Amiens Cathedral – Exploring the Wonders of the Interior
Amiens’ cathedral, Notre Dame, soared above the horizon as I walked toward her along Port d’Amont. I’m not sure why this surprised me as she is considered the largest church in France. In fact, Amiens’ cathedral exceeds in size Notre Dame of Paris. The Roman style cathedral which stood here before the Notre Dame of Amiens we see today burned down in 1218. This beautiful Gothic masterpiece that is the Notre Dame of today began construction in 1220 and took 50 years to complete. In 1981 Amiens’ cathedral was listed as a World Heritage site.
Built on the model of Chartres cathedral, Notre Dame does not have the magnificent stained glass as does Chartres cathedral. The stained glass suffered various mishaps over the centuries with the ultimate damage being in the 20th century wars.
The city implemented protective measures to the interior of the cathedral during World War I which included relocating the stained glass to the warehouse of a Parisian glass worker. Unfortunately, a fire there destroyed the windows. However, the Biblical stories told through the exterior sculptures as well as the sculptures and paintings inside are marvelous.
Nave View of Amiens’ Cathedral
Entering through the front portal, the view from the nave at the back of the church is expansive. The ceiling soars to 139 feet and the nave is 45 feet wide. No matter where you look in the cathedral, the view is breathtaking.
To the center left stands the Baroque pulpit. Constructed of marble and wood shrouded in gold, the three figures Charity, Faith and Hope support it. The sculptor was Jean-Baptist Michel Dupuis.
The image of Charity is particularly poignant to me.
Also in the center of the church is the labyrinth. I arrived just after the Cathedral opened for the day so was able to walk the labyrinth in prayer and contemplation uninterrupted. What a wonderful memory to treasure. I’ve since discovered that the path is 243 meters in length – 797 feet.
Center of the labyrinth
At the far end of the center aisle is the Baroque sanctuary, guarded by an ornate grill-work, with a magnificent altar that reminds me of a sunburst. This area is not public.
The Baroque sanctuary is behind this grill-work.
Although visible the sanctuary was not approachable from an angle which allowed a clear photo – thus, the photo here is from the French heritage site.
Before proceeding further, I want to take a moment to stop and look up at the grandeur of the vaults high above.
Chapels within the Cathedral
Le Pilier Vert et Le Pilier Rouge
There are multiple altars and chapels through out the Cathedral so I begin with the two that seemed to me to be “free-standing” . These two altars front two massive pillars in the north transept: Le Pilier Vert et Le Pilier Rouge (The Green Pillar and the Red Pillar)
Le Pilier Vert
Le Pilier Vert (1634) by Nicholas Blasset is the chapel altar dedicated to the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. Saint Sebastian is at the top, riddled with arrows. He is the protector against plagues. The painting of Calvary is from the 18th century. No one seems to know why this is called “The Green Pillar”.
On the opposite side of the Cathedral is a “matching” altar. This chapel and altar are titled Notre Dame du Pilier Rouge. The statues of Notre-Dame-du-Puy, David, Salomon and Judith are all also by Nicolas Blasset. The painting of the Assumption is by François Francken le Jeune.
Ambulatory Chapels
According to the literature, there is nothing left of the Middle Ages chapels along the sides lining the ambulatories. What we see today date from the 18th century. Wrought iron grill-work encloses each of these chapels which extend from the symmetrical north and south ambulatories.
The grill-work, just barely visible on the left, marks the location of some of the chapels. But more importantly in this image is the size of the ambulatory as demonstrated by the tiny figures!
The paintings in the chapels date from the 19th century and are copies of older works. None-the-less, they are impressive!
A Glimpse of My Favorite Chapels
The Chapel of the Dawn, Chapelle de l’Aurore, is dedicated to the saints Peter and Paul, both sculpted by Jean-Baptiste Dupuis.
Aurore’s Chapel
The Blessed Sacrament Chapel dates from the 13th century but the stained glass is from the 20th century. The stained glass was done by Pierre Gaudin in 1933. These chapels that surround the back of the choir are rich in polychrome. However, the polychrome here did not seem as flamboyant to me as the polychrome found in the churches in the Valley of the Frescoes.
Blessed Sacrament Chapel
If you stand just to the right of the Pilier Rouge (see above) the view is the length of the ambulatory that leads to the Chapel of Saint Joseph in the two above photos.
Likewise, standing just to the left of the Pilier Vert (see above), this view is of the length of the ambulatory that leads to the Chapelle Notre-Dame de Pitié in the two above images.
The polychrome painting here in the Chapel of the Sacred Heart was lovely!
Below is the Saint Michel Chapel and the crucifix is known as that of Saint-Sauve, 1216.
Chapel Saint Michel
Choir Screen
On the exterior sides of the Baroque sanctuary, are the choir screens. Here I found detailed carvings, polychrome work and paintings that date from 1488. I found these tableaus to be mesmerizing. The more I looked, the more I discovered.
On one side of the choir screen is the martyrdom of Saint-Firmin (also spelled Fermin, 1490-1532), including two funerary monuments: Bishop Ferry de Beauvoir (1473) on the left, and that of Adrien de Hénencourt (1530) on the right. Firmin was the Bishop of Amiens in the 3rd century.
A portion of the choir screen which includes St-Firmin’s sarcaphogas
The choir screen on the opposite side is dedicated to Saint-John the Baptist, 1520-1531. The distance from the screen shows less carving details but yields a much better idea of the width between the pillars and height of the cathedral and thus the size of this single tableau. The polychrome paintings and sculptures date from the end of the 15th to the early 16th century.
Funeral Monuments
Yes, there is a whole section on funeral monuments! Funeral monuments in Amiens Cathedral have some of the most elaborate and most lovely sculptures and paintings. Located in the nave and choir of the Cathedral , these date from the 13th to the 18th century.
Although regularly called L’Ange qui Pleure (the crying angel), this funeral monument is for Canon Guillain Lucas.
Look carefully at the funeral monument for Saint-Jean de Sachy. That is Death reclining at the base of the monument, not the skeleton of Sachy.
And finally, the magnificent funeral monument for Saint Jean du Voue which was behind the ornate grill – I suppose due to the amount of gold overlay.
Dedicated to the men who died for France during World War I, this is more of a memorial rather than a funeral monument. However, this was a good place to include it.
World War I Memorial Monument Amiens
Amiens Cathedral Organ
At the back of the Cathedral high over the door where I entered is the organ pipes. The swell of its sound during Sunday mass was definitely uplifting!
So Many Unmentioned Statues and Details
There are so many details not recorded by my camera and so many recorded but not included here that I have to at least leave you with a few more images before I begin the project of documenting the exterior of the beautiful cathedral.
This was the first French cathedral that I visited and even 34 years later, one of the most memorable. I was particularly taken with the sculpted scenes on the aisle-side of the choir screen. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed the post! I think Amiens is pretty amazing!