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Origin and history

The cemetery cross of Charnay-lès-Chalon is a Gothic cross dating from the late 15th or 16th century, located in the old cemetery of the commune, to the right of the church. She presents a Christ on her avers, with an expressive representation of the Passion: head crowned with thorns, body in position of exhalation. The reverse shows a crowned Virgin with the Child, accompanied in lower part by Saint Mary Magdalene holding a bottle of perfume, symbol of the anointing of Christ. An shield identified as that of the Rupt family, local lords until 1535, attests to its link with the regional nobility.

Ranked a historical monument by decree of November 3, 1930, this octagonal cross experienced vicissitudes: it was overthrown during the French Revolution and raised in the mid-19th century by the parish priest Bourgnier. Its cask, reinforced by a metal frame, carries high reliefs of remarkable artistic quality for a rural cemetery cross. The presence of Mary Magdalene and the Virgin underscores her role both funeral and devotional in the community.

The sources mention an approximate location at 10 Rue de la Forge, in an enclosure now decommissioned as a cemetery. The cross belongs to the commune and illustrates the religious heritage of the Burgundy Bresse, marked by the influence of seigneurial families such as the Rupt. His iconography, mixing Christian scenes and heraldic symbols, reflects the artistic and devotional practices of the late Middle Ages in this region.

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