The Wrought Iron Choir Screen of the Cathedral of Sens

The cathedral of Sens, located in Burgundy within Eastern France, was one of the very first cathedrals to be built in the gothic style, with construction beginning in 1135 and continuing on for a long while thereafter. In fact, the See of Sens was that which was originally designated as the seat of the Primate of Gaul before being transferred to Lyon. This particular cathedral has many other noteworthy associations, not least of which it being the place in which St. Thomas Becket lived in exile, and in fact the treasury of the cathedral still displays some of his vestments down to our very day.

Chasuble of St. Thomas Becket found in the treasury

However, it is not the rich medieval and gothic heritage of the Sens Cathedral that is our focus today, but rather a topic that has long been of interest to me, its wrought iron chancel screen. 

Choir screens made from decorative metalwork are surprisingly rare all things considered, though one can find a number of them within France. Generally speaking, many choir screens were lost during the counter-reformation period so as to facilitate greater visibility of the liturgical rites, and those screens that managed to survive and come down to us are typically made of either stone or wood.  In the case of Sens cathedral, it was no exception, having originally had a choir screen made of stone. However, in the mid 1700's, the archbishop of Sens, Jean-Joseph Languet de Gergy determined that a new and more ornamental sanctuary was desirable and so the stone screen and fourteenth century altar were removed in order to make way for an updated arrangement more consonant with the triumphalistic, counter-reformation style.

A new altar, made up from the marble of the earlier altar, was fashioned, with a ciborium magnum placed over it.The ciborium takes part of its inspiration from Bernini's iconic work in St. Peter's.  

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However, as impressive as this is, the gem is arguably the wrought metal choir screen. 

The chancel screen. Before are contemporary additions added in the latter half of the twentieth century. 

The original screen had already began to deteriorate in the early 1700's, but work on the new screen did not commence until the 1760's. The new design included wrought metalwork with decorative gold gilding. Prominent on the central screen are the arms of Cardinal de Luynes, located above the main doors of the screen and a crucifix -- consonant with the rood screen tradition. 

In addition to these elements, various floral designs and Eucharistic elements can be found on the screen. 

It is not merely the chancel, however, which includes this sort of beautiful metalwork. It can also be found elsewhere surrounding the chancel and sanctuary and dividing off the various chapels found within the cathedral.

Many of our readers will no doubt wonder what the arrangement would have looked like when 'uninterrupted' by later 20th century liturgical modifications, so to satiate your curiosity we've sourced out a few historical images showing the chancel and altar prior to these modifications and also to provide a better view of the high altar.

What strikes me in all of this is the great potential for the use of decorative metalwork in contemporary church architecture. Such work has the advantage of not only being durable, noble and beautiful, it is also reasonably transparent, thus allowing for the ritual visibility that is so often sought after in our day. 

In future articles we will feature further examples of the use of decorative metalwork for such purposes.

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