Fragment of a wooden door from the Sainte... - Lot 641 - Métayer-Mermoz Maison de Ventes aux Enchères Nevers

Fragment of a wooden door from the Sainte Madeleine abbey in Marseille. A sign reads: "Le 29 octobre 1880, Mr Jules Grevy étant Président de la République, De Freycinet, Ferry, ... Ministers, Poubelle Prefect of Bouches du Rhône, Bastide Central Commissioner, Ambroggi and Remondin Police Commissioners in Marseille, the doors of the Abbey of Sainte Magdeleine were broken down and the Benedictines expelled from their Monastery by the police". It is surmounted by symbols linked to the French Revolution and the Masonic movement. The inscription "Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat". And a crucifix at the top (Christ's arm is missing). H_56.5 cm L_32 cm "The outbreak of anticlerical fever that gripped the imperial government in 1865 forced Dom Guéranger to found Sain- te-Madeleine in Marseille under conditions of discretion akin to the clandestinity of times of persecution. But it wasn't long before another bout of fever broke out in early 1880. [...] On March 29, 1880, Jules Ferry signed the "decrees" requiring unauthorized congregations to be dissolved and dispersed. On the afternoon of October 29, 1880, the commissioners and officers of the public prosecutor's office charged with enforcing the "decrees" broke down the door of the monastery. The expelled monks headed for three places of refuge, prepared by friends of the monastery in the vicinity of Marseille. The community lived scattered like this for ten years."