Notre-Dame-St-Christophe (Saint-Christol d'Albion)

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The former priory - and today's parish church of Notre-Dame-St-Christophe is located in the French municipality of Saint-Christol on the Plateau-d'Albion , about ten kilometers north of Apt in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region and in the diocese of Apt , on the borders of the dioceses of Sisteron and Carpentras .

It owes its origin and development to the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Saint-André de Villeneuve-lés-Avignon and the House of d'Agoul , especially the important Bishop Laugier d'Agoult . (P. 285)

The church was originally dedicated to Saint Christopher alone . When the Notre Dame patronage was added is not clear from the known sources.

East Side

history

As early as 1118, Pope Gelasius II confirmed to the Rhone Abbey “the Church of Saint-Christophe with its village and its territory” (p. 285), probably the predecessor of today's church. But in 1160 Bishop Guillaume von Apt added , when listing the priories of this abbey in his diocese , that the donation of Saint-Christol had been made by his predecessor Laugier . Laugier, one of the most important bishops of Apt , who held this episcopal see from 1103 to around 1130, was a famous member of the above-mentioned family d'Agoult , who, except for part of the valley of Apt , the entire Plateau d'Albion , the Mont Amaron who owned the Sault and Banon valleys . Laugier d'Agoult gave the Saint-André abbey between 1103 and 1118 a territory that belonged to his family and on which there was already a church and a small unfortified settlement ( villa ). These did not exist long because the place was named after a saint whose veneration in south-east France was generally not known before the 11th century. The village apparently existed around 1082, when Ripert de Mévouillo did not transfer all the goods he owned on the Albion Plateau to the Abbey of Cluny . Otherwise it would have been mentioned at the time in connection with this extensive property, which later bore the name Revest-de-Bion , which is about eight kilometers northeast of Saint-Christol . (P. 285 + 286)

The Romanesque construction of today's main nave is dated between 1150 and 1175. (P. 291)

The boundaries of the territory of Saint-André de Villeneuve-lés-Avignon in Saint-Christol are known through an arbitration award of 1270. He names the actual fortified village called castrum with its fertile lands, with the exception of the vast undeveloped or wooded areas of Mont-Amaron and the plateau that remained in the possession of the d'Agoult . In the 13th century they were gradually reclaimed and cultivated by the farmers. Part of it was given to the Abbey of Sénanque .

Although it was more important than the neighboring priory of Saint-Trinit , which owned only modest rural territory, Saint-Christo remained a modest branch of the Abbey of Villeneuve-lés-Avignon through the Middle Ages and until the end of the 18th century , with a house in which only one or two religious lived who were entrusted with the service of the religious church. (P. 286)

The nave was extended between 1688 and 1690 due to the increase in population of the village to include the north aisle in the post-Gothic style with three bays. In this century the bell tower was built , which was added to the south wall of the Romanesque nave on its eastern edge. Furthermore, the former barrel vaults in the main nave were converted into Gothic ribbed vaults , which then made additional buttresses necessary on the south wall.

It was not until 1763, after a visit from the Bishop of Apt, that the main altar was placed on the west wall of the nave. It had previously "stood in a very narrow and ugly chancel of the church" - meaning the choir of the Romanesque church. (P. 299) In order to get better from the village into the church, at the same time the classicist main portal, which was built during the church expansion, was moved from its west wall to its east wall. (P. 287)

The church has been a listed building since June 14, 1909 . (P. 286)

In 1975 the original main altar was brought back to its former location in the eastern choir apse of the Romanesque nave. (P. 299)

The church building

Shape and dimensions

Church floor plan

Approximate dimensions, taken from the drawing and extrapolated:

Outside

  • Total length of the main nave with choir: 25.00 m
  • Total width of both ships (without pillar templates): 16.25 m
  • Width of the main nave (without pillars): 9.25 m
  • Width of the north aisle (without pillars): 6.90 m
  • Width choir apse: 6.90 m
  • Depth choir apse: 4.00 m
  • Bell tower width: 3.35 m
  • Bell tower projection: 2.75 m

Inside

Main nave to the choir
  • Total length of the main nave with choir: 22.90 m
  • Total length of the north aisle: 16.00 m
  • Width of the main nave including arcade niches: 7.20 m
  • Width north aisle: 6.00 m
  • Width of the choir apse (between pillars): 4.40 m
  • Depth of the apse: 3.70 m
  • Height of the arcature parapet: 1.60 m
  • Arcature height: 2.70 m

Building

Main nave to the west

Today's parish church in the upper village of Saint-Christol consists of two clearly distinguishable building sections, a Romanesque from the 12th century and a second from the 17th century, in the post-Gothic style. (P. 286)

The Romanesque southern section includes the three-bay main nave, which was covered by a barrel vault, with a semicircular choir apse on the east side, which is polygonally enclosed on the outside from five straight sides . The known sources do not provide any information about where the original main portal was.

