Le jubé Renaissance d’une cathédrale gothique : Saint-Etienne à Limoges
Résumé
The rod screen of Saint-Étienne cathedral was built around 1533-1534 at the beginning of the episcopate of Jean de Langeac. This monument was moved twice, once in 1789, then in 1888 when it took its current location, at the back of the nave, when the cathedral was completed. Despite major mutilations, it remains a remarkable work of the first French Renaissance, in particular for its finely carved decoration in soft stone, which combines Christian iconography and inspiration from Antiquity, as statues of the Virtues, Fathers of the Church, and sculpted scenes of the Labors of Hercules, prefiguring the figure of Christ. The rod screen still has traces of polychromy. The ornament covers the entire surface of the stone, framing the niches and bas-reliefs with fine candelabras and laurel wreaths. The carved canopies, the candelabra columns, the dangling false keys enliven the rood screen, which is flanked by two granite staircases, open to large creeping bays.
This extraordinary work is to be linked with the personality of Jean de Langeac, bishop of Avranches before ascending to the episcopal see of Limoges in 1533, but who was also a diplomat, in charge of several missions by King François I. This educated prelate and builder had an episcopal palace built (destroyed)andbeganworkonthecathedral,whichhisdeathin1541 didnotallowhimtocomplete. His tomb is also in the cathedral, decorated with bas-reliefs inspired by Dürer’s Apocalypse. It is therefore important to reflect on the rood screen and its possible links with other works of the time.