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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Nicolas de Fossé, located in the Ardennes village of the same name, is a building whose oldest parts date back to the late 16th century. Its modest architecture, typical of rural churches, is characterized by an extended rectangular nave of a three-part choir, with walls in local bellows and ochre stone frames. External simplicity contrasts with the radical internal transformations experienced in the mid-20th century.

During the Battle of the Ardennes (Winter 1944-1945), an American explosion destroyed the church choir. Reconstructed in 1954 by the Prevot brothers, local masons, the building is entrusted for its interior decoration to three avant-garde artists: sculptor Pierre Székely, ceramicist Vera Székely (his wife), and painter André Borderie. Members of the Space group, they transform space into a modern sacred art manifesto, mixing abstraction, bright colours (green, red, yellow walls) and clean furniture. Their work, inspired by the De Stijl movement and the ideas of the Dominican Marie-Alain Couturier, arouses national controversy.

The decoration includes a monumental wall painting evoking the Book of Tobie, stained glass windows with sculptural metal structures signed by the Ironmaker Petit, and a marble altar of Carrara employing an 18th century tombstone. Among the controversial works were a pregnant Virgin in ceramics and a calvary, removed in 1957 under pressure from the clergy. Cardinal Cicognani, Prefect of the Congregation of Rites, condemns these representations as "sacrilèges", leading to the partial destruction of the arrangements.

Despite the controversy, the church retained major elements from 1954-1955: stained glass, wall painting, altar, tabernacle and benches. Classified as a historical monument in 2011, it bears witness to a pivotal moment in French sacred art, between tradition and modernity. The 2009-10 repaints, however, standardized the colours, partially altering the original vision of the artists. Today, the site attracts both historical and artistic heritage, a symbol of the tensions between innovation and conservatism in the Church of the twentieth century.

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