Saint-André Abbey (Lavaudieu)
The former Saint-André abbey is located in the commune of Lavaudieu in the French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in the Haute-Loire department .
description
The abbey buildings border directly on the edge of the steep slope that slopes down to the valley floor of the Senouire river , a tributary of the Allier . The village, which is essentially medieval-looking, is grouped in a semicircle around the abbey buildings and is at the same level as the adjacent almost flat surrounding area (see sketch in the local article ).
Founded as a nunnery, Saint-André von Comps priory , later called Lavaudieu , was built around the middle of the 11th century and only became an abbey in 1718 . It consisted of an outwardly simple church, a two-story cloister , which was surrounded on the east and south side by convent buildings, a two-story east wing and a large refectory in the south. These buildings have largely been preserved. The Romanesque cloister is the only one that has been preserved in the Auvergne. It has a significant, archaic -looking capital sculpture .
The frescoes in the church, mostly from the beginning of the 13th century, and in the refectory, the largest fresco in the Auvergne, from around the same time, are of particular art historical importance .
Most of the nuns came from noble families in the province. The last were driven out in 1791. Then the east wing of the monastery fell victim to the demolition. Until 1940, the remaining convent buildings and the courtyard of the cloister were used for agricultural purposes. This unfortunate circumstance has probably saved its existence. The work of the monument protection extended into the nineties of the 20th century.
history
The origins of the Abbey of Saint André are closely linked to the Benedictine Abbey of La Chaise-Dieu , about 23 km northeast of Lavaudieu on the Livradois plateau . Not long after it was built in 1043, around 1050, Radulf von Lugeac and his sons donated the church of Comps - later Lavaudieu - and the associated land. In a document from King Henry I (1031-1060) from 1052 Comps was counted among the lands of the new La Chaise-Dieu Abbey. It is not known whether this church later became the priory church or was just its predecessor.
The charisma of its founder, St. Robert Turlande , caused an enormous influx in the worship services as well as in the monastic community. A nunnery had also come into being, into which Judith , a daughter of the Count of Auvergne, had entered. Her fiancé Simon von Crépy also asked to be admitted to the abbey, which he was granted. In order to protect him and the other monks from being challenged, St. Robert moved the convent to a “safe distance” according to the comps just written over. There he founded a priory for nuns who were to devote themselves to prayer to the Lord in seclusion and strict discipline.
The construction of the cloister and the convent buildings, such as the chapter house , dormitory , refectory , warming room, kitchen, pantries and others must have taken place between 1052 and 1058. It is not known whether the associated church was the one that belonged to the Radulf von Lugeac Foundation, or whether it was rebuilt together with the convent buildings or even a little later. It had only one nave with three bays , probably with a barrel vault , a transept with a crossing and two transept arms, the vaults of which were a trumpet dome and two tons, and a semicircular choir with a semi -dome dome . The work was carried out by "casadéennes", the monks of the Abbey of la Chaise-Dieu, or at least were under their supervision.
It is believed that the nuns were able to move into the priory as early as 1058. In any case, the nun Judith took her religious vows in Saint-André in 1077 . Her fiancé entered the Saint-Oyend monastery in the Jura .
Since the arrival of the nuns, the priory was under the special protection of the Count of Auvergne, whose daughter Judith belonged to the religious community. Through numerous foundations , he ensured the impressive development of this community of women religious.
As early as 1077, Saint-André von Comps had close ties with a chain of other priories, such as those of Censac , Chassignoles , Paulhaguet and Entremont , to which those of Bonneval , Saint-Didier-sur-Doulon and Toul Planèze were later added. Last but not least, the connection to the more distant church of Sainte-Marie de la Rocca in Lombardy testifies to the success of Saint-André.
About a hundred years after its founding in 1176, Pope Alexander III. in a bull the monastery under his protection. In addition, the privileges of the monastery were recorded and the donations allocated to it were confirmed.
The priory does not seem to have been significantly affected by the great pilgrims' movements to Santiago de Compostela in the 11th and 12th centuries, although one of the four main routes - the Via Podensis - began in Le Puy en Velay and a byway led through the nearby Brioude .
The sharpened barrel of the central nave probably dates from the beginning of the 14th century, to which the enlargement of the facade window with sharpened arch is also dated. The time when the aisle was added is difficult to determine because of its rough, non-uniform architecture. The round arched groin vault in yoke 1 and the windows with round arches still point to the late Romanesque period , while the pointed arched ribbed vaults in yokes 2 and 3 indicate the early Gothic . The remains of the oldest frescoes in the third bay of the aisle are dated to the 11th century. This in turn suggests that the aisle was built in the same century, perhaps with groin vaults in all yokes.
The original place name Comps was used until 1487. Then Lavaudieu came into use, derived from "The Valley of God" . Accordingly, the monastery was called: Priory Saint-André Lavaudieu .