In the third yoke of the south wall of the Romanesque building there was originally a round-arched side entrance, roughly where the entrance to the bell tower is today. You can still see traces of this on the eastern reveal of the door and also on the outside. At that time, this entrance may have led to a rectangular garden with a cistern , the center of a cloister that has long since disappeared (p. 287). This entrance may also have been the main portal for the faithful. In the first yoke of the south wall there is still a round-arched door that leads to rooms that are attached to the Romanesque nave. Presumably they are the successors to older convent buildings.

The former barrel vault of the main nave was changed in the course of the second construction phase in the post-Gothic style of the northern nave. (P. 287)

The second northern section, which was added to the Romanesque nave towards the end of the 17th century, (p. 287) also includes three yokes, the second and third of the same length, the first and western yoke is almost half as long as that rest. The width of the aisle is a good meter smaller than that of the main aisle. The west wall of the aisle is clearly receding from that of the Romanesque section and originally had an open vestibule there in the extension of the offset. In the course of the construction of the second nave, the main portal of the church opened in the axis of this wall, but barely a century later it was bricked up again and relocated to the east wall, where it is still located today. This was possibly for reasons of better weather protection, as the west facade was oriented to the west to the nearby Amaron mountain, from where the cool winds often fell. In any case, it is easier to reach from the village than from the west side.

Main nave, vault yoke 1

The quite simple Romanesque church of St-Christophe was originally covered with a barrel vault, of which the interlocking on the inside and outside of the gable walls should still be recognizable. This vault was supported on the longitudinal walls by round-arched blinds made of double-stepped angular arches, which rest on equally stepped wall pillars and are still preserved today. Presumably the barrel vault was also divided into the yokes by rectangular cross-section arches , which stood on pillars of the same width, as they can still be seen today as a subdivision of the post-Gothic ribbed vaults. The height of the arches of the blind markings remained well below that of the belt arches.

The choir apse, which is semicircular in plan, is vaulted with a neatly bricked, semi- dome -shaped dome , the arcade of which closes the apse at the entrance with a girdle arch with a rectangular cross-section, the front edge of which is clearly set back on both sides on corresponding pillars with the same setback. The apse arcade is about as high as the arcades and blind arcades on the long sides of the ship. The height of the arches of the belt arch and the back offset are marked by short capital friezes with acanthus leaves and vine leaves. The fighter profile of the capital frieze continues around the entire apse as a delicately decorated cornice . (P. 292)

The semi-circular curved apse wall of a famous amongst art aficionados rather high Blendarkatur on a one and a half meter high parapet surrounded, five round-arched arcades niches and six free-standing columns, made of finely chiselled shafts with carved capitals, profiled fighters plates, carved partly profiled bases on angular plinths are equipped. For more details, see the "Decor" section.

Aisle to the entrance

The barrel vault of the ship threatened to collapse at the beginning of the 17th century. At that time, the upper parts of the Romanesque nave were restored in two sections, but without stone vaulting. A file issued by notary Montjallard in Saint-Christol in 1644 shows that the master mason Antonin Jouffraiy from Saint-Michel was initially commissioned to “ lay down the vault of the gallery […], to draw three transverse arches over the pillars of the church mentioned, in order to close the vault support, build six windows and put up a tower of carved stone for three bells ” . These double arches - not the current ones - only supported a wooden roof structure, the relatively low weight of which meant that the church could no longer collapse. The previously windowless north wall also received a window in each of the three bays and the originally smaller windows on the south wall were enlarged to match those on the opposite side, as they are still preserved today.

Only a little later, between 1688 and 1690, the north aisle was added in the post-Gothic style. For this, the former north wall of the main nave had to be largely opened. The blind arches became openings in the arcades, only half in the first yoke. The new ship was covered with cross rib vaults, the gusset of which lies on the cross ribs and girdle arches with a rectangular cross-section that stand on pillars of the same type. The height of the arches is marked by profiled fighters . On the walls, the vaulted gussets are placed on shield arches made of half ribs. The cross-sections of the ribs roughly have a cross-section of a pointed isosceles triangle, the tip of which is capped and the sides of which are each decorated with two flat, wide fillets . They meet in the middle of the vault in a cylindrical keystone with molded ribs and simple leaf decor. The ribs stand on capitals, two of them made of human heads, which are crowned with a high vegetal decoration. The vault gussets and shields are smoothly plastered.

