Matisse Chapel: Chapelle du Rosaire Vence

Henri Matisse wrote that his design and decoration of the Chapelle du Rosaire for the Dominican Nuns of Vence was not a work that he chose, but rather a work for which he was chosen by fate. The story of how this work came about is surely an example of the mysterious ways in which God sometimes moves. As a student nurse, Monique Bourgeois cared for Matisse in his recovery from intestinal cancer and modelled for four paintings. Later, after Monique had become a Dominican nun (Sister Jacques-Marie), they met again in Vence renewing their friendship which led in turn to Matisse’s offer to design and decorate a chapel for the nuns there.

For Matisse the chapel was his masterpiece and the culmination of his life’s work because it afforded him the possibility of realising his researches - his separate study of each element of construction (drawing, colour, value, composition) - by uniting them. ‘Simple colours,’ he wrote, ‘can affect the innermost feelings, their impact being all the more forceful through their simplicity.’ The spiritual expression of the blues, greens and yellows he used in the stained glass of the chapel struck him as unquestionable. His goal ‘was to find a balance between a light surface and colour with a solid wall of black-on-white line drawing.’ The line drawings on ceramic tiles of both St Dominic and the Virgin and Child he thought to have a ‘tranquil reverent nature all their own’ while the great drama of Christ in the Stations of the Cross had made ‘his impassioned spirit overflow within the Chapel.’

While Matisse approached the design of the Chapel primarily as an artistic composition it is clear he though that, by doing so, the chapel was an expression of spirituality. As he had said in a letter to Sister Jacques-Marie, he had travelled over his lifetime to admire the beauty of the light God created so he might share it with others through his work.

Iconographer Aidan Hart has spoken of this strand of Matisse's thinking in relation to his response to the icons he saw when in Russia in 1911. What he notes seems relevant to Matisse's work at the Chapelle du Rosaire. During his visit Matisse seemed deeply affected and overwhelmed by the art of the icons and spent his days frantically visiting monasteries, churches and private collections. He spoke of seeing his efforts confirmed by the ancient icon tradition and also said:

“They are really great art. I am in love with their moving simplicity which, to me, is closer and dearer than Fra Angelico. In these icons the soul of the artist who painted them opens out like a mystical flower. And from them we ought to learn how to understand art.”

Hart suggests that the chief stylistic things about icons which struck Matisse were their colour or use of light, and their conception of space:

'He saw that great art must know what to leave out; he needs to abstract to be real: “..he will have to sift rather than accumulate details, selecting for example, from all possible combinations, the line that expresses most and gives life to the drawing ...” He believed that imitating nature really means that the art object itself gives the viewer the same feeling of delight, inspiration that nature gives: ”The work will then appear as fertile and as possessed of the same power to thrill, the same resplendent beauty as we find in the works of nature.” He said that ultimately “great love is needed to achieve this effect ... This love, which is necessary for artistic creation, has a divine aspect: Nothing is more gentle than love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing larger, nothing more pleasant, nothing more complete, nothing better in heaven or on earth—because love is born of God and cannot rest other than in God, above all living beings."'

Vence is a hill town 20 miles from Nice and the Chapelle du Rosaire is near the St-Jeannet road climbing out of the town towards the fine views of the Col de Vence. Set into the hillside looking back towards the town, the chapel itself affords attractive views of Vence and its surroundings. Basically, a simple white rectangle, the chapel externally offers little hint of the beauty contained within although two small line drawings on ceramic tiles decorate the entrance and sanctuary wall, while the blue and white tiled roof is surmounted by a tall metal cross, incorporating a bell, which Matisse designed to stand out against the sky rising high in prayer in a spiral-like smoke.

As tourists, we descend steep stairs to the cash desk by the chapel’s entrance - the window at the head of the stairs depicting a fish, net, and blue star is easily missed when doing so. A feisty guide then seats us in the main body of the chapel and commences telling the story of its design while indicating the main elements of Matisse’s work. Those sitting at the back are remorselessly shuffled forwards in order to see the Stations of the Cross on the rear wall and the children present are asked to report back on what can be seen through the confessional door (which recalls the Oriental hangings featured in many of Matisse’s paintings).

The talk over, most depart to view the charcoals given by Matisse to the chapel showing various stages in his design work and the vestments which he also designed. Unusually for a church, the format of the visit and talk does not seem to encourage lingering contemplation. For those who do loiter longer, the play of coloured light on the clean, white spaces of the chapel can be enjoyed as can the balance and clarity of its design. In its natural state, this is a place of light and peace negated somewhat by its rightful place on the tourist trail and this despite the rigour with which the chapel is kept as a place of worship for its own committed community.

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