The Restored Chapel of Jehan Seigne at Blere

The Seigné Renaissance funerary chapel at Bléré is the only one of its kind in France. It stands in the public garden that was once the town cemetery and its decorative carvings date it to 1525. The doorway, capitals, holy water basin and keystones are done in a beautiful Renaissance style, with strands of pearls, rosettes, lions' heads, cherubs, and chimeras. There are also references to artillery as testiment to Guillaume Seigné, controller of François I's artillery.

 

The chapel in March 2016.

Not renovated for many years, the state of the building was worrying. In 2016 the municipality put in place a plan to restore it, and partnered with a new Friends of the Chapel organisation and the Fondation du Patrimoine.

The chapel last week.

The work was delayed because of Covid, but now you can see the chapel in all its glory, with its lantern reinstated and functioning gutters and gargoyles. The lantern has been missing for well over a hundred years.

Peering through the door.

Work like this always throws up surprises, and on this site it was that there is a void under the chapel, with an entrance that had been covered over in the last renovation. The archaeologist said that they didn't find anything in the underground space though. This previous renovation was begun just before the outbreak of the First World War and halted because of the War.

The man who was buried here, Guillaume Seigné, Lord of la Lande and Governor of Montrichard, participated in the victorious battle in 1515 at Marignano near Milan with his new King, the 21 year old François I. In 1520 he was responsible for the manufacture and transportation of the tents and pavillions for the famous Field of the Cloth of Gold gathering, where Henry VIII of England and François I met, embraced and proclaimed their enduring friendship, jousted, danced and schmoozed their opposite number's Queen, all with very few long-term results.

The thinking is that Guillaume started the chapel, but it is certain that it was his son Jehan who finished it. 

I had forgotten what a sad little building it was before the restoration until I dug the photos from 2016 out of our archive. The restoration has revealed what a gem it really is. Amélie Rob, the conservation sculptor, and the rest of the team who worked on the building and behind the scenes raising the funds to cover the €700 000 cost of the work should be very proud of themselves.