The initiative is extremely rare in a place of worship. A huge wall fresco now covers one of the facades of the Sainte-Madeleine Catholic Church, on the island of Nantes. The site, led by the artists’ collective
“More colors” and Nantes graffiti artist Moner, started at the end of August and will end on Saturday. The painting represents a warm landscape, composed of mountains and vegetation, observed by a couple. Spectacular, it stretches over 21 m high and 25 m wide. Above all, with its bright colors visible from afar, it contrasts sharply with the austerity of the building and neighboring buildings.
“I started with a theme that was as universal as possible: nature and humanity. I wanted to approach in a transversal way our role in the preservation of our environment but also our unity between us and with nature ”, justifies the artist. Moner who also wanted to take the opposite view of a stained-glass window by giving “the impression that the light sprang from the fresco towards the outside”.
The church avoided a second demolition
But why such a project on a church? This building, built in the middle of the 19th century, had been irreparably damaged by the bombings of the Second World War. A reconstruction was started in the 1950s but was never completely finished. Some walls thus needed a metal cladding to hold. This has at the very least degraded the architectural beauty of the place. The newly painted metal facade was previously brown and sand yellow.
The Sainte-Madeleine church was even almost demolished in the 2000s, the project having finally been abandoned at the request of the Bâtiments de France who found the work “remarkable”. It is in this context that the Sainte-Madeleine parish recently considered a “heritage enhancement project”. Its objective was “to instill the idea that we are people of relationship marked by cultural difference and belonging to multiple identities which constitute, above all, wealth,” she explains. The intention was materialized in a “unifying event” thanks to the partnership with the association “Plus de couleurs” and to the funding of patrons.
An official inauguration with the inhabitants of the district is scheduled for October 2.