Architecture
Background
In the XIXth century, King Charles Felix entrusted the restoration of Hautecombe Abbey to
Ernest Melano, a great Piedmontese architect .
He instructed him to restore the abbey to the appearance it had at the time of Claude Estavayer, in the early XVIth century. The monarch chose Ernest Melano, rather than " these architects in fashion who want to create new buildings, destroying everything that was ancient. He thought that a "new construction, of modern architecture, would be a kind of monstrosity, quite discordant with the monuments and would not be analogous to the time of the deceased princes who were buried."
Tomb of Louis de Savoie,,
Baron of Vaud in Switzerland
and his wife Jeanne de Montfort..
It dates back to the 13th century.
Charles-Felix was right.
Under the influence of the neoclassical trend, all gothic values were denied at that time. Only the antique pastiche were in consideration, of which we see a sample in Hautecombe, in the chapel of Saint-Félix.
Braving opposition from his family, the monarch showed tenacity, which is why the architecture is Gothic troubadour, a romantic Gothic.
One finds in the abbey,
120 elegant statuettes called "mourners."
They represent mourning and prayer.
The king wished to make of this church a large mausoleum in memory of his ancestors.
Therefore, all the pillars were transformed into monuments, each bearing a statue, the bas-relief of a scene recounting the life of the character, and an inscription to the memory of one of the princes buried in the church.
Sculpture of the Pieta or "Mother of Sorrows" by Benedict Cacciatori (1830) | 
Sculpture of King Charles-Felix by Benedict Cacciatori | |
Sculpture of Queen Marie-Christine by Jean Albertoni (1857) | 
Panel of the altarpiece The Annunciation by Defendente of Ferrari (1520) | |
Lactation of the Blessed Virgin to St. Bernard of Spanzotti | 
The Apparition of the Virgin and Child Jesus to St. Bernard by Joachim Serangioli (1815) | |
Paintings by Gonin and Louis Vacca |
EVENTS
-
Summer Sessions for 18-30 years old people
5th - 12th August 2012
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European Heritage Days
15th and 16th of september, 2012
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Reception in the abbey : +33 4 79 54 26 12 - Fax : +33 4 79 54 29 94
E-mail : accueil.hautecombe-at-laposte.net
Visits, shop :
+33 4 79 54 58 80 - Fax. +33 4 79 54 29 94
E-mail : librairie.hautecombe-at-wanadoo.fr
Abbaye d’Hautecombe - 73310 SAINT-PIERRE-DE-CURTILLE
Website : www.hautecombe.org
© Communauté du Chemin Neuf