Sculptures by Ligier Richier

The various episodes of the Passion, between the arrest and the crucifixion of Christ, as recounted in the Gospels (Matthew 27, Luke 22, Mark 15, John 19), were increasingly subject to representation in the Arts towards the end of the Middle Ages, in tandem with the growing popularity of the staging of theatrical mystery plays.

Thus attribution of works to him faces the same constraints and often relies on the scholarship of people such as Denis Paul, particularly his thesis "l’artiste et son œuvre" published in Paris and Nancy in 1911.

Hattonchâtel is a village in the canton of Vigneulles, 18 kilometres from Saint-Mihiel and is situated at the top of one of the range of hills which run from Verdun to Toul and separate the valley of the Meuse from the Woëvre plain.

[4] Christ is shown in the centre of the composition dressed in a long flowing robe and weakened by the flogging from one of the "executioners", whose task was to perform the crucifixion, and the suffering of the previous hours with the flagellation he had endured, he is unable to bear the heavy weight of the cross and has fallen to the ground.

In the central niche is a depiction of the crucifixion itself and to the left of his composition, Richier includes a scene much favoured at the time by gothic "imagiers"; the Virgin Mary having a fainting fit, overcome by emotion, and needing physical support from St John (the "Pâmoison" or "Spasimo").

Chaque église autrefois avait un tref de ce genre"[3] Génicourt is located in the canton and arrondissement of Verdun in the Meuse.

The brochure continues "...it is perhaps more significant to note the sense of tension and pathos, the way in which the Virgin's tapering fingers are intertwined making them as expressive as Her face; this is no longer popular art.

[8] The Romanesque church of Saint-Gengoult in Briey dates back to the beginning of the 12th century and holds a Ligier Richier calvary with life size depictions of Christ on the Cross, with the two robbers on either side.

Chatourop wrote about a work which had caught his attention and he considered of great beauty by "M.Légier, tailleur d'images, le plus expert et meilleur ouvrier en dict art que l'on vit jamais" and wrote of the beautiful crucifix which he had seen in the parish of Notre-Dame in Bar-le-Duc this accompanied by St John supporting the Virgin Mary and Saint Longinus[12] as well as four angels depicted receiving into chalices the Saviour's blood which flowed from his four wounds.

In the vastness of the Saint-Mihiel Abbey Paul Denis writes how ones attention is drawn to the composition of what is known as the "swooning virgin" ("La Pâmoison" in French).

It was subsequently discovered in a granary and came to the notice of a Vaucoulers sculptor called Pierson who made a model of it and produced several replicas one of which was acquired by the Musée de Nancy.

Describing Richier's composition, Paul Denis expresses the view that the "good robber", which follows convention and is placed to the right of Jesus Christ, shows a certain hope as though he has accepted Christ's pardon ("il rend en paix son denier soupir") whereas the "bad robber" exudes sadness and despair and his body is contorted into an almost impossible shape.

It was by a Royal ordnance issued in March 1782 that the announcement was made that the Chapter of Saint-Maxe was to be united with that of Saint-Pierre and by the end of August the collegiate was completely abandoned.

Experts have also concluded that the sculpture of the head of Saint Jérôme and the composition "L'Enfant à la crèche", now in the Louvre, were also originally in Saint-Maxe.

[3] This work depicting Christ carrying the Cross is located in the chapel of Notre-Dame de Pitié in the église Saint-Laurent in Pont à Mousson.

[3][25] The "Plafond à caissons" (English: "Coffers or ornamental sunken ceiling panels") were traced to a house inhabited at one time by Richier at 7 rue Haute-des-Fosses in Saint Mihiel.

During the Great War, 1914–1918, the village and presbytery were badly damaged by German artillery fire but Richier's mantelpiece fitting survived undamaged and was later installed above a fireplace in the local Mairie.

The brochure explains that Michel de Montaigne, who stayed in Bar in 1580, much admired the architecture and sculpture in polished stone and terra cotta, which must have been impressive at the time, but of which only a few fragments remain.

[32] In 1810 the vicar of Saint-Étienne, Claude Rollet, issued a paper giving a full description of the work and in 1894 a model was made for the Musée de sculpture du Trocadéro.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are shown "portent avec precaution leur precieux fardeau" (carefully carrying their precious package").

Sa toilette est riche, sa poitrine opulente, et sous ces grands yeux qui pleurent la mort du Maître on sent une vague reminiscence de la femme d'autrefois; cependant une douleur immense est peinte sur sa figure, L'artiste a admirablement saisi cette physionomie de Madeleine, qui a toujours tenté les peintres de toutes les époques"[36]In Richier's YEO composition Sainte Monique is shown holding the crown of thorns which Jesus' persecutors had placed on his head.

An angel carrying the Cross looks on, as does the centurion who "contemple d'un oeil étonné cette scène de douleur"[36] and two soldiers who roll dice on the top of a drum.

He is thought to have left it to his son Gerard to carry out the installation in the chapel of Saint-Ėtienne church and possibly add some finishing touches to the work.

He gives as examples, Tilman Riemensschneider's group at the University of Wurzbourg and the compositions by unknown artists at Saint-Jacques in Nuremberg and Notre Dame in Zwickau.

As examples, Paul refers to the work in the church at Varangéville attributed to the workshop of Mansuy Gauvain, that at Saint-Nicolas-de-Port and that at the basilica Saint-Epvre in Nancy.

The 1900 monument had incidentally replaced one erected in 1836 on the occasion of the three hundredth anniversary of the completion of the Saint Mihiel "mise au tombeau" of which the people of Saint-Mihiel have always been fiercely proud.

Colette joined the Third Order of St. Francis and became a hermit, living in a hut near the parish church, under the spiritual direction of the abbot of the local Benedictine abbey.

In October of that year, she travelled to Nice to seek the blessing of the Antipope Benedict XIII, who was recognized in France at that time as the rightful pope.

Benedict received her and allowed her to take vows as a Poor Clare nun, giving her mission his blessing through several papal bulls, which authorized her both to reform existing monasteries and to found new ones according to her ideals.

She then spent several years in Beaune in the Duchy of Burgundy, under the guidance of the Blessed Henry of Beaume and in 1408, she established the first successful community of Poor Clare nuns under her inspired way of life in a semi-derelict monastery of the Order in Besançon.