The Benedictine priory of Saint-André of Comps (later Lavaudieu) initially remained in great devotion to La Chaise-Dieu. After the Bologna Concordat in 1516, the Commende was introduced, according to which the abbots were appointed by the king and no longer elected by the monastic community. In addition, the strict rules of the order were relaxed.
As a result, the Benedictine nuns were replaced by more flexible canonies, each of whom lived in their own apartments or houses and had staff. Canonesses were usually noble choir women of a women's monastery under an abbess , without being tied to a monastic community. They were not forbidden to own property. But they had to take part in the joint religious exercises. The canonesses probably had their homes in the immediate vicinity of the abbey. The elongated building adjoining the west gallery of the cloister, which seals off the village square on its south-west side, may have contained such apartments. You come to this conclusion when you notice from the passages and windows of this house wall that they open into the west gallery of the cloister on both floors. A wide, angled corridor that connects the cloister with the building and the village square ends exactly in the middle of the cloister. (see also section "Cloister and its sculpture", last paragraph)
In the 17th century the choir with its semicircular apse was obviously dilapidated or even collapsed. In any case, the reconstruction of the choir is dated to this time, using the building materials of the old choir.
At the same time there were 25 nuns living in Saint-André. The Mother Superior was awarded the title of Abbess 1718th Accordingly, the previous priory was elevated to the status of Saint-André Lavaudieu Abbey. At the end of the 18th century, before the beginning of the revolution (1789), there were only 13 nuns left, all of them from the aristocratic houses of the province. The last abbess of the abbey was Marie-Charlotte von Guérin Lugeac , who was expelled with the last sisters in 1791.
After the revolution, the abbey buildings were sold in sections to interested parties who were negligent with their property. Some of the buildings were used for agriculture, especially the cloister. During this time, most of the two-story east wing of the convent building was demolished. A photo from the turn of the century shows a corner of the cloister courtyard with agricultural transport equipment, piled up seeds and other materials, as well as four people who obviously trade in these bulk goods. External use of the convent building continued until 1940.
Only the wall to the cloister gallery with its three openings remained of the former chapter house. In the 19th century a new room was built there, one of the openings smaller than the former chapter house. The entire two-storey cloister and the former refectory have been preserved.
When the monument protection authorities first became interested in the monastery, they found it looted. In any case, the buildings were carefully restored and regained their rural charm. In 1966/67 a particularly interesting cycle of frescoes from the 14th century was discovered at the level of the vaulting, on the arch field above the triumphal arch of the crossing and on the west wall , which was carefully restored.
building
Dimensions
Dimensions approx (taken from the floor plan)
- church
- Inside length: 26.70 m
- External length: 28.40 m
- Central nave width in the west: 5.60 m
- Central nave width in the east: 5.30 m
- Inner nave length: 17.00 m
- Inside transept length: 12.20 m
- Outside transept length: 14.30 m
- Aisle width inside: 3.60 m
- Cloister
- Inner length of the east gallery: 15.90 m
- Interior length of the west gallery: 15.78 m
- Inner length of the north gallery: 9.80 m
- Inner length of the south gallery: 9.18 m
- Width (on average): 3.10 m
- refectory
- Inside width: 5.50 m
- Inside length: 15.90 m
Abbey church
The Benedictine monks of La Chaise-Dieu are sometimes regarded as great patrons and pioneers in Romanesque art in the Auvergne. For example, Orcival and Saint Nectaire were priories of this monastery, whose magnificent churches have still been preserved. The modest abbey church of Saint-André von Lavaudieu, on the other hand, appears to have been neglected by them. This circumstance could, however, indicate that this church already existed when Radulf von Lugeac was founded in the middle of the 11th century and only had to be expanded to include the convent building.
External appearance of the church
Nave and facade
The main nave is covered by a gable roof with a slope of 30 degrees, covered with gray slate. The northern side aisle is a little lower with its monopitch roof ridge, with a lower slope and with a covering of red hollow bricks in the Roman format, also called monk-nun bricks. A rain gutter hung from the eaves drains the rainwater.
The north wall of the nave is divided into three bays by four strong buttresses that reach just below the eaves. The buttresses are steeply sloping at the top and increasingly reinforced towards the outside in the lower area. The buttress on the north-western corner of the building is particularly wide and extends far around the corner. Its overhang decreases steadily from bottom to top and ends at zero under the eaves. Slender, arched windows are recessed between the buttresses, the crown of which extends almost a meter below the eaves. The masonry of the outer wall of the aisle consists of multi-colored broken stones and field stones from the region, in different formats and with irregular wall connections. The heavily sloping window walls are made of brownish stone . Likewise the buttresses, but in larger formats.
