Collection

Beaux Arts

Painted wooden panel, 16th century

This painted wooden panel illustrates the legend of Saint Vorles. These may be remnants of cabinet doors that once held the shrine of Saint Mammès, bishop of Langres in the late 12th century.

Saint Vorles, haloed in gold and wearing a purple cloak, rescues a child from a burning house—an episode showing his miraculous gift of bilocation. In the 6th century, while celebrating Mass in Marcenay with King Guntram, he entered a deep meditation. Upon returning, he claimed to have saved a child in a distant village. Riders sent by the king confirmed it. In the late 9th century, to protect his relics from Norman invasions, the bishop of Langres had them moved to the fortified town of Châtillon-sur-Seine.
Buste reliquaire de saint Vorles, 16e siècle, pierre polycrome
Vue cavalière de 1570 de la ville de Chastillon, inconnu, Huile sur toile

Development of the abbeys

Because the Châtillonnais region belonged to two authorities based elsewhere—the Dukes of Burgundy and the Bishop of Langres—and lay at the border between Champagne and Burgundy, it was not under the control of a local lord. This absence of strong secular power favored the rise of numerous powerful religious institutions, such as the abbeys of Notre-Dame, Molesme, and Val des Choux.

The Abbey of Notre-Dame was founded around 1140 under the influence of Saint Bernard. It flourished until the 16th century, but the Wars of Religion led to its decline and eventual destruction. After the French Revolution, the monastic buildings were repurposed as a hospital. In 2009, they became home to the Musée du Pays Châtillonnais.

Picture : Vue cavalière de 1570 de la ville de Chastillon, 1570, Unknown artist, oil on canvas.
Vue cavalière de l'abbaye Notre Dame, Molesme, 18e siècle, gravure
Abbaye des Bénédictines, Molesme, gravure
Vierge à l'enfant et saint Jean-Baptiste, École bourguignonne Châtillon-sur-Seine, Église Saint-Jean, 1531, Huile sur bois

Religious Art and Craftsmanship

Set against a fortified cityscape, the Virgin embraces Saint John the Baptist as he offers a lamb to the Christ Child. This work is attributed to Grégoire Guérard, a painter from the Netherlands who settled in Tournus in the early 16th century. He helped spread the influence of the Flemish Renaissance in Burgundy.

Picture : Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist; Burgundian School; Châtillon-sur-Seine, Saint-Jean Church; 1531; Oil on panel
Woodcut

This collection of 70 woodblocks, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, was used to print devotional images for pilgrims. It features scenes from the lives of saints—such as Saint Vorles and Saint Reine—as well as royal and military figures. Saved from destruction in 1875, it comes from the workshop of the Cornillac family, printers in Châtillon.
Sainte Reine, bois gravé
Sainte Reine