Meditating with Placide Poussielgue-Rusand (1824-1889)

With his curved staff, a good shepherd can hold back the sheep that is going too fast or is in danger of falling. It also helps fight against prowling wolves. Like the mission of those who are called to do the same within Christian communities: bishops.

But over the centuries, this work has undergone many expressions, as evidenced by the evolution of their staff. The simple spiritual symbol has often transformed into a mark of power and authority, not without ambiguity.

Here, the end of this crozier, made by the Parisian goldsmith Placide Poussielgue-Rusand, has become a cleverly scrolled “crosseron”. And the settings that unfold there evoke, with emphasis, the spiritual struggle that takes place in the life of every Christian.

Here, it is the Archangel Saint Michael who fights, long spear in hand, against the defeated dragon. He tries to break the weapon that dominates him with his jaw. In this skillfully worked golden alloy, which is also that of the ten small sheaves bearing fruit which bloom on the stick, the energy of the moment is captured with virtuosity.

The wings of the two characters fill the entire space, in a whirlwind. The crosseron itself is decorated with delicate blue enamel where golden acanthus leaves blossom and dotted with green, yellow, red and gray-blue.

A delicate crosier for a 48-year-old prelate appointed by Pope Leo XIII, Victor Maréchal (1838-1887). The Mosellan who had become Parisian was finally called as bishop to Laval, a city into which he made his solemn entry, crosier in hand, on August 20, 1887. But only one month after taking office, illness struck him down in turn.