Eglise St-Eustache at the northern edge of Jardin des Halles has over the years seen many famous people. The composer Rameau was buried here; little Louis XIV took his first communion here; and both Moliere and Richelieu were baptized here. Much of the chapel and artwork were donated by the food guilds and the merchants of the old Les Halles. The structure was built over nearly a hundred years (1537-1632), at the tail end of the Gothic era.
The huge head outside the church is modeled after author Henry Miller.
My favorite piece in the church is a triptych, by American artist Keith Haring, tucked in a side chapel (3:36). It was completed just weeks before his death from AIDS. Haring described the work as "really heavy", yet even its serious theme, perhaps his most challenging, does not hide the playful quality that permeates his art.
Saint Eustache is by far the greatest of the cathedrals in Paris. Notre Dame may be more iconic & famous, but it pales in comparison to the beauty and grandeur of the Eustache with it's high Gothic ceilings and it's glorious collection of religious art and objects. Truly wonderful.
TheAmericanEvita 9 months ago
This piece of Keith Haring's work is very sad to me. The tears of Heaven and the Madonna falling upon the mass of mankind reaching up to Heaven in anguish and despair, while the Angels fly above them. The faces and color of the Renaissance painting may be absent, but the message is the same and quite powerful. Thanks for including it in the video!
EROSGODOFGAYS 2 years ago 2