- C.S. Lewis
It started as simple friendship between an elderly artist and a young nurse who later became a nun.
But the friendship would eventually lead to what artist Henri Matisse considered an artistic masterpiece.
In 1942, Matisse was in his early 70s, living in southern France and recovering from intestinal cancer. A 20-year-old student named Monique Bourgeois was assigned to care for him. The two shared a love of art and soon became friends. The friendship continued even after Monique left his employ the following year to join the Vence Dominicans.
The chapel of the Vence Dominicans was a makeshift room in a small garage, but the sisters dreamed of having a true chapel. When Monique (now Sr. Jacques-Marie) told Matisse of this, he offered to help and sketched out plans for the new Chapel of the Rosary.
Because the French artists was noted for the nudes in his work, the mother superior declined his offer to help. So Matisse rallied media support, and Church authorities soon game him permission to work on the chapel.
Matisse both designed and decorated the chapel, including its candelabras, crucifix, altar and liturgical vestments. It was finished in 1951.
Henri Matisse died November 3, 1954.
- Little Burgundy Book, Diocese of Saginaw