The eaves on the south side of the main nave is formed from a projecting cornice board with a bevelled visible edge on which the rafter heads rest and which is supported by console stones that are sculpted in different ways.
The gable wall of the facade is slightly higher than the gable roof and is covered by dark stone slabs. The dominant here are the round arched portal and the large window on the second floor with a pointed arch. Between the two there is a canopy made of a wooden structure with a roof made of hollow bricks in Roman format. The lower part of the gable wall is made of large-format dark stone. In the upper area you can find small-format masonry made of rubble stones in a wild association. As an extension of the partition wall between the naves, a buttress strengthens the facade wall. The masonry of the attached aisle is plastered here. About a quarter of the facade is covered by the adjacent building. On the gable ridge is a stone paw cross , which is framed by a circular ring.
Transept and crossing tower
The north arm of the transept is covered with a pent roof with an inclination of about 30 degrees and a gray slate roof. The pent roof ridge runs over the western arm wall of the transept, which there is up just above the eaves of the main nave. The southern arm of the transept is a non-symmetrical gable roof, the eastern roof surface of which rises like the monopitch roof opposite and then bends downwards at an angle of 30 degrees a little in front of the imaginary monopitch roof ridge.
The eaves are above the eastern transept walls at the same height as those of the choir. In these walls there is a small and on the other side a later enlarged arched window. The eaves design consists of strong cornice panels that are heavily bevelled and grooved on the visible side . Instead of the usual corbels at the usual intervals, only square holes are embedded in the masonry. It looks like the corbels are missing there. The walls are made of roughly the same stone material as the outer wall of the aisle.
The square base of the crossing tower, which is closed on all sides, protrudes from the surrounding roof surfaces. At the corners it consists of large-format stone in brownish color. The wall areas in between have been lined with multi-colored broken stones and field stones of different formats in an irregular bond. The base extends to just below the ridge height of the main nave.
It carries a two-storey octagonal crossing bell tower, four of which are flush with the outside of the base. Between the other sides of this octagon and the corners of the base, four triangular surfaces have been created on the top, which are covered with thin, flat slabs of slate.
The Romanesque bell tower begins with a flat, closed octagonal base in the same outline as the storeys above. It ends with a narrow cornice. The following two floors are identical to each other. A round arched sound opening is cut out on each octagon side. It is surrounded by a two-tier arcade, the inner and outer arches of which stand on profiled battlement plates. The outer arch is composed of double round bars. Both storeys are closed on the top by flat cantilever cornices. The tower is made of reddish rock from La Chaumete .
Above it is still the lower remainder of a Gothic, formerly steeply pointed, stone spire , which was destroyed in the revolution and later covered by a flat inclined octagonal pyramid roof with hollow tile roofing. Originally the tower had a helmet made of an octagonal pyramid with medium to weak slopes.
Choir
The choir stands on a floor plan consisting of a very short rectangle and a semicircle. The straight walls of the short choir bay and the semicircular apse rise above and are covered by a short gable roof that seamlessly merges into a half- conical roof , both with a roof pitch of about 30 degrees and covered with slate. The eaves formation corresponds exactly to that of the transept arms. A stone ridge has been placed on the short roof ridge. Three slender, arched windows have been left out in the choir apse. The masonry corresponds to that of the transept arms.
Interior
Longhouse
Today's three-bay nave consists of the Romanesque central or main nave with a continuous, slightly pointed barrel without supporting belt arches, and a late Romanesque to early Gothic north aisle.
The southern wall of the main nave separates the nave from the cloister and is structured by three large blind arcades with almost round relief arches, the cross-section of which is square arch stones resting on right-angled wall pillars. Arches and pillars are divided from one another by sweeping, simply profiled transom plates . In the arcade niche of the 3rd yoke a round arched window is cut out, the apex of which is just below the apex of the arcade and the bevel of the windowsill ends just above the warriors. The simple, very deep walls are strongly tapered so that the window opening is much smaller than the inner edge of the reveal. The window in the 2nd yoke is significantly larger on the outside and lets in more light. The windows open onto the upper floor of the north cloister gallery. A third, tiny round-arched window is located just above the arcade arch in the third yoke, offset a little from the center to the west, and is just cutting the arch stones. Its location cannot be explained. In the central arcade, a single-winged rectangular doorway is arranged slightly offset from the center. Their soffits are highly graded. The inner opening is much larger than the outer one and is covered by a stitch arch.
Before the aisle was added, the northern wall looked very similar to the southern one. The three large blind arcade arches are still left of it. The wall pillars have become strong bundle pillars . In the first and second yoke, the walls within the arcades were removed and replaced by semicircular belt arches with a right-angled cross-section. The belt arches stand on semicircular services with simple leaf capitals and fighters at the same height as the fighters of the large arcade arches. However, their vertices are slightly lower than those of the large arcades. On the other side of the wall, arcade arches are again arranged as on the side of the main nave. In the third yoke, the arched passage in the partition is almost half as high as the previous ones. The semicircular arch is as wide as the wall and has no additional belt arch. It emerges seamlessly from the reveal of the opening. In the wall field above the arch, the small round arched window of the former outer wall is still preserved.
