Stained glass for "Notre Dame des Sablons" Claude Viallat - Bernard Dhonneur

A witness to Saint Louis when he embarked upon the seventh and eighth crusades, the Church Notre Dame des Sablons is, without doubt, the oldest monument of this town. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the name Notre Dame des Sablons is probably in reference to the sandy marshes which surrounded the city. Constructed in Gothic style architecture, the church has undergone a number of transformations over the centuries. In 1634 its bell began to crumble, then the church remained closed between 1738 and 1744 at which time restoration works were undertaken, including the construction of the square clocktower and a change of orientation for the church itself, and also the narthex was replaced by a shrine or sanctuary. During the Revolution, the church also served as a temple, as barracks and as a warehouse for salt. It wasn’t until 1804 that Notre-Dame des Sablons finally reverted to being a church, and it’s internal restoration was undertaken in the 60s. Notre Dame des Sablons finally rediscovered its beauty within its impressive stonework.

Claude Viallat 

Claude Viallat was born in Nîmes in 1936 and studied Fine-arts in both Montpellier and in Paris. Since the end of the sixties he has developed a practical and theoretical critique of the traditional artwork. His research lead him to dismantle his rigid canvas frames and instead use less rigid canvasses. At the same time, he used an inspired style of repetition with sponge, as used in the Midi for painting kitchens. Over the years, the painting of Claude Viallat evolved relentlessly by his use of new techniques: Sheets, shirts, tent canvas, umbrellas, old curtains, the underside of chairs…His interest in glass as a new base for his paintings began with the eleven windows situated in the gothique style choir’s pews of the Saint-Cyr de Nevers Cathedral. After having taken down the canvas, having been painted recto-verso, having carried out extensive research regarding the light levels and colours, Claude Viallat worked on the transparency of his new material.

Bernard Dhonneur 

Bernard Dhonneur was born at Chartres 19 May 1928. The collaboration between Bernard Dhonneur Master Glassmaker and Claude Viallat began with the windows of Saint Cyr de Nevers Cathedral (the first public request of such magnitude since 1950). Whilst at Saint Cyr de Nevers the windows were classic lead panes, this was not the case in Aigues-Mortes which were, instead, antique hand-blown glass panes. The glass was coloured at the moment of fusion by adding a coloured enamel coating onto a white background. The windows consisted of several colours set into the glass whilst the shapes are obtained by acid engraving and the entire piece is married up using acoustic resins using a process similar to JJJ, but adapted for the first time for use within the arena of Art. This research into sculpture led to a lead free stained-glass window. The use of such large volumes with such variations in the raw materials and colours allowed the reality to hold true to what the artist had envisaged.