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Origin and history

The chapel Notre-Dame de Trémalo, located at Pont-Aven in Brittany, was built in the 16th century by Guillaume du Plessis, lord of Plessis, and his wife Catherine de Botigneau, on the former parish of Nizon. In Gothic style, it is distinguished by its flamboyant bays, its Cornouaillais bell tower and its sandstones carved with grotesque figures, illustrating the capital sins. His polychrome wooden Christ, still visible, inspired Paul Gauguin for major works such as The Yellow Christ (1889), linking his history to the Pont-Aven school.

Passed into the hands of the Feydeau families and then Hersart de la Villemarqué, the chapel was sold as a national property in 1795 before being returned to the First Empire. Falling in ruins, it was completely restored in 1957. Since 1978, the association for its safeguard has been maintaining it. Its furniture and architecture, typical of Breton art, make it a rare testimony to local piety and its artistic influence.

The building, inscribed in historical monuments on May 11, 1932, also owes its fame to American and European painters of Pont-Aven, like Childe Hassam, who made works there at the turn of the twentieth century. The coat of arms of the founders, visible near the choir, remind of their patronage, while the engulfing beams and polychrome motifs highlight the influence of the popular Breton traditions.

Architecturally, the chapel combines a rectangular plane with a triangular flat bedside, decorated with three flamboyant bays. Inside, ten pillars support broken arches, creating a homogeneous nave covered with a cast iron arch. The sandstones, carved of human and animal masks, include a bold representation of an animal holding a male sex, reflecting an unknown medieval symbolism.

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