Above the apex of the blind arcades, the vertical side walls extend a good bit further upwards until they merge seamlessly into the pointed barrel vault of the ship. Approximately at the level of the arches, there are two rectangular wall niches on each side at greater intervals and offset from one another. This includes a number of circular holes about the size of a fist, which are unevenly distributed over the vault. They are said to correspond to acoustic vessels such as amphorae made of terracotta , which were walled in to improve the acoustics in Roman theaters.
The crossing wall is opened almost completely by the round arched triumphal arch. The apex of the arch is slightly above that of the blind arcades. The semicircular arch is simply graduated. The inner arch consists of a massive round bar with a semicircular cross-section. This rests on semicircular old services, which are crowned by figuratively carved capitals and profiled fighters.
In the west wall, the main portal and a large window with a pointed round arch and widened walls are cut out. The portal consists of an outer opening with a high arch and an inner, significantly higher, with a flat arch. The window was changed to this shape and size in the 14th century.
The walls above the arcade arches and the vault of the main nave are lavishly painted with frescoes. (see separate section)
The northern three-bay aisle was added to the previously single-nave church and connected to the main nave and the transept through broken openings. The pillar cores between the aisles were reinforced towards the aisle so that the ogival girdle arches and the cross ribs could be placed there. They are closed with a narrow transom profile in the arcade openings at about the level of the upper shaft rings of the services. Opposite the pillars are right-angled pillars at the same height and are crowned with stronger fighters who take on the same task. The wall pillars stand on about one meter high, wider plinths. Analogous to the pillar reinforcements and wall pillars, almost square wall pillars with a halved cross-section are set in the corners of the head walls of the aisle, which only support rib arches.
Only the second and third yoke of the aisle are covered by a pointed arched cross-ribbed vault with strong, profiled ribs. The yokes are separated by angular, ogival belt arches. The keystones are decorated with coats of arms, which are still surrounded by painted ornaments in the spandrels. In the first yoke, the ribs are simulated by painting in a groin vault.
In each of the three yokes, a small round arched window is recessed in the outer wall, the apex of which extends to just below the shield arches. The lower edges of the windowsill are about halfway up the wall. The east end wall of the aisle is broken through by a wide doorway with an arch. A larger arched window has been cut out in the western wall.
Transept
The transept and crossing have a more developed architecture. The four large arcades of the crossing barely reach two thirds of the height of the main nave and have simply stepped arches, on the north, east and south walls only on the side facing the crossing. The triumphal arches under the western and eastern walls are supported by mighty round bars with a semicircular cross-section. The inner arches stand on eight old services , which are crowned by remarkable figure capitals but also by leaf capitals with strong fighters. The outer arches stand on the edges of the square and cruciform pillar cores and are covered by fighters at the height of the capital fighters. A dome built on trumpets arches over the crossing.
The transept arms are covered by barrel vaults. Only in the north arm of the transept is the small chapel, consisting of a semicircular apse with a semi -dome , in the axis of which a small round-arched window is cut out. In the southern arm of the transept, the former chapel has been converted into a larger arched window. On the southern gable wall, just below the top of the vault, there is a smaller round arched window. All of these windows have strongly flared walls. On the gable wall on the eastern edge there is a round arched doorway, the rectangular door of which is further back and is covered by a horizontal lintel. The door formerly led into the chapter house , of which only the west and north walls with the window and door openings still exist. Using these remains, a shorter sacristy was probably built in the 19th century .
Church, north transept arm with chapel
Church, trumpet dome of the crossing
Church, south transept arm, door to the sacristy
Choir
The choir, which is axially offset slightly to the north, was probably rebuilt around the 17th century using old building material. Deviations from the original design cannot be ruled out. The choir consists of a very short rectangular “yoke” with barrel vaults and the semicircular apse with a semi-dome. The choir walls are divided into an arcade made up of a central, larger and two smaller arcades on both sides. The outer ones are closed blind arcades, the inner three each contain a round-arched window with widened walls. The arcade arches stand on round columns with simple leaf capitals and barely protruding striker plates.
