The tombeau d’autel, a remarkable piece of religious art, was crafted around 1827 for the altar of the Saint-Coeur-de-Marie (Sacred Heart of Mary) chapel within the Augustinian monastery of the Hôpital Général de Québec (Quebec General Hospital). The Hôpital Général, founded in 1692 on the banks of the Saint-Charles River, boasts a rich history intertwined with this significant artifact. Mgr Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier, the second bishop of Quebec, established the hospital in a former convent purchased from the Recollects. The following year, he entrusted its management to the Augustines de la Miséricorde de Jésus (Augustinians of the Mercy of Jesus). Already responsible for the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, the Augustinians formed an autonomous cloistered community to oversee the new establishment, which initially consisted of a wing, a cloister, and a stone chapel.
A Chapel Within a Chapel: The Saint-Coeur-de-Marie
In 1724, Mgr de Saint-Vallier commissioned a small interior side chapel within a recess on the south side of the monastery’s main chapel. He dedicated this oratory to the Sacred Heart of Mary and had a burial vault constructed within it, where he would be interred three years later. The chapel housed an altar with a tabernacle, likely crafted by the Levasseur family, renowned 18th-century Quebec carpenters and sculptors. Initially, the tabernacle probably consisted only of the two-tiered base and the eucharistic reserve. The wings and niche were likely added later. A painting depicting the bishop praying before the Virgin’s heart further adorned the chapel.
Relocation and Transformation: The Tombeau d’Autel Emerges
In 1769, the Saint-Coeur-de-Marie chapel was relocated a few meters within the monastery chapel, and the tabernacle was reinstalled. The tombeau d’autel, as it exists today, came into being in 1827 when the tabernacle was placed upon it. Attributed to Thomas Baillairgé, this sculpted masterpiece features an oval medallion depicting the Virgin and Child held by two kneeling cherubs, flanked by incense burners. This iconography mirrors the altarpiece likely carved five years earlier by his father, François Baillairgé, for the high altar of the Saint-François-d’Assise church in Beauceville.
Around the same time, a Baroque-style glazed niche replaced the original vaulted niche in the tabernacle’s center (the vaulted niche is now visible once again). In the latter half of the 20th century, the eucharistic reserve casing was reconstructed, its door lengthened, and the entire piece elevated by adding a plank along its base.
Preservation and Legacy: From Chapel to Museum
In 1958, the expansion of the nuns’ choir encroached upon the Saint-Coeur-de-Marie chapel. While the chapel was reconstructed in a new building completed in 1960, the tabernacle and altar proved too large for the space. They were subsequently incorporated into the collection of the Musée de l’Hôpital Général de Québec, inaugurated in 1930 in another wing of the monastery. A mausoleum dedicated to Mgr de Saint-Vallier replaced the altar and tabernacle in the new chapel, with the bishop’s remains transferred there in 1961. The Hôpital Général de Québec was designated a heritage building in 1977.
The Fiducie du patrimoine culturel des Augustines (Augustinian Cultural Heritage Trust) was established in 2009. The Musée de l’Hôpital Général de Québec closed its doors the same year, transferring its entire collection, including the tabernacle and tombeau d’autel, to the trust. In 2018, the collection of objects belonging to the Augustinians of the Mercy of Jesus at the Hôpital Général de Québec monastery, along with a collection of antique books and archival records, was officially classified as heritage property. The tombeau d’autel stands as a testament to Quebec’s rich religious and artistic heritage. It represents not only the artistic talent of Thomas Baillairgé but also the enduring legacy of the Augustinians and the historical significance of the Hôpital Général de Québec.
