which two dormer windows light with the raking glow of a perpetual dawn, rests what the specialist Michel Martin called "the most moving Entombment in Europe". Carved in 1515 in limestone by an anonymous artist of the Troyes school whom art history names the Master of Chaource — or Master of the Sad Figures —, the scene captures the moment when Christ, stretched out on his shroud with a harrowing, cadaverous realism, is about to be laid in the tomb. Joseph of Arimathea in his turban and Nicodemus in his pilgrim's hat hold the shroud; the Virgin bends towards her son's face, discreetly supported by Saint John; behind them stand the three holy women, Mary Salome, Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas, their faces bathed in that restrained sorrow which gave the sculptor his nickname. At the entrance keep watch three armed guards, life-size. The work, commissioned at a time when southern Champagne, enriched by its fairs, was filling its churches with statues of the "Beau XVIe siècle troyen" (the great 16th century of Troyes), came through the wars and the Revolution unharmed. The church also houses a 16th-century crib and numerous polychrome statues, making this village — otherwise the home of a famous cheese — a destination for artistic as much as spiritual pilgrimage.

Getting there : Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, in the centre of the village of Chaource, 30 km south of Troyes. The Entombment is in a low chapel, slightly below ground level; free admission.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound