Claude Payer
No. 102 - winter 2012

Restoration of a Remarkable Corpus by Sculptor Pierre-Noël Levasseur


Considered one of the most illustrious figures of 18th century Quebec sculpture, Pierre-Noël Levasseur (1690-1770) was born in Quebec City and was raised among a dynasty of sculptors. Without a doubt the greatest ornamentalist and sculptor in New France, he created, among others, the decor for the interior of the Ursuline Chapel in Quebec City (1726-1736) and the two life-size statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul at the Charlesbourg church (1741). Though effective in large-scale projects, he also expressed his talent in small-scale sculpture such as reliquaries, statuettes,1 as well as altar ornaments.2

The Christ on the cross, which was recently restored at the Centre de conservation du Québec, is part of an altar ornament. It would have been delivered to the Saint-Famille de Boucherville parish, probably in the 1720s, at a time when Levasseur was decorating the church’s interior with a four-column baldachin erected above the high altar. The crucifix was given to the nuns of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame circa 1960. It can now be admired at the Maison Saint-Gabriel in Montreal.

Altar ornaments were generally sculpted in wood and then silver gilded, that is covered with silver leaf using a rather complex technique to imitate the metal of silver crafted pieces. As well as being artworks, they presented sculptors with technical challenges and interesting prospects. Despite the small size of the crucifix, Pierre-Noël Levasseur really surpassed himself with this piece. Take note of the intensity of Christ’s face turned towards the sky, the movement of the


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