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Origin and history

Saint-Jean-d'Apileur Chapel, located in Sainte-Marie in Ille-et-Vilaine, is a religious building whose oldest parts date back to the late 13th or early 14th century. It is distinguished by its Latin cross plan, its three altars (two of which are granite) and a 17th century tabernacle altar. The chapel preserves a 14th-century punch frame, decorated with polychrome motifs (yellow, red, black, white) and hermine speckling, dated by dendrochronology between 1398 and 1407. Its painted decoration, discovered during restorations (1985-1990), covers the interior walls with scenes of the life of Saint John the Baptist and of the saints in altarpiece, realized at the beginning of the 15th century.

The 1986 polls revealed Gothic murals on almost all walls (nef, choir, transept), a rare ensemble in Ille-et-Vilaine. The chapel, surrounded by an ancient cemetery converted into a tillage, has six openings to the Gothic shingles, although its windows have disappeared. His original term, Saint-Jean-d Classified as a Historical Monument in 1990, it belongs to the municipality and bears witness to the medieval religious architecture of Brittany.

The building illustrates the evolution of the Freirian chapels (linked to brothers or brotherhoods) in Brittany, often dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. Its location at the boundary of Sainte-Marie and Redon, southwest of Ille-et-Vilaine, reflects its role in local devolutionary practices. Subsequent modifications, such as the reduction of the choir in the 18th and 19th centuries to add a sacristy, show its adaptation to liturgical needs. The paintings, by their style and iconography, offer a rare example of medieval mural art in Brittany, while the frame, with its heraldic motifs (hermine), highlights the links with the Breton duchy.

The sources diverge on its initial dating: if Guillotin de Corson and Baneat were located in the sixteenth century, the polls and dendrochronology confirm an older origin (XIII-beginning XIVe). This chapel, though modest by its architecture (18.90 m of nave, 14.68 m of transepts), is uniquely decorated by its rich interior. The three altars, including a polychrome wooden altarpiece, and the Gothic door openings, make it a major witness to the Breton religious heritage, despite the disappearance of its original stained glass windows.

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