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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Notre-Dame-des-Fontaines chapel, located in an alpine valley 5 km from La Brig (Alpes-Maritimes), has its origins in the 13th century, linked to the Countess Eudoxie Lascaris de Vintimille. According to legend, after natural disasters (earthquakes, drought), she would have received a vision of the Virgin promising the return of the sources if an atoning chapel were built. The fountains sprang again, giving his name to the sanctuary, which became a place of pilgrimage recognized in 1375 by the bishopric of Vintimille.

In the 15th century, the chapel was embellished by the Lascaris, local lords allied with the Grimaldi and Doria. The major frescoes, made between 1490 and 1492 by Giovanni Canavesio (Passion of Christ, Last Judgment) and attributed to Giovanni Baleison (life of the Virgin), transform the building into a late Gothic masterpiece. A controversy persists on their financing: ransom avoided for a lord imprisoned or alms of pilgrims? An inscription of 1492 confirms the completion of the paintings.

The chapel was enlarged in the 16th and 18th centuries. In 1583, a restoration of the frescoes added a dedication to Canavesio. In 1750, after the Gallispane War (1744–48) where La Brig was spared, the inhabitants raised the nave and added a rococo vault in thanksgiving, contrasting with the Gothic style. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1951, it was restored in 1973–78, revealing the paintings of the choir hidden under ex-votos.

Its history reflects the geopolitical tensions of the region: La Brig, Piedmontese until 1947, was attached to France after the Treaty of Paris. The chapel, located on an old mule road linking Nice to Piedmont, also symbolizes Alpine cultural exchanges. The frescoes, compared to those of Giotto or Bosch, make it a unique testimony of medieval sacred art, mixing ligures, niçois and Piedmontese influences.

Today, the Fiat Lux project (2019) uses 3D modelling to study the degradation of frescoes. Despite various interpretations (links with the Hospitallers of Saint John, apocalyptic symbolism), the chapel remains a place of memory, where legend, faith and history have crossed for eight centuries.

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