Église Saint-Pantaléon - Troyes

After the French Revolution , 16th-century statues rescued from other buildings were brought together here, making it a remarkable museum of religious statues from the Champagne region.

According to some authors, there was a synagogue here and then, as early as 1189, a half-timbered church dedicated to Saint Pantaleon, a martyr (according to legend, his hands were nailed to his head in Rome in 304). In the early 16th century, it was replaced by a stone building, which was partially burned down in the great fire of 1524. In 1527, neighboring land was annexed to build a larger church. In 1570, the lower parts were covered with a temporary roof and the upper part was completed a century later. Around 1740, a bay was added, together with the classical-style façade.

The sober exterior has a portal with two superimposed pediments and a striking octagonal bell tower. The interior creates a sense of height through the narrowness of the nave.

The balcony that runs around the nave, the 28-metre-high barrel vault and the enormous oriel windows are remarkable , and the pillars support a magnificent series of statues on two levels. To the right of the first pillar is Saint Jacques by Dominique Le Florentin, a master of the Trojan School, and on the second, Saint Barbara with a book and a truncated palm, a masterpiece of Trojan Gothic, the Pulpit of Truth , by the sculptor Simart (1806-1851), on the pillars in front of the altar, Faith and Charity (1551, Le Florentin), and in the second chapel on the right, the very realistic polychrome group representing the wrestling of Saint Crépin and Saint Crépinien , patron saints of shoemakers. The church contains many other beautiful polychrome statues.

The stained glass windows , often in grisaille, form a remarkable 16th-century ensemble. The stained glass windows of the History of Daniel and The Passion from 1531 mark a turning point for the Trojan School of glass painting, which until then had favoured intense colours.

Willem Vandenameele