CHATEAUDUN

. Now a sleepy provincial town, Chateaudun (Eure-et-Loir) was an important center in the Middle Ages, with an imposing chateau that commanded the river below. The chateau retains a 12th-century donjon and a 15th-century wing with a private chapel.

The most interesting of the remaining churches is La Madeleine, which has a 12th-century nave started on an ambituous scale with double aisles on the north, or town, side. The plan, which initially called for an ambulatory around the chevet, was curtailed with a simple polygonal apse. The elaborate acanthus capitals in the nave recall Parisian work of the third quarter of the 12th century; several are particularly close to examples in the churches of Saint-Denis and Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre in Paris; others are related to a series of acanthus capitals in the Loire Valley. The south nave wall reveals that rib vaulting was initially planned but like the elaborate east end was abandoned prior to completion, although the aisles have their original vaults. A curious mid-12th-century portal on the south side was rediscovered in 1885. Major repairs were necessary in the 16th and 17th centuries and in the aftermath of World War II.

First mentioned in 1037, the church of Saint-Valerien was built in the 12th century and given rib vaults in the later years of that century. Heavily remodeled in 1491 and again in 1591, the aisles nevertheless preserve groin-vaulted bays. The flat chevet was covered by an elaborate ten-part rib vault. In all, Saint-Valerien is related to architectural practices slightly to the east, perhaps ultimately owing to Sens, in which naves were given six-part vaults matching double aisle units.

William W. Clark

Baratte-Bevillard, Sophie. “La sculpture monumentale de la Madeleine de Chateaudun.” Bulletin archeologique n. s. 8 (1972):105-25.

Grant, Lindy. “Aspects of the Twelfth-Century Design of La Madeleine at Chateaudun.” Journal of the British Archaeological Association 3 (1982):23-34.

Lesueur, F. “Chateaudun, chateau.” Congres archeologique (Orleans) 93(1930):476-520.

Outardel, Georges. “Chateaudun, monuments religieux.” Congres archeologique (Orleans) 93(1930):442-76.