Église de la Madeleine

Église de la Madeleine

Created in marble by Turin-born sculptor Carlo (Charles) Marochetti in 1841

for this historic church, the subject is the "Ascension of Mary Magdelene."

The photo shows the artist's remarkable detail 

in one of the angels

(Joyeux anniversaire, Nanette)

Église de la Madeleine

Place de la Madeleine

75008, Paris

 

L'Église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine - L'Ascension

Yesterday I attended the funeral after the unexpected death of my sister-in-law (belle-soeur). I think she would have loved this vision in La Madeleine, the work of Charles Marochetti.

Bon dimanche

The Angels and Mary

The churches of Paris are, as an understatement, just stunning. La Madeleine, or more formally, L'Église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, is one that I frequently visit. When your flight arrives at CDG from Atlanta at 5:00am and your hotel is not ready, you can always visit a café or a church. Not much else is open and the Parisians are mostly still nestled in their beds. La Madeleine is warm in the winter when it is raining (or worse) outside, and it is cool in the heat of summer.

This is a photo of the altar and to give you an idea of the size/scale just look at the chair on the left. The enormous statue by Charles Marochetti shows the ascension of St Mary Magdalene accompanied by three angels. Above the altar is a beautiful detailed mosaic by Lameire.

The special attraction to ma fille Holly is that her beloved and now deceased French teacher was married here many years ago.

I'll tell you another time about the music and the people we met at La Madeleine.