The Calvaries of Brittany

by J. C. MARSH-EDWARDS VISITORS to Brittany too often miss that country's inique Catholic monuments— he Calvaries. Quite unlike
those of other European countries, a simple wayside Crucifix sheltered by a gabled roof, they are solid structures of granite with the Crucifix, usually flanked by those of the two thieves, rising from a massive base, on whose sides the Way of the Cross is sculptured in bold relief, or crowning the summit of a lychgate.
Situated chiefly in the Departments of Finisterre and Morbihan, they date from the 15th century. At that time Brittany, an independent duchy, enjoyed a period of prosperity and the peasants poured out their money lavishly to the glory of God in the embellishment of their churches by funerary chapels, ornate porches and Calvaries.
Their conception, construction and decoration were all the work of local craftsmen and so, apart from their religious significance, they form treasures of popular art full of vigour, the finest and most lively examples of peasant art in Western Europe.
One of the most monumentally impressive of them is at Pleyben, just off the Quimper-Brest road. It is a great triumphal arch in antique style with the crosses atop standing starkly against the sky.
Round the cornice of the arch runs a frieze in high relief showing scenes from Our Lord's life, while on the top are groups of figures illustrating incidents of His Passion. Over the archway is a carved representation of Leonardo di Vinci's Last Supper.
Another fine one is at Thegonnec on the Route Nationale 12 between Morlaix and Brest. It is remarkable for its portrayal of detail: soldiers buffetting the blindfolded Christ, the guard roughly kicking Him as He falls beneath the cross, and the passer-by sneeringly jerking his thumb at Him.
Plougonven, with two tiers of sculptures on its octagonal pedestal, Brasparts which is a smaller copy of Playben, and the blue Kersantin granite Holy Thorn at St. Herbot are all easily accessible, but not many visitors get as far as Troenen, where the Atlantic breakers thunder unceasingly on the sands of Audierne Bay.
This is the oldest of the Breton Calvaries, reared as a Christian beacon against the terrors of the Western Ocean years before Columbus's historic voyage.
On the frieze around its substantial 14 by 10 foot pedestal are eight scenes from the life of Our Lord, from the Annunciation to the Garden of Geth
semane and, above, different phases of His Passion—Pilate washing his hands, the Via Dolorosa, the descent into Hell —a marvellous panorama.
In Morbihan, on the Biscay coats, the Calvaries are of a different genre. At Melrand, inland fom I.orient, the Crucifix has God the Father above and the Dove of the Holy Spirit on Christ's breast, with the heads of the Apostles encircling the stem of the cross.
Kerbreuder has one built of great blocks of schist with a very large Tabernacle on the platform, decorated on the outside with reliefs of the Nativity and the Stations of the Cross, and on the inside Adam and Eve being cast out of Eden, the Resurrection, and the Corona. tion of Our Lady.
Nearby St. Ave has one resembling a Celtic or Irish standing cross and other, less grandiose but most interesting examples, can be seen at Horn, Guehennic, Ste. Marie-duMenez, and in fact in nearly every inland village of Finisterre, Those in Morbihan are not true Calvaries but rather open-air altars.