Discovering the church of Ste-Cecilia

The church, which was built circa 1550, underwent major transformations in the 18th century thanks to Pierre-Robert Le Roux d’Esneval, better known as "The President of Acquigny", who was a senior magistrate in the Parliament in Rouen. The principal alterations concerned the bell tower, the façade, and the axial and lateral chapels, while the interior decoration (woodwork, gilding and paintings), was entirely modified between 1746 - the year in which he became baron of Acquigny - and 1788, year of his death.

Le Roux called in many well known artists for this renovation work, including
- Charles Thibault (1732- 1802) chief architect to The President, who was active in almost all of the churches in Rouen.

- E.Fouquet. sculptor who created the two medallions on the façade of the the church which represent St Maximus, Bishop of Evreux, (St Mauxe) and his brother St Victorinus (St Vénérand). They were missionaries from Lombardy, Italy, who were said to have been captured by anti-Christians and beheaded as martyrs in Acquigny. Their skulls became relics which are kept in this church. Fouquet also created the sculpted lintel representing the martydom of St Cecilia, who was also beheaded (but her skull is not here; it is in the cathedral of Torcello, Venice). The same sculptor seems to have provided the two statues of St Cecilia and of St Catharine of Alexandria which are on each side of the high altar , as well as the Glory over the altar.

- Nicolas-Louis Lamine. artist-sculptor, who was the creator of the decoration of the Rosary Chapel and of the President's gallery overlooking the Chapel of the Holy Spirit "an 18th century gem which has been the admiration of all connoisseurs".

- Jean-Baptiste Huet l’Ancien. artist-painter, specialist of animal paintings, whose Rosary canvas dating from 1782 seems to be his unique religious subject.

The result is a unity of style in this church building which constitutes an excellent example of the renewal of church art at that time, characterised by baroque decoration. The church also has a chapelle ardente (mortuary chapel) fully representing the expression of grey monochrome art or camaïeu grisaille, (see below).



The admirable Chapel of the Holy Spirit, behind the High Altar, is the principal attraction of this church. On the right hand side of this photo you can see the President's gallery or window, decorated by the sculptor Lamine. On the left hand side can be seen an exceptionally good painting representing the Pentecost; it is a fine copy of the original canvas attributed to the famous artist Charles Le Brun. Above this, you can admire the painted and decorated ceiling portraying Divine Glory with rays of sunlight, tongues of fire and numerous angel's heads symbolising the Celestial City.



Acquigny's church has a mortuary chapel, built by and for the Le Roux family, and it was dedicated in 1779 to St Robert de Molesmes the founder of the monastic Order of Cistercians. The ceiling and the walls are decorated with grey monochrome camaïeu paintings, of excellent sensitivity, showing scenes of the Apocalypse. The ceiling of this chapel is almost intact, and it is apparently a unique work of art, for no equivalents have been found elsewhere.

It is composed of four principal scenes :
- the Last Judgement,
- The Communion of Saints,
- Hell,
- The Resurrection.

Click here to enlarge



The sumptuous reliquary, in which are kept the skulls of the martyred saints St Maximus and St Victorinus, would normally be in the church but it is temporarily - for security reasons - in the Town Hall-. It is planned to place it in the mortuary chapel, on show again, after renovations are undertaken ensuring it is secure against theft or vandalism. As seen in the photo, it is in the form of a chapel : 59 cm high, 69 cm long and 33 cm wide, made of polychromed wood. It is extremely rare to find such reliquaries.

This one dates most probably from the 15th century and it shows the story of the two saints in six scenes : - Torture by hanging by the feet in Italy;
- Torture by fire;
- Arrival in France;
- Refusal to worship idols;
- Escape from Italy;
- Beheading in Acquigny.