Nicolas Tournier received commissions for the Passion of Christ from the Minimes (Christ being carried to the tomb), the chapelle du Saint-Sépulcre in Saint-Étienne cathedral, Toulouse (Christ descended from the cross) and the Pénitents blancs in Narbonne. Added to these was the decoration of the chapelle des Pénitents noirs in Toulouse, a large section of which is now lost. These episodes constitute the main corpus of his religious production in Languedoc. The exaltation of Christ at this epoch and in this region can be explained by the prevailing anti-protestant controversy and by the need for advocacy for a population badly hit by the plague between 1628 and 1632. The subject was a remarkably apt platform for Tournier's talent, expressed in the simplicity of his geometric compositions, the timeless atmospheres and the nobility and grace of his figure's attitudes.
Tournier's religious production in Languedoc also consists of several Virgins and Child, one of which has been preserved, a Vision of Saint Dominic a Pentecost for Béziers (a recently discovered work) and the extraordinary Bataille des Roches rouges. Tournier's protestant origins did not prevent him from completing religious commissions and treating subjects that were favoured by the Catholic counter-reformation. We discover, then, that our painter was a great religious painter in Toulouse and Narbonne.
|
