The stained glass windows
Genesis of a great adventure: the windows of the church in the medieval town of Vaison-la-Romaine
During the the previous century, the cathedral church of the medieval city (otherwise known as the upper town) of Vaison-la-Romaine had been withering away in the shadow of the ruins of the castle of the counts of Toulouse. Deserted by the faithful since the end of the 19th century, it was slowly becoming a ruin.
In 2009, some residents of the upper town, no longer able to tolerate this deplorable situation, decided to act to prevent the disappearance of this magnificent building. They formed themselves into an association, the friends of the chuch of the medieval city (in French Amis de l’Eglise de la Cité Médievale : AECM). Thanks to the generosity of native and adopted Vaisonnais (including many foreigners), emergency works were carried out. Many AECM members often helped in those works. In 2013 the church was opened again.
To keep it alive, the association organized immediately exhibitions and concerts.
Unfortunately or, maybe, fortunately, the public authorities conditioned the continuation of the interior renovation works on the previous complete repair of the roof. To comply with that request a study carried out by the City's heritage department revealed the complexity and, above all, the cost of such a project: more than €400,000.
The AECM took this problem head on and launched a public subscription which was immediately a great success.
In 2016, Philippe Turrel, president of the “Confluences” association, which has been leading the twinning between Vaison and Martigny in Switzerland for many years, invited Léonard Gianadda, founder and President of the “Pierre Gianadda Foundation” in Martigny, to the opening of an exhibition he dedicated to this foundation at the “Galerie des Origines” in Vaison-la-Romaine.
On this occasion, he also invited the president of the AECM, Patrick Neyrat, to a lunch in the presence of Léonard Gianadda.
Patrick Neyrat took advantage of this “windfall” to present the roof repair file. After looking through the file for just a few minutes, Léonard Gianadda saw the interest in the “project” and offered a donation of €5,000 to the association. The funds were paid a few days later.
In 2017, Philippe Turrel once again invited Léonard Gianadda for the opening of a new exhibition dedicated to the sculpture park of the Pierre Gianadda Foundation. To thank him for his previous gesture of patronage, Philippe Turrel and Patrick Neyrat decided to receive Léonard Gianadda at the cathedral church which he had never visited. At the end of the visit he made a new donation of €5,000 to the AECM.
A few weeks later, Léonard Gianadda sent a letter to the mayor of Vaison-la-Romaine, Patrick Neyrat and Philippe Turrel, in which he stated his intention to offer all the new stained glass windows of the medieval city's cathedral of Vaison-la-Romaine.
Further more, he announced that these will be made by an internationally renowned artist, Father Kim En Jong, a Dominican brother living in Paris, author of stained glass windows in numerous churches in France and Europe. He notably created the stained glass windows for the new cathedral of Evry (Essonne), and the Saint Julien basilica in Brioude (Auvergne), which earned him the promotion of Officer of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. He was currently exhibiting his works in a Vatican museum.
Léonard Gianadda having combined his generous offer with an incompressible deadline for a favourable response from the French administration before November 15, 2017, the mayor of Vaison-la-Romaine, Jean François Périlhou and the city's heritage service, in the person of Christine Bezin, immediately took up the file to submit it as quickly as possible to the French committees: DRAC and the Architects of Buildings of France.
Everything went well, the deadlines were somewhat shortened, aware of the importance of the issue all stakeholders did their part, the creation and manufacturing were carried out in 2018, this magnificent project could be put in place for the 40th anniversary of the Vaison/Martigny twinning in 2019.
This achievement is an incredible opportunity for Vaison-la-Romaine and its region which could immediately benefit from the artist's notoriety. There is no doubt that many visitors will continue to come and admire the stained glass windows of the cathedral of the medieval city, as now they also come in large numbers to Brioude, since Father Kim installed his works there.
Father Kim En Joong
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Born in South Korea in 1940, during the Japanese occupation, Kim En Joong will experience the war of the two Koreas with communism and deprivations. His father, a calligrapher, raised his eight children in the Taoist tradition. |
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