This chapel was reserved for the Confrérie de la Charité. The existence of this chapel is certainly very old, but the oldest document concerning it dates back to 1583.
It's a bull from Pope Gregory XIII, granting privileges to the Confrérie de Vétheuil, placed under the invocation of the Blessed Sacrament, while subjecting it to strict rules. The text of this bull can be seen in La Chapelle. In 1582, Gregory XIII promulgated a bull adopting the new Gregorian calendar, putting an end to the old Julian calendar. The humanitarian work of the charitable brotherhoods, and in particular that of Vétheuil, was of considerable importance to the Church, particularly in times of epidemic.
The brotherhood of Vétheuil was honored by the population of the whole region and benefited from largesse in the form of various donations, but as soon as the church was completed, in the last quarter of the 16th century, the chapel reserved for it was decorated as magnificently as possible. Within the space delimited by the walls and the beautiful wooden fence, the painted decoration took on a remarkable importance. Unfortunately, the waterproofing was not sufficiently assured and, over time, the various murals suffered from humidity from poorly controlled rainwater as well as from water rising from the ground by capillarity. Partial restorations had to be undertaken at different times, but without sufficient care being taken to protect against the chronic misdeeds of humidity.
The members of the Brotherhood put on their vestments before a ceremony inside this chapel.
The west wall represents a procession. It is the whole Brotherhood that participates in this one, each of the brothers being dressed in his particular costume (tabard, biretta, chaperone...) and each one assuring his function: the bell-ringer carrying bells, the banner and torch bearers preceding the coffin bearers, because it is a funeral convoy. This painting is dated 1773, but it was obviously affixed to the lower part of an older scene of the Last Judgment (end of the 16th century).
The end of the activity of the charitons of Vétheuil dates from 1903. The tradition is still perpetuated in a few rare villages of Normandy and Northern France.
The altar
The altar presents a unique curiosity: the upper board is covered with an inscription in black letters: "the people of Francis recognize the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul". It is the text of the first article of the decree of the 18 floréal year II instituting the worship of the Supreme Being. But two months after Floréal, it was the 9th Thermidor. The disappearance of Robespierre was to put an end to this cult. And the priest of Vétheuil had recovered the board to repair the altar, which had been broken in the meantime...
