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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Notre-Dame-de-la-Nativity church of Othis, located in Seine-et-Marne, was built between the late 15th and early 16th centuries in the flamboyant Gothic style, partially reusing masonries from an earlier 14th century building. Only the western façade, completed in 1573, and the arch keys are Renaissance. This facade, considered one of the most remarkable in the department, combines an exuberant carved decoration (vess, dards, niches with statues of the Cardinal Vertus) with a balanced composition, despite unusual proportions.

Inside, the church reveals a trapezoidal plane with a nave of four spans flanked by bottoms, extended by a five-sided apse. The monocylindrical pillars, the absence of formets and quadripartite vaults reflect an economy of means, while details such as the pendant vault keys or the Renaissance dais housing a statue of the Virgin bear witness to mixed stylistic influences. The bell tower, anterior to the façade, has a building perpendicular to the axis of the building, a rare characteristic.

Ranked a historic monument in 1875, the church underwent major restorations between 1984 and 1988. Today, affiliated with the parish area West-Goële, it houses classified furniture, including an 18th century high altar, a altarpiece inspired by Raphael, and funeral slabs from the 16th-17th centuries. Its history reflects the artistic transitions between Gothic and Renaissance, as well as the budgetary constraints of a rural parish.

The attribution of the facade to an architect remains debated: if the name of Jean Goujon is evoked without proof, Léon Palustre suggests a rapprochement with the church Notre-Dame de La Ferté-Milon, attributed to Philibert Delorme. The ancient sources (Aufauvre, Fichot, Palustre) emphasize the exceptional sculptural quality of the facade, despite subsequent mutilations. The consecration of the church in 1599 by Guillaume Rose, bishop of Senlis, marks a late episode of his medieval history.

The lateral elevations and the bedside, treated with sobriety, contrast with the facade. The southern wall, bordering the park of the town hall, reveals a foothill decorated with an entablement and a rosette, added later. Inside, the nave, indirectly illuminated by the lower side, highlights details such as carved lamp-butts or partial windows. Leabside, sober, directs attention to the baroque altarpiece, a copy of a work by Raphael.

The furniture includes classified items (forged iron lutrin, retables, funerary slabs) and unprotected popular works, such as a Christ on the Cross or a 16th century Child Virgin. Funeral slabs, including that of Louise Lovet (1587) or David Le Roy (1642), illustrate local seigneurial history. The church, now open to irregular worship, remains a testimony of the architectural and social changes of the Paris region during the Renaissance.

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