In Heaven and on Earth

🔍 Marguerite Bourgeoys (detail), Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours Chapel, Montreal, 1909 (photo: LB), © Estate of Ozias Leduc / SOCAN (2021)

The long history of the Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours chapel begins in 1655. Two years after her arrival in Ville-Marie, Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700), first teacher and founder of the Congregation of Notre-Dame, asks for the construction of a pilgrimage chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.

Beginning in the 1880s, decoration work spans several years. Each of the scenes represents an episode in the life of the Virgin Mary. Created from 1886-1889, the paintings in grisaille on wooden slats are the work of artist François-Édouard Meloche, a master in the art of trompe-l'œil (a technique that gives painted scenes an appearance of depth).

The chapel is refreshed in 1908, in response to pressure from Montreal patrons. Painter and decorator Delphis-Adolphe Beaulieu is hired to head the project. This initially requires cleaning the vault and covering it with a fresh coat of paint. Beaulieu decides to use the marouflage technique for his project, which consists of painting canvases in a workshop and affixing these on the chapel's walls and vault.

Ozias Leduc is hired to paint The Coronation of the Virgin, two groups of Three Angels in Adoration, as well as two portraits showing Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve (1612-1676), founder of Montreal, and Marguerite Bourgeoys.

Due to the drying out of the glue that held Beaulieu's canvases and their eventual detachment, we can now see some of the chapel's original works. François-Édouard Meloche's paintings can again be seen in the chapel, practically in the same condition as they were in 1889.

The Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours chapel is marked by a rich history. The numerous works of art that have succeeded one another have made it a staple of Montreal's religious heritage. Discoveries over the years concerning the decoration's changes allow us to better understand its history and Leduc's contribution to its making.