In the dome area just above the central arcade there is a baroque white stucco relief that symbolizes the Holy Spirit . Four angels are grouped around a hovering dove, the whole thing is surrounded by a halo (see picture in the section frescoes in the choir)
Sculpture and inventory
Capitals:
The capitals of the bundle pillars of the crossing show some remarkable sculptures . One chapter is dedicated to the so-called story of the fall of man in paradise. Adam and Eve stand on either side of the tree of knowledge around which the serpent coils. From her Eve receives the forbidden fruit, which she holds in her right hand. Another capital presents a mythical scene. Two winged horses hold a two-legged snake with human hands. Two dogs rear up between the horses. A capital shows a bird at each corner with something in its beak, either a pelican that has torn out a piece of its breast, a symbol for death and resurrection, or an eagle with prey in its beak, a symbol for Christ, the souls up to heaven, or for the devil who steals souls, as it is written by some church fathers; the pelican motif is explained in detail in the Physiologus . Two capitals show masks over foliage and tendrils. Tendrils grow from the mouth of one face, another wears a crown and is flanked by two spears. There are also a number of simple leaf capitals.
Church capitals
Crossing, SE corner
Crossing, NE corner
Crossing, SW corner, eagle
Mythical creatures
Church inventory:
On the north pillar between yokes 1 and 2 hangs a showcase in which the "Christ head by Lavaudieu", a replica made of ash wood , is located. The original from the 12th century, also made of ash wood, is kept in the Louvre . The head was part of a crucifix that was worshiped by the nuns. In the 16th century, at the time of the Wars of Religion , the head was cut off, but it was still in the church. It was not until the revolution that the sculpture was finally separated and sold. The head could be purchased from a collector named Doucet , who donated it to the Louvre. The hull is in The Cloisters Museum in New York. The replica of the head was made by the sculptor Simone Bouchet and donated to the Saint-André church.
An oil painting from the 16th century hangs in the north transept. Shown is "The Martyrdom of St. Ursula and the virgins in Cologne" .
In the aisle are a Pietà from the 16th century flanked by two saints sculptures and sculptures of John the Baptist with his lamb and St. Andrew on an X-shaped cross, St. Andrew's Cross called.
Above the door to the cloister are the statues of St. Paul (with a saber) and St. Benedict. Next to the entrance is a large statue of St. Andrew.
Pietà, 16th century
Martyrdom of St. Ursula in Cologne, oil painting, 16th century.
Martyrdom of St. Andrew, 18th century
Baptismal font
Cloister and its sculpture
The small, modest Romanesque cloister borders the south wall of the nave and the wooden gallery around the upper floor gives it a rustic touch. Between the wooden supports supporting the roof structure, parapets made of timber framework are inserted, which is filled with brick masonry. The floor plan forms an almost regular rectangle. Instead of a stone vault, the cloister is simply covered with a simple wooden beam ceiling. The upper floor is covered with a continuous pent roof, which is covered with red hollow tiles in Roman format. The small, alternating simple or coupled columns, which are only coupled in the west gallery, carry round arches with neatly trimmed arch stones, the edges of which are finely profiled. The monolithic columns predominantly stand on classic bases profiled with two bulging round bars and small fillets , which are underlaid by rectangular plinths . Some column shafts are decorated with spiral windings or wickerwork ornaments. The capitals are consistently simple. Mostly there are leaf capitals, between which some figure capitals are interspersed. The strangest are in the north gallery, along the church. It shows, among other things: a double-tailed siren - a leech with outstretched wings, the right hand raised in a gesture of blessing - a lion with spherical eyes - long robed and belted people with hoods (perhaps monks) carry various objects, such as a cross and a chalice - a four-legged one Monster, dog-like - masks in coarse tendrils - a four-legged monster with a forked tail.
Of particular note is an original version of the ancient theme of the Luxuria with the snakes on the chest. The woman is breastfeeding two salamanders , which crawl out of the mouth of a man crouching on the back of the capital - the miserly one - who can be recognized by the purse hanging around his neck. The bodies of the salamanders with almost hand-like feet twist around the capital sides. The representation is quite rough, compared for example to a capital by Blesle , where the same subject is treated with great skill. It is unclear why this symbol of double viciousness - avarice and fornication - was chosen in this place.
Some of the capitals of the west gallery and the pillars on which they rest appear to have been repaired very early on. Most of the capitals of the south gallery were redesigned as part of a restoration .
The former chapter house, following the southern arm of the transept, extended a little further south than the present sacristy. In any case, it still comprised the last of the three preserved, fairly low but impressive arcades that open to the east gallery of the cloister. Archivolts are set in the three arched wall niches, of which the one closest to the church is wider and higher than the other two. Its arches consist of bulging round bars that rest on short pillars and are crowned by heavily weathered capitals with plant ornaments, the tendrils of which sometimes roll up in a spiral. Their style differs significantly from that of the cloister or the church. The protruding, profiled transom panels extend over the pillars separating the niches. Under the larger archivolt there is a double opening, which is covered by an unadorned arched field, which is centrally supported by a pair of columns with capitals.
In the east gallery there are two more openings, a round arched door in the middle of the gallery, to which a few steps lead down, and another door near the refectory, through which one once got into rooms that are no longer preserved and which now leads outside.
