Yann Larhantec

Yann Larc'hantec or Yann Larhantec
Born	30 May 1829 Plougonven
Died	11 January 1913 Landerneau
Nationality	French
Occupation	Sculptor

Yann Larc'hantec or Yann Larhantec was a Breton sculptor born in Plougonven on 30 May 1829. He died in Landerneau on 11 January 1913.

Yann Larc'hantec or Yann Larhantec was born on 30 May 1829 in Plougonven and died on 11 January 1913 in Landerneau. He was the son of farmers Jean-Marie and Françoise Guillou. He spent most of his life in Morlaix and most of his work involved crosses and calvaries and he was entrusted with the repair and restoration of many of the great Breton calvaries of the 15th and 16th centuries. His main works are listed below.

In the text below there are several references to an "enclos paroissial" and this French term can be translated as parish close. These are not uncommon in Finistère and were built in the 16th and 17th centuries. The enclosure comprises an elaborately decorated parish church surrounded by an entirely walled churchyard with gateway, often an arched gateway. In England cathedral closes for example, include many residential and administrative buildings, as well as the church, but Breton Parish closes contained only buildings and structures designed for worship: the church itself, a calvary, and sometimes an ossuary or charnel house with chapel and a cemetery. The calvaries of such church enclosures are significant works of popular art and more often than not they display Christ and the two thieves whilst at the base many feature relief panels, free-standing sculptural groups or both. These groups depict onlookers of the crucifixion and nearly always include the Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist, but also many other heroes and villains – sometimes including local or national magnates. The ossuaries in such enclosures are often of large proportions and some were intended to contain large sculptures or paintings, frequently of the Deposition or Entombment of Christ. In most cases the bones have been moved from the ossuary to the cemetery although a few still hold skeletal remains.

Apart from the Grand Calvaire at Saint-Thégonnec (see Saint-Thégonnec Parish close) there is a second calvary constructed in 1864 with statues by Yann Larhantec of the Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist. This calvary is set into the enclosure wall and accessed by a double stairway.

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