Design for Altar, Saint Clotilde 1850 - 1900

Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise designed this watercolor and graphite piece, Design for Altar, Saint Clotilde. The composition features a symmetrical altar set against an apse, flanked by two ornate arched windows. The color palette is subtle, dominated by pastel blues, reds, and yellows, lending the design a soft, ethereal quality. Lachaise employs a structural logic of the arch and the grid which functions as a semiotic framework for understanding the painting’s deeper cultural meanings. The arches invite the eye upward towards the blue ceiling adorned with stars, symbolizing the heavens. The grid of the windows and altar presents a structured, rational counterpoint. The use of light here transcends mere representation; it embodies spiritual illumination. Lachaise uses light to dissolve the solidity of form, thus challenging the clear distinction between the material and the divine. The artist invites contemplation on how we perceive sacred spaces.