In the middle of the north gallery is the door to the main nave of the church, which can be reached via two steps upwards. Its rectangular opening is surrounded by Gothic profiles that are slightly pointed in the middle of the lintel.
The west gallery has a larger field in the middle, which is spanned with a basket arch. In its outer wall, which actually belongs to the neighboring building, a wide corridor opens up, which turns to the northwest within the building and ends in the outer wall facing the village square. The fact that the broad access was already taken into account in the larger arched opening of the west gallery indicates that this passage is older.
The south gallery has a door to the adjoining refectory at its western end.
On the upper floor of the east gallery there is a door approximately in the middle of the east wall, which leads to an external stone staircase that leans against the wall of the first floor. A little further south there is a larger window. This door and window once belonged to the former convent rooms on the upper floor of the east wing, all of which have disappeared apart from the wall to the cloister.
The windows of the south wall of the nave can be found on the upper floor of the north gallery.
The outer wall of the west gallery belongs to the neighboring building again. Several window and door openings are cut out in it. The openings on both floors of this wall indicate that the rather large neighboring building was closely related to the abbey buildings. The idea that canonesses had their own apartments in this house is entirely plausible.
Cloister capitals
Monks carry cross & Chalice
Angel with gesture of blessing
Siren with a double tail
Lion with spherical eyes
Columns with braided ornament
Masks with tendrils
lion
Cloister arch
refectory
Interior
The room in the south of the cloister, known as the refectory, has almost the same floor plan as the main nave of the church and houses a beautiful, spacious hall. It is covered by a slightly pointed barrel vault, the curve of which merges seamlessly from the wall surfaces.
The north wall is structured by a four-fold blind arch, which begins a little way next to the door and extends to just before the gable wall. The arcade niches start about one meter above the ground. The semicircular arches with right-angled arched edges stand on pillars with leaf capitals, strong profiled fighters, profiled bases and right-angled plinths. The end arches rest on the corners of the wall with struts, as with the pillars.
The south wall is dominated by three arched windows, the soffit edges of which are stepped and whose walls are sloping. Two arched niches are set between the windows, the parapets of which are arranged much higher. In the west wall there is a high arched window with wide sloping walls. The edge of the steeply sloping window sill is about halfway up the wall. In the lower wall area there are three deep niches, which are covered by arches and separated by slim walls. They are equipped with wrought iron lattice doors. Valuable inventory was once locked here. The east wall is adorned with a remarkable fresco. (See separate paragraph)
The body of a large crucifix is exhibited in one of the niches on the south wall. A statue of a bishop with miter and crook stands on a chest of drawers. A painted sculpture hangs on the west wall, which obviously depicts the blessing God the Father . His torso protrudes from a ball of clouds with widely spread arms, the right shows the gesture of blessing, the long-bearded head is shown frontally with a slight turn to the right. The upper body is encompassed by a wide-looped tendril.
Outside in front of the eastern gable of the refectory, a staircase leads down to a dark basement room with the same floor plan as the refectory above. It is also covered with a pointed barrel vault. It is probably the main storage room of the monastery.
refectory
South wall
West wall with barred niches
Sculpture blessing God the Father
Body of a crucifix
Outer shape of the refectory
The elongated cube of the refectory is covered with a gable roof with an incline of around 20 degrees and a roofing with red hollow bricks in Roman format. The south wall is structured by four strong buttresses, between which four arched windows are centered. In the west wall a larger arched window is arranged much higher. The height of the eastern gable wall shows the contours of a formerly lower gable roof. In the lower area, protruding wall pieces of different heights indicate a former extension.
Outdoor area
Remains of the east wing of the convent building
To the east of the east gallery of the cloister, remains of the former two-storey east wing of the convent buildings and their successors can still be seen.
Remains of the former east wing, above the crossing tower
East wall of the cloister
Remains of buildings between the abbey and the defensive wall
External staircase on the east wall of the cloister
Fortifications
The formerly fortified village - a so-called castrum - was surrounded all around by a defensive wall that reached down to the valley floor in the southeast below the abbey. This defensive wall, which still appears huge and high today, is considerably higher in the section opposite the eastern gable of the refectory and almost reaches the height of the eaves of the east gallery of the cloister. The lower half of this higher part of the wall is reinforced with three strong buttresses, while rectangular window openings have been left in the heavily overgrown upper half. This tall structure is very reminiscent of the outer wall of a former donjon . In the area between the defensive wall and the former east wing of the abbey, one encounters foundation walls and cellars of various angled rooms, some of which still tower high. These considerable remains are reminiscent of a small chateau in contact with the nearby abbey. In the Middle Ages there was certainly a need for the inhabitants of the abbey and its servants to be able to withdraw into the protection of a donjon in the event of a warlike siege and to be able to be close to their place of worship.
