Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence, Religious chapel in Vence, France.
The Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence is a small chapel in southern France decorated and designed by Henri Matisse late in his life. The interior features large stained glass windows in blue, green, and yellow that flood the white walls with colored light, paired with black line drawings on ceramic tiles.
French artist Henri Matisse designed this chapel after World War II as one of his final major works, completing it between 1949 and 1951. Sister Jacques-Marie, who had previously nursed him through illness, worked closely with him to bring his artistic vision for this sacred space to life.
The chapel is named for the Rosary devotion and showcases Matisse's artistic vision throughout the space with simplified geometric drawings and carefully chosen colors. Visitors can experience how the artist's hand shaped every detail, from the walls to the vestments worn during services.
The chapel stands on a hillside above Vence; entry is by descending a flight of stairs and turning right. Inside, the L-shaped plan has two converging naves, the longer one for students and townspeople, the shorter for the nuns, both facing the altar set at 45 degrees toward the east. An adjacent gallery displays Matisse's sketches and preparatory projects for the finished work.
Matisse designed the priests' vestments in the liturgical colours of the seasons: purple, black, rose, green and red. Pope Pius XII asked the nuns to send them to Rome for the Vatican's new museum of modern religious art.
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