Why go
This is a rewarding detail if you enjoy seeing how a church interior was composed. Compare the two cases across the choir: one houses the instrument, while the other was built for symmetry. Knowing that distinction changes an apparently balanced pair into a small architectural puzzle.
What to look for
- The green-and-gold organ case faces an identical false case across the choir.
The full story
The paired cases grew out of a much earlier arrangement. Around 1513, a small organ stood sideways on a gallery above the choir stalls. Brother Pierre Perrini built the instrument, Jean Guiramand made its case and Jean de Troyes painted its shutters. Pierre Marchand added a larger organ opposite it in 1612. In 1750, that larger instrument gave way to the green-and-gold organ built by Brother Jean-Esprit Isnard between 1743 and 1746. A Dominican from Tarascon, Isnard also built the organ at the basilica of Saint-Maximin. An identical empty case took the place of the smaller organ across the choir. The surviving outer case does not tell the whole musical history: a new instrument was built inside it in 1855, with further work in 1867 and 1983.