The Chapel of the Black Penitents

This chapel with a slate roof seems very discreet. The clothes do not make the man ! Push open the doors of the Chapel of the Black Penitents to discover a true masterpiece of Baroque art: entirely painted vault and sculpted and gilded altarpiece.

Flanked by a relatively sober facade and topped with an elegant double-clocheton covered with lauzes, the chapel of the Black Penitents houses an exceptional interior decor. This masterpiece of the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries has a wooden vault painted in bright colors, an imposing gilded altarpiece and six large paintings framed with plasterwork.

Visit the Chapel of the Black Penitents

For the visit, several solutions are available to you:

• Visit with an explanatory leaflet on a background of baroque music
• Listen to the audio guide
• Follow a tour guide
• Take a torchlight night tour
• Solve the puzzles of a small children's game

A fascinating story

In the aftermath of the Wars of Religion, the Catholic Church attempted to reassert its position by encouraging the creation of Penitential confraternities . In 1609, two of them were established in Villefranche-de-Rouergue : the Blues, on the banks of the Aveyron river, and the Blacks, in the upper part of the bastide.

The Penitents were primarily lay people, men and women, seeking to atone for their sins by helping those in need: the poor, the sick, those condemned to death, prostitutes… On Good Friday, they walked through the city streets, wearing black robes and hoods and carrying banners glorifying certain saints. They then followed the Stations of the Cross path leading to the top of the hill of Saint-Jean d'Aigremont, where a chapel erected in the 19th century commemorates this tradition.

Undermined at the time of the French Revolution, the brotherhood resumed its activity in 1805 until 1905, date of the law of Separation of Church and State. The processions lasted until the beginning of the 2010s and the project of a recovery is now being considered.

An exceptional decor

To be part of the brotherhood, Penitents had to pay an annual fee and make donations at auction. The money raised allowed the purchase of several plots of land on which the chapel was built, on the model of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.

In 1701, a workshop in Villefranche produced the exceptional painted wooden vault on which features cherubs undulating in vegetal arabesques , ribbons and garlands of fruit and flowers , the Holy Cross , emblem of the confraternity, Constantine I, King Louis XIV, Saint Helena, Saint Francis de Sales and the four evangelists.

In 1709, the confraternity commissioned the immense altarpiece that flanks the chapel's choir. It features four panels depicting the final moments of Christ's Passion. At the center is the Crucifixion with the Resurrection of Christ joining God and the dove of the Holy Spirit.

In 1764, six large paintings representing the Annunciation, the Marriage of Joseph and Mary, the Crucifixion, the Deposition, the Presentation in the Temple and the Nativity were commissioned from the Toulouse artist Charles Dujon. These were inserted into plasterwork frames surmounted by liturgical objects and musical instruments.

Did you know?

Recently, a room upstairs has been displaying several musical instruments bequeathed to the city by the Brotherhood of the Black Penitents in 1905. Among them are a clarinet, timpani, a rattle and an astonishing snake!

This wind instrument, made of wood, polychrome painted parchment, tinwork and gilding, was made in the bastide in 1830. With its tuba mouthpiece and recorder holes, it accompanied the cantors and was appreciated for its deep sound. .

Soak up the baroque atmosphere while listening to the sound of these instruments:

Near the chapel of the Black Penitents

Notre-Dame collegiate church

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