Peintures des Anges Musiciens - Cathédrale Saint-Julien - Le Mans

The interior of Saint-Julien cathedral is a must-see on your visit to Le Mans and the Sarthe!

The Celestial Concert of 47 Angel Musicians (late 14th century), painted on the vaults of the Chapel of the Virgin, is a pinnacle of Western Gothic painting that can be compared with the famous "Apocalypse" tapestry of Angers, of which it is a contemporary and stylistically close relative.
It is the work of an anonymous painter from the court of the French kings Charles V and VI. Some of the instruments depicted, such as the "chessboard" (a table covered with a chessboard with a keyboard on one side), have now disappeared and are known only from these paintings.

The fresco was only rediscovered in the 19th century.

During the Night of the Chimeras, these angels escape from the vaults of the chapel and come back to life to give a celestial concert on the Romanesque portal of the cathedral. Not to be missed this summer!