Aisle to the west

At the same time, the main nave was given a vaulting again, but with the same vault as the new aisle.

  • Capital ribbed vault

  • Capital ribbed vault

  • Main nave yoke 3 from aisle

  • Main nave yokes 1 + 2, from side aisle

An inscription reminds of the construction work:

IA (Jean Aubert) 1688
completed 1690
I.A. From VILLEMUS

The above-mentioned notary's office provides the price for the extension. Denuis Barbier from Sault confirmed the correctness of this inscription on May 8, 1688 and at the same time gave some details of the order. The builder was "Jean Aubert, bricklayer from the village of Villemus" He was supposed to repair the church and enlarge it to the north by adding three more bays. (P. 287)

Exterior

View from SW

The exterior elevation of the church is very simple and shows almost no sculpture of artistic interest.

Noteworthy is the choir head, which is polygonal in plan, on a half- octagon made up of five flat and bare sides, apart from a slender, arched window at the top of the apse . The walls of the choir are closed on the top by a protruding, profiled cornice. The limestone covering of the half eight-sided pyramid roof protrudes slightly above this . The obtuse-angled vertical edges of the choir are made of neatly smoothed, medium-sized ashlar blocks, the interlocking of which protrudes slightly from the surfaces of the rest of the masonry made of predominantly small-format, roughly smoothed rubble , in regular and sometimes irregular layered masonry . (P. 289)

Wall section choir apse

This phenomenon suggests a source that "originally the entire building consisted of it" . The source further reports: "The gable wall above still bears the traces of its original cladding in small and medium-sized ashlar work (traces of a walled-up window opening in the axis?)" (P. 290)

It seems rather unlikely that the entire Romanesque building was clad with medium-sized stone slabs. For this purpose, the existing ashlar stones at the component edges or within wall surfaces, such as on the east gable, would have to stand out much more strongly than they do here compared to the adjoining masonry surfaces. There is also no trace of a walled-up window opening there. The latter applies to the western gable wall, above the existing window.

However, the numerous repairs to this church unsettle the assessments of the masonry. In any case, originally only the component and opening edges were used inside and outside; Pillars and arches were made of medium-sized and finely jointed stone masonry , while the remaining wall surfaces were made of small-format broken stones and field stones with wider joints. Occasionally stonemason's marks appear on the ashlar stones , such as numerous A's in the choir, an E on a pillar of the nave, and traces of scratches , especially those on the reused stone blocks on the pillars of the ship and the edges of the bell tower. (P. 290)

South wall

In the upper area of ​​the south wall, a good 1.50 meters below the cantilevered eaves, two three-tiered cantilever consoles that are roughly the same width mark the original height of the eaves walls . The former eaves lay on them and on other consoles, perhaps supported by stone eaves cornices. It was only when the church was expanded in the 17th century that both aisles were to be covered with a common roof on a wooden roof truss. To do this, the eaves walls had to be bricked up to their present heights and the gable walls had to be raised accordingly. This is how the roof shape, which is still visible today, was created, a symmetrical saddle roof with an incline of around 20 degrees above the main nave , to which the pent roof of the side aisle adjoins in the north with a slight height offset with a significantly lower incline. The roof of the main nave is covered with hollow tiles in Roman format and the rainwater drips off freely on both sides, on the north side it runs onto the pent roof surface just below it is caught at its eaves by a copper hanging gutter and drained off in a controlled manner. The type of roof covering of the aisle cannot be seen from the immediate vicinity and therefore cannot be determined. Because of the low pitch of the roof, a sheet made of copper was probably chosen. The three-step overhang of the northern eaves is created by two rows of staggered hollow bricks with appropriate mortar.

The Romanesque ship apparently did not have any outer buttresses. On the south side, as an extension of the yoke-dividing belt arches, there are two buttresses, which are rectangular in plan and whose outwardly sloping upper sides reach up to about 1.50 meters below the eaves. A similar pillar stands in the extension of the west facade, but it is twice as deep. At the east end of the wall, the attached bell tower takes on the task of bracing.

