NOTRE-DAME-DE-L'ANNONCIATION CATHEDRAL

Built between 1474 and 1507, the old collegiate church is a pure example of flamboyant Gothic architecture. The façade is densely decorated with alternating materials, creating a play of colours, the rose window being a fine example, made of black and white stone. Its stained glass windows, paintings, side chapels and statues make it a particularly interesting site to visit. To be seen in priority, the stained glass window of Saint Catherine or of the Dukes, two crucifixions, the ten thousand martyrs of Mount Ararat, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, the Virgin in majesty, the Popillon family, the tree of Jesse and the Last Supper in the Chapel of the Parish. Other curiosities: the chapel of the Black Virgin, in which one can admire a polychrome wooden bas-relief relating the death of the Virgin, the polychrome and gilded stone burial, as well as the chapel of the Coronation containing the objects used by the bishop to exercise his ministry: crosier, ciborium, chasuble. The cathedral also has many paintings, two oil on wood representing the triptych of Bethlehem and the triptych of the Aubéry family, oil on canvas, the decollation of a saint, a beautiful pietà of 1613, the archangel Gabriel, St. Joseph in adoration before the Child, the Virgin of the Carthusian monks and Judith and Holofernes. Joan of Arc in marble and the great Merklin organ of 1880 and the famous triptych of the Master of Moulins. Located in the chapel known as the Bishop's Chapel, on the left when looking at the choir, this pure masterpiece still arouses as much passion and wonder. It is a painting on wood, completed in 1498, of Flemish inspiration, although the faces recall the Florentine school. It is the wonderful result of a commission from Duke Peter II and his wife Anne of France, who are shown kneeling on either side of the triptych. The Duke of Bourbon is in the company of Saint Peter, Anne of Beaujeu seems to be protected by Saint Anne. In the center, the Virgin in glory, with her eyes lowered, holds the infant Jesus in her arms, to whom the noble couple is presented. She stands out against a background of sunshine, a rainbow-coloured sky and twelve angels that give her a striking perspective. When the triptych is closed, its shutters show a sumptuous Annunciation in grisaille. The room contains an ivory reliquary Christ from the 17th century, two other triptychs of Aubéry and Bethlehem, the latter attributed to Joos van Cleve, a Flemish painter from the 16th century.