This elegant grisaille window by Noël Lavergne, installed in the Church of Saint-Hilaire at Châteauvieux, demonstrates the refined decorative aspect of the Lavergne atelier’s production during the later nineteenth century. Designed to complement the narrative triptych of the Nativity, Crucifixion, and Resurrection in the same church, it reveals the workshop’s disciplined mastery of ornamental glazing and tonal modulation.

Composed of two tall lancets surmounted by a quatrefoil, the design features geometric panels of foliate grisaille, arranged in a diamond lattice pattern framed by narrow borders of ochre and ruby. Each section is enriched with delicate vine and trefoil motifs executed in silver stain and pale enamel washes, producing a silvery luminosity that bathes the interior in soft, reflective light. The subtle alternation of clear and opalescent glass allows the window to mediate between the more richly coloured narrative scenes nearby and the calm architectural surfaces of the nave.

Lavergne’s grisaille work reflects his characteristic precision and restraint—qualities inherited from his father Claudius Lavergne and the Didron school. The design balances structural clarity with gentle ornament, its understated palette embodying the intellectual and devotional ideal of beauty through order. Though devoid of figural imagery, the window functions as a visual pause within the liturgical rhythm of the church, affirming the atelier’s belief that sacred architecture should harmonize light, proportion, and contemplation.

Executed in the final decades of the nineteenth century, this window stands as a quiet testament to Noël Lavergne’s versatility and craftsmanship. It represents the decorative and architectural facet of the Lavergne legacy — an art of luminous discipline, where ornament becomes meditation and light itself a form of prayer.