The Calvary at Pleyben, dating from 1555, is located in the village of Pleyben in Brittany, northwestern France.
Background
The Calvary dates to 1555 and most of the sculpture involved was executed by the workshop of Henry and Bastien Prigent who also worked on the Plougonven and Lopérec calvaries. Originally a statue of St Germain had been part of the calvary but this was moved to the church porch. This statue is inscribed "EN L´HONNEUR DE DIEV ET (NOTRE) DA (M) E ET MONSIEUR S GERMAIN CESTE CROIX FVST COME (N) CE 1555" and this has been used to fix the calvary's date. In 1650, it was enriched by the addition of several new sculptures including the Entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the scene where Jesus is washing Peter's feet. These were the work of the Yves Ozanne studio/workshop in Brest. Originally it was placed near the church porch but between 1738 and 1742, it was moved to improve access to the church. This work was carried out by the Pleyben entrepreneurs, Guillaume Le Goff, Yves Quiniou and François Motreff, and it is thought that at this time the structure could well have been modified and enlarged. The calvary has been restored on several occasions notably in 1953 and more recently in the years 1980 to 1990. The granite used came from a quarry near Gulvain.
It has two distinct levels. The lower level comprises a corniche running around the entire structure and the upper level or platform. Four buttresses strengthen the calvary and an arcaded passage runs through the centre producing an Arc de Triomphe like effect. The statuary decorating the calvary, placed either on the platform or on the corniche, is carved from kersanton stone or in some cases from grey arkos, a stone less resilient to erosion. The calvary should be read anti-clockwise starting with the Annunciation on the corniche of the southwest buttress and ending with the Crown of thorns episode, whereas on the platform, one's reading should start with the "Ecce Homo" scene and finish with the "Descent into Hell". The "Mise au tombeau" is placed in the centre. The sculptures on the lower level (the corniche) are smaller than those on the platform.
The actual Calvary
On the south facing corniche, the statuary covers the Annunciation, the Visitation (Christianity), the Nativity of Jesus, the Adoration of the Magi and the Flight into Egypt with a scene showing Jesus meeting the lawyers placed in the southeast corner. On the east facing corniche, the statuary covers the Entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the Foot washing. On the north face corniche, the statuary covers Jesus in Gethsemane, scenes around Jesus' arrest, and his appearance before Pontius Pilate. On the northwest corner corniche is a Pietà and then on the east face corniche is a depiction of Jesus being mocked ("Christ aux outrages") followed by Peter's denial, Jesus' flagellation and the scene where a crown of thorns is pressed on Jesus' head. On the calvary's upper surface (the platform) southeast corner is the scene depicting the "Ecce Homo" with Pontius Pilate wearing a Phylactery inscribed "ECCE HOMO" and pointing to Jesus and one of Jesus' accusers whose Phylactery reads "TOLLE TOLLE CRVCIFIGE EVM". He asks that Jesus be crucified. On the northeast corner of the platform, Pontius Pilate is depicted washing his hands. On the north face part of the platform is the scene showing Christ carrying the cross.
The summit
From the centre of the platform, three crosses reach up to the sky and on the central cross, Jesus is surrounded by five angels, four of whom collect the blood from his wounds whilst the fifth is ready to carry off his soul. On the reverse side is a depiction of "Christ triumphant" who holds up his right hand whilst his left hand draws attention to the wound in his side. On the two smaller crosses are the two robbers whose legs have been broken to hasten their death, inscriptions identify the Penitent thief as "Dismas" and the Impenitent thief as "Gismas." An angel is ready to take the good robber's soul to heaven whilst a grimacing demon is ready to take the soul of the bad robber. There are statues of the Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist at the base of the cross. Mary's face is bathed in tears whilst John looks up towards Jesus, his left hand raised.