Église Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc

The Eglise Sainte Jeanne D'Arc is the first parish church dedicated to Joan of Arc, and boasts the largest collection of stained glass windows in France. The church is listed in its entirety on the Inventaire supplémentaire des Monuments Historiques.
Its architecture, in the shape of a château-fort, evokes the Middle Ages.
Tours are available all year round on request for a minimum of 8 people. Contact Catherine Guyon on 06 10 66 90 21.

This neo-Gothic church was the first in the world to be dedicated to Joan of Arc, who was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. It was built shortly before the First World War in Lunéville, a garrison town some fifteen km from the German border imposed by the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871). In July 1910, thanks to a dispensation from Pope Pius X (canon law allowed only a canonized saint to be named as titular). Mgr Turinaz, bishop of Nancy, erected the new parish "Bienheureuse Jeanne d'Arc" and entrusted its first parish priest, Abbé Émile Gérardin (1876-1957), with the task of building the church. He called on a young Parisian architect, Jules Criqui (1883-1951), who used avant-garde techniques. The foundation stone was laid on April 17, 1911, and the consecration of the finished building took place eighteen months later, on October 17, 1912. Its style is inspired by the military architecture of the 15th century, the time of Joan of Arc. With its loopholes, battlements, machicolations and four summit turrets, the tower is reminiscent of a keep, entered through an iron portcullis surmounted by an escutcheon bearing Joan of Arc's coat of arms and her motto "Dieu premier servi" ("God first served"). The column-free nave is reminiscent of a war room. In the choir, the statue of Joan of Arc listening to her voices (by sculptor Allard) invites prayer. The statues of the Sacré-C?ur and the Virgin Mary come from the Pierson de Vaucouleurs workshop, as do those of the Saint Joseph altarpiece, donated by Mr. Keller, former mayor of Lunéville, in gratitude for the protection afforded the town during the First World War. But what really sets this church apart is its magnificent collection of stained glass windows, created by Nancy glassmakers Janin and Benoit between 1912 and 1947. These stained glass windows, in warm, luminous tones, are both varied and harmonized into a perfect whole, the program for which had been conceived from the outset by Abbé Gérardin, and are exceptionally rich in iconography. Recounting the life of Joan of Arc from Domremy to her beatification in 26 strikingly realistic scenes, they constitute a splendid history book. The concern for historical accuracy (buildings, costumes, armor), for the expression of serene yet moving faces, and for picturesque detail is reflected in each stained-glass window, which bears, in large letters, the inscription of the scene depicted with, below it, the names of the donors, and in the upper part, a saying of Joan's relating to the subject treated. In the ogive at the top, the coat-of-arms of the town where the event takes place is inserted. These windows constitute the most important iconographic cycle on glass concerning Joan of Arc, ahead of Orléans, Vaucouleurs and Compiègne. They are directly inspired by the Art Nouveau style of the Nancy School, both in terms of the abundant floral decoration and the techniques used (acid etching, glass superimposition), with a quality worthy of Grüber. Text by Catherine GUYON.

DATAtourisme France