Frescoes
Frescoes of the church
Remnants in the aisle
On the wall to the transept and on the partition wall in the 3rd yoke, remains of frescoes are preserved, which are said to be the oldest in the church. They are dated to the 11th century. It shows: The Last Judgment with its convicts and a black devil. If the dating is correct, it points to a very early construction of the aisle towards the end of the 11th century.
Frescoes in the choir
The vault of the choir was once completely painted. A small remnant testifies to this, on which a head with a nimbus can be seen. The bulge above the bulge approaches is tinted in a monochrome light beige. Fragments of frescoes from the 12th to 18th centuries have been preserved on the arcades, their niches and window frames. In addition to people from the Gospel, tendril and flower friezes, and a few angels, can be seen. The meaning of the structures with tapes in the two blind arcades is not known. The Latin inscriptions are largely gone. One of them reads: ... ORA PRO NOBIS. To the left of the altar, a colored coat of arms is clearly visible, which is considered to be that of the Montboissier-Beaufort-Canhilac family.
Mourning ribbon with coat of arms
center
northern blind arcade
Choir, blind arcade
Frescoes in the nave
The main interest in the Lavaudieu Abbey Church is in the frescoes uncovered and restored between 1965 and 1980 on the large arched area of the crossing wall, the upper zones of the side walls with parts of the vaulted surfaces and on the side of the window of the west wall. Parts of these paintings were dated to 1315 by an inscription and were probably made on the orders of the Superior of Comps, Louise von Vissac.
On the wall above the triumphal arch of the crossing a crucifixion group with Christ on the cross, Mary and John the Baptist is depicted in the middle . At the bottom of the picture, the group is accompanied by monks and abbots, among them probably St. Robert , the founder of the abbey. A monk at the bottom left turns to a smaller person, who is pouring an indefinable structure out of his mouth. It could be a demon casting out. The crucifixion is flanked by smaller scenes, in particular the burial of the Virgin Mary at the top left, who is surrounded by apostles and received by God, and on the right the martyrdom of St. Andrew, the patron of the church , who instead of the usual X-shaped cross on one Latin cross is executed, which the artist set up horizontally, rammed into the ground with the crossbeam. At the command of a fourth, three henchmen tie the doomed man to the cross by the forearms and lower legs. Immediately below the large crucifixion group, a bright, round disc is shown in the exact center. Two angels with widely spread wings strive towards this on both sides and carry something indefinable in their hands.
On the opposite west wall is the Annunciation scene , on one side of the window the Archangel Gabriel can be seen , on the other the Virgin Mary; they are among the most successful of the wall paintings.
On both sides of the main nave, two broad, continuous, horizontal bands extend just above the arcade arches, which contain square and rectangular fields with various scenes. The bands are bordered by a red and yellow stripe at the top and two red and yellow stripes at the bottom. In between there is a wider strip that is decorated with geometric ornaments. The ribbons each end with a three-dimensional painted curtain and are also interrupted by some curtains. This is followed by the four evangelists in the Byzantine style, each seated at a desk writing the Gospels.
Between the evangelists, five scenes from the Passion of Christ are lined up on the north side : Flagellation, Carrying of the Cross, Crucifixion, Descent from the Cross and Lamentation of Christ .
Particularly noteworthy is an allegorical representation of the black plague in the middle of the south wall . She has the shape of a veiled woman and with both hands hurls the plague arrows at the people who sink left and right to the ground: Pope, bishop, canon, monk, nun, nobody is spared. The picture to the left shows an abbot with a crook on a checkered background, facing a well-dressed lady and a second leaning down to him in reverence. Perhaps it is Judith d'Auvergne , who was received at the Comps priory. The picture to the right of the plague scene shows Christ enthroned and blessing a nun dressed in black. The text below divides the age of the image sequence with: "In 1315 I, Louise de Vissac, sold the church in consultation with my mixed Western goods to be painted from the proceeds these frescoes." . After another curtain, the elevation of Mary Magdalene at the seven times of prayer is represented by angels . A total of four rectangular niches in portrait format are interspersed in the sequence of images, which are intended to improve the room acoustics.
The vault area between the bands has a background that is colored in yellowish to gray tones. Small dark-colored stars are interspersed on it. Approximately in the middle of the vault a great praising Christ can be seen in the mandorla , who presents an open book on his lap on which can be read in Latin capitals : EGO SUM VIA VERITAS (I am the way, the truth) ( Jn 14 : 6 EU ).
On the south wall of the main nave and also in the choir, in the middle of the arcade, there is a wide black band, a "mourning band" (French: liter funéraire ) with the family crests of the deceased abbesses, of which Guerin de Lugeac and Le Long de Chenhilac can be recognized. It is also known as a black ribbon .
Fresco tapes
South wall: curtain; Bishop receives nun Judith (?)