The bell tower becomes almost square above the eaves of the ship and, with its sweeping eaves, extends just under a meter above the ridge. His spire has the shape of a pyramid with a roof pitch of about 50 degrees, the lower edges of which are only flatly inclined. Its wooden structure is covered with slate shingles. On its top there is a short pillar with a square cross-section with similar thickenings at both ends and a ball on top. A metallic cross with a finely crafted weather vane and a weather vane grows out of it . On the west, south and east sides of the tower there is a slender, round-arched opening, the apex of which is a good half a meter below the tower eaves. These are the sound arcades, between the soffits of which a bell is hung, which swing outwards and inwards across the walls.

The side aisle has two strong buttresses on the north wall, which are similar to those on the main nave. They end about a meter below the eaves. The northwest corner of this ship is only slightly thickened in both directions. The thickenings decrease from below to almost the entire height of the wall, evenly to zero.

  • North elevation

  • View from NW

  • Masonry association

  • Spire

In each yoke, the south wall has a slender, arched window about halfway up the wall. One is also cut out in the middle of the west facade, but is significantly higher. In the short remnant of the former north wall of the main nave at its west end, a smaller round arched window is let. In the north wall of the aisle, two slender, arched windows are cut out in bays 2 and 3. They are located about halfway up the wall and in the floor plan just next to the buttresses dividing the yoke of the north wall.

In the east wall of the aisle, the two-winged rectangular main portal opens with a classicist frame. Both sides of the three-sided portal frame are flanked by a flat pilaster each , which is equipped with a weakly carved capital and corresponding base. These seem to have a mighty lintel with multiple horizontal steps, which is covered by a three-sided cantilever plate. In the center above the portal there is a circular ox eye , which is framed by a simple cylindrical frame.

decor

Choir apse, cornice

Choir apse

The church of Saint-Christol would remain a modest building if its choir apse, the chancel, were not so extraordinarily artfully furnished. This is surprising in such a simple rural priory, but especially in a region where Romanesque sculpture is seldom seen. The decor spreads evenly on the semicircular apse wall without appearing overloaded. It forms an unusually symbolic background for the altar. (P. 292)

Choir apse, capitals on the triumphal arch

The various architectural design elements of the choir apse are also very balanced. The rather high arcature stands on a circumferential parapet of a good one and a half meters high and carries the carefully assembled hemispherical dome of the apse vault, the approach of which is marked by a cornice delicately decorated with stylized acanthus leaves. There is also a wavy frieze under the cornice. On the triumphal arch of the choir apse, the cornice merges into capital friezes at the level of the arches. These show, between a motif of very small wavy lines (in the south) or a sawtooth pattern (in the north), a pearl and pirouette bar and an elegant floral decoration. On the right side of this one can see Corinthian worked snails with large vine leaves in the corners, which either surround another broad vine leaf or a fleshy vine. A small crescent-shaped ring holds the beautifully shaped, ribbed and serrated leaves on their stem. A decor of acanthus leaves and snails develops on the north side. The acanthus here strongly resembles the pointed-leaved thistle that grows in various species on the Albion Plateau and in the Lure Mountains . On the back of the pillar in the direction of the ship you can see stylized aquatic plant leaves in a jug, a magnificent vessel for holding grapes. (P. 292)

The entire length of the parapet is covered by a sturdy, slightly cantilevered plate with multiple profiles on the front, which, based on the ancient model, rests on a wide band of large-format, almost square, ashlar blocks, which are twice horizontally slightly graduated in height. The ashlars bend slightly at their butt joints and thus follow the curve of the apse.

Choir apse, blind arch

The background of the arcade niches and the lower area of ​​the parapet consist mainly of small-format rubble stones in regular layered masonry. Approximately in the middle of the first, second and fourth arcade you can see large-format blocks of stone, irregularly piled on top of each other, in the masonry, which extend from the parapet to the level of the capitals. In the upper half of the central arcade there is a slender, arched window that illuminates the chancel, with inwardly widened walls made of medium to large-sized stone, the arch of wedge stones .

Six slender, free-standing, finely chiseled columns support the five arches made of wedge stones. The wedge arches meet in a common shaped stone above the transom plates. The column shafts are equipped with carved capitals and profiled fighters. The four inner shafts stand on bases carved with high relief and the two outer shafts on simply profiled bases. All bases are lined with angular plinths. The column shafts have particularly rich plant and animal decor in bas-relief. The two pillars next to the central window, which are more simply decorated, are excluded from this.

