Eglise Saint-Andre Photo

Photographer’s Note

A view of the soaring arches and organ loft inside the church of Saint André in Niort, Deux-Sèvres.

Perched at the top of the one of the 2 hills of Niort, the church of Saint André proudly dominates the valley of Sèvre and the districts of the port and Bessac. Of the important Romanesque building, there remains only some carved fragments preserved at the Museum.

Modified and increased in size during the Gothic period, then under the Renaissance, the building was ruined by the Protestants in 1588. After a first restoration, the church was rebuilt and added to in 1685. It was subsequently used as store for fodder during the wars of the Vendée, during which time rue St-André was lengthened towards the place de Chanzy place. The newly lengthened street crossed the parochial cemetery which had previously surrounded the church and allowed direct access to the cavalry barracks.

The existing building put up between 1855 and 1863 by the Niort architect Segrétain, is regarded rightly as a rather happy pastiche of a 13th century Gothic building. Inside, on the south side, one can still see the remainders of Renaissance vaults. Also to note is a Christ on cross, painted in the 18th century by Lattainville, another painting of Christ from the 18t century as well as a remarkable carved pulpit of the 17th century.

The fine murals of the chorus and the transept (19th century) are the work of Louis Germain, a Niort painter, who also decorated Saint-Hilaire church for the same architect.

The above is freely translated from information on the Mairie web site: http://www.mairie-niort.fr

Picture taken with ISO uprated to 800. Apologies for the slight over-exposure but I still believe it's worthy of posting.

PixelTerror, papagolf21, ChrisJ, isade1975, jlbrthnn, amaryllis, gunbud, John_F_Kennedy, cobbydale has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Valerka (8159) 2007-08-26 1:12

Bonjour, Steph,
Tres jolie image avec la rosette vitragee.J'aime beaucoup les couleurs douces.
Je sens une paix degagee de la photo et en meme temps de force.
Merci pour le partage.
Bon dimanche.
Valerka:)

normandiem (48) 2007-08-26 1:24

Bonjour,
Voilà qui me rappelle mes cours d'Histoire de l'Art!
Je pense que tu devrais suggérer cette photo aux éditeurs de manuel d'histoire de l'Art, car elle reflète parfaitement la beauté et l'originalité de ce monument!
Merci.

Gustaw (21670) 2007-08-26 1:29

Hallo, my friend!
interesting old architecture. I like your composition. It is very good photo about details in churche architecture. Good colours and light.
Marek

PixelTerror (86026) 2007-08-26 1:56

Hi Stephen,
It looks a bit overbrightened but finally not bad at all, since you kept strong contrast the graphism is enhanced and in the end the impression comes closer to comics, which is original.
Have a nice sunday JY

papagolf21 (55956) 2007-08-26 2:52

Bonjour, cher Stephen,
Une image toujours très difficile à réaliser. Si l'on sous-expose pour garder la beauté des vitraux, le reste est trop sombre, etc.
Utilisation d'un trépied pas toujours facile. Ici, très bon compromis permettant d'apprécier la qualité architecturale de l'ensemble.
Bravo !
Amitiés.
Philippe

wolf38 (12493) 2007-08-26 2:58

Hallo Stephen. Das Photographieren der Innenräume von Kirchen stellt für den Photographen eine Herausforderung dar. Die Belichtung muss sehr exakt bestimmt werden. Die Fenster dürfen nicht überbelichtet sein usw. Mit Deinem lehrreichen Photo hast Du einen guten Mittelweg gefunden. Wie immer: ein guter Text. Sehr schön. Viele Grüße, Wolfgang.

ChrisJ (69522) 2007-08-26 3:30

Hi Stephen

Good interior lighting in this impressive old cathedral. I like the graphism & colour of the stained glass window, in the bg, also positioned nicely on the vanishing point. Superb sharpness & a good pov. Tfs!

evanrizo (456) 2007-08-26 3:38

Hi Stephen, the cropping is perfect, the view is majestic-wonderful with these nice details and depth.
The light balance is ideal.
Best wishes.
Evan

isade1975 (3347) 2007-08-26 3:51

Hello Stephen,
A very beautiful church here, I like the framing in the window and all the details of the voutes and the stones.
Very good job !
TFS,
Isabelle

robjol (2031) 2007-08-26 5:24

Hello Stephen,
Avery fine piece of workmanship here.
I do not think over-exposed, as one can see how this has been put together, fine arches and curves etc.Great sharpness in your photo.
Very well taken.
Regards
Rob.

jurek1951 (25728) 2007-08-26 7:06

Hi Stephen,
Great quality, the colors are really wonderful,Very interesting composition,Good job
Georg

Fis2 (45194) 2007-08-26 7:22

Witaj Stephen!
Beautiful gothic interior. I like the frame and colors. Very impressive picture.
Nice sunday
Krzysztof

chinchini (27305) 2007-08-26 8:48

Bonjour Stephen,
Très intéressant intérieur d'église. Je trouve original la mise en valeur de chaque élément de la construction. La nef centrale me parrait étroite.
Bonne définition et tons agréables. C'est du bon travail ;o)
Pierre

Silvio1953 (40771) 2007-08-26 12:18

Hi Stephen, splendid interior of a worderful cathedral, excellent composition of great architecture, very well done, ciao Silvio

UnTrained (0) 2007-08-26 12:49

Hello Stephen,
great light, forget this small overexposure please. Wonderful to see this architecture and textures so clear and bright.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

jlbrthnn (36888) 2007-08-26 14:00

Snunney good evening,
Beautiful image of the interior of this beautiful and large church. The exterior is less easy to take. Cheer.
Good evening
Cordially
Joel

amaryllis (17045) 2007-08-26 14:11

bonjour
tres belle photo de cette architecture où l'on voit les détails de la pierre, bonne luminosité et netteté
merci pour ta note et ce partage que j'apprécie beaucoup
juliette

Budapestman (40962) 2007-08-26 15:33

Hi Stephen,
Beautiful architecture photo, the POV is perfect. Details are very fine, this is a really splendid realization, Great! Have a nice week
George

gunbud (27533) 2007-08-26 16:44

Hi Stephen,
Excellent POV renders wonderfull depth with good use of light that features clear colors and exceptional details to this old Gothic beauty.
Regards, Tom

John_F_Kennedy (30629) 2007-08-26 23:37

Great shot, nice angle on the church wall there. Sharp, colours and details are excellent.
Best wishes,
Achim

cobbydale (1924) 2007-08-27 3:55

Loevly shot Stephen - great sharpness showing lots of details in the masonry. Exposure/brightness looks OK on my monitor.
cheers
Leon