South Face: The Black Plague; Christ blesses nun
South wall: Elevation of Mary Magdalene by 2 angels
North wall, from left: Evangelist; curtain
North wall, from left: Flagellation, carrying the cross and crucifixion
North wall, from left: Crucifixion and Descent from the Cross
North wall: Descent from the Cross and Lamentation; Evangelist; curtain
South wall: "Burial list" with family coat of arms in the main nave
Frescoes in the refectory
The east wall of the refectory, about 5.5 meters wide and 6 meters high, is covered by a remarkable fresco. The lower end is rectangular, the upper one corresponds to the contour of the pointed barrel vault.
The wall painting is framed by ribbons and divided once horizontally. The ribbons are decorated with tendril ornaments on a dark background and bordered by yellow-red stripes. A huge Majestas Domini dominates the upper field. Christ offers the gesture of blessing with his right hand - similar to an oath hand - and holds a T-shaped scepter in his left hand , which he supports on the back of the throne. The face has become almost unrecognizable. Its nimbus lacks the usual cross; instead, wing-like structures protrude on both sides of the head. On the massive throne with sturdy padded armrests, a light-colored cloth is spread out, which almost reaches the floor. The circular structure behind Christ's back could be a high backrest that is very similar to a halo. Christ's bare feet rest on the right-angled cube of a little bench. The upper body is unusually small in relation to the legs. A fresco painter was always under pressure that the plaster was not allowed to dry out. It is therefore suspected that a misjudgment by the artist at the beginning of the work on the lower part of the portrait led to the unbalanced proportions.
The evangelist symbols all have halos and spread wings, above left Matthew as a person with scrolls; including Mark , a lion with a book in his claws; Above left Johannes as an eagle with a book and below it Luke , the bull, whose front limbs are not preserved. But you can still make out a piece of a book. Everyone is standing on undulating clouds.
In the lower elongated field you can see in the middle the Mother of God sitting on a throne with her open hands pointing upwards. She wears a crown that is covered by a headscarf. A golden nimbus spreads behind her head. Maria as crowned queen embodies in her hieratic (strict) attitude at the same time the Ecclesia , the personification of the church. On the upholstered throne lies another cloth that almost reaches the floor and on which her bare feet rest. A cloth with loose folds lies over the rectangular backrest. The throne is flanked by two standing angels, one hand on the backrest, with upright wings and nimbs behind their heads. Instead of a backrest, a cloth alone could be shown here, which is carried by the angels in a row on a pole. The scene is loosened up by interspersed circular bright points, which perhaps symbolize the starry sky.
On either side of the Mother of God stand the twelve apostles with halos, their faces turned towards Mary. Her arms and hands show lively gestures, some are carrying a book. The bare feet of the apostles and angels float on waved clouds.
It is interesting that the lower edges of the folds of your underwear run exactly on a contour line. The colors of the fresco are reserved: yellow ocher, a little green, aubergine-colored violet of the outer clothing, the background in light shades. The scenario is not uncommon, but the slim figures with their strict gestures and facial expressions are more reminiscent than usual of his Byzantine role models. The drawing of the people heralds the stylization peculiar to the 13th century . The creation of this fresco, the largest in the Auvergne, is dated around 1220.
Émile Mâle has made connections with the Burgundian tympanum by Charlieu (see picture) and a very early and very distant fresco by Bawit in Egypt from the 6th century. These comparisons are by no means intended to indicate an influence from there, but merely to the existence of a theme that has been developed in the Orient since ancient times.
literature
- Ulrich Rosenbaum: Auvergne and Central Massif Cologne [1981] 1989, pp. 166–167, Figs. 76–78, color plate 21.
- Bernhard Craplet: Romanesque Auvergne . Würzburg 1992, pp. 280-284, picture pages 109-115, ISBN 3-429-01463-8 .
- Rolf Toman: The Art of Romanesque , Könemann 2004. P. 387.
- Laissez-vous conter le village de Lavaudieu . Brochure from the tourist office, 6 pages
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Bernhard Craplet: Romanische Auvergne , Würzburg 1992. pp. 280–284.
- ↑ a b c Brochure: Laissez-vous conter le village de Lavaudieu from the tourist office, six pages
- ↑ a b c d e info sheet: one A4 page, without specifying the authorship, available in the church (German)
- ^ Elisabeth Lucchesi-Palli: Adler. I. Art . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 1, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1980, ISBN 3-7608-8901-8 , Sp. 153 .; see. Eagle section in the bestiary of Philippe de Thaon (English).
- ↑ Engelbert Kirschbaum (Ed.): Lexicon of Christian Iconography , Freiburg im Breisgau 1994. Volume 1, p. 73 f.
- ^ Rolf Toman: The Art of Romanesque , Könemann 2004. P. 387.