Notre-Dame et St-Chrisophe de St-Christol, decor of the chancel.jpg

The most extraordinary decoration is carried by the columns of the arcades, which deserve to be described and interpreted in detail with their capitals, shafts and bases (numbering from left to right, see enclosed hand sketch)

Gallery of blinds

  • Arcade 1-2

  • Arcade 2-3

  • Arcade 3-4

  • Arcade 5-6

Pillar No. 1

  • Choir apse, column shaft No. 1

  • Choir apse, capital No. 1

  • Choir apse, column shaft No. 1

  • Choir apse, column shaft No. 1

This column stands directly behind the northern wall pillar of the triumphal arch and is almost completely covered by this, as seen from the ship. It stands on a rather simple base made of a thicker and a thinner round profile, which are separated from one another by a groove decorated with balls.

The shaft of the column is adorned with vine leaves all around, with the tendrils winding around each other in the form of figures of eight. They enclose a kind of medallion in the form of squares placed on the corners. The medallions contain grape leaves, vines, twisted tendrils, stylized flowers, rosettes, stars and birds in side view. In the lower section of the shaft, you can see the front body of a bear in profile, which lays a paw on a vine and has a fruit (?) In its open mouth. The eye was originally formed from a lost black stone.

The capital of this column is connected to the wall. To hang the fleshy grapes on the one hand and the vine leaf on the other under the corners of the capital on shoots of the vine separated by rosettes. Grapes and leaves in stiff reliefs resemble those on the shaft of the column, but also those of the frieze capitals on the triumphal arch, both in their drawing and in their technique.

The first column explains the subject of " vine ". Its winding tendrils, leaves and fruit bunches develop around the shaft, they bloom and offer their magnificent fruits. The theme of the “vine” develops broadly, almost exuberantly, in this sanctuary. It even becomes a fairytale garden, a picture of paradise , with arcades , birds pecking fruit, thieving bears, winged creatures and, in particular, fantasy animals.

Wine was largely unknown on the high plateau of Albion . If, as in Saint-André de Rosans , where leaves and grapes are also shown together with monsters, this theme, handed down from ancient and pre-Christian times, has a decorative meaning and at the same time a mystical content. In the Old Testament, the vineyard symbolizes paradise. In the New Testament, Christ compares himself to the vine, the fruit of which is the New Covenant Eucharist .

Like the fox, the bear loves fruit. So one could see the memory of ancient fables in this scene. In addition, the bear was widespread in the Ubaye (Barcelonnette) valley until the end of the 18th century and in the Lure Mountains and the Albion Mountains as late as the 19th century. 1784 Darluc wrote in his history naturelle de Provence about the bear in the Provencal mountains: "If the same weight and overweight, the bear climbs but on trees, and employs sent his paws to pluck fruit." One should therefore in the bear, who has been carefully depicted with a fur on the column, see not only the symbol of voracity, but even more the realistic depiction that is also continued on the following columns with the rabbits. (P. 293 + 294)

Pillar No. 2

  • Choir apse, column shaft No. 2

  • Choir apse, base No. 2

This column shaft is enclosed by spiral-shaped, smooth bands between which a stylized network of leaves and foliage spreads, the motifs of which are different in each of the spaces but repeat over one another with only minor deviations. Under the capital is a fruit cluster of juicy grapes and next to it grape leaves.

The capital is a veritable bouquet of finely cut, angular, almost extremely precisely reproduced vine leaves, the shadow of which is strongly emphasized by the stone drill holes, and thus gives the representation great power. You may have to see a wine trellis here, as on the previous column.

A source wants to recognize on the shaft "in the middle two protruding front bodies of rabbits and three bird heads". However, this is hard to understand. But if you turn the photo of the shaft 45 degrees to the left, you could easily see several heads of hares or rabbits in one of the gaps that are looking at the viewer from the front, but whose spoon ears are already half covered by the upper band. This interpretation seems to be weakly founded here, as does the recognition of bird heads.

As with the following three pillars, this one also stands on a base, a high relief of a mythical creature or bastard monster, which is composed of elements from humans and various animals. The source mentioned above sees a siren with an oversized human head with only hinted wings on the neck. The siren's face, with its feminine features, shows wide open and bulging almond eyes and a shoulder-length hairstyle. With the hands that protrude from the wide sleeves, something is brought to the mouth that can hardly be identified due to damage. Both hands, however, seem to bring two Olifanten to the fleshy lips, which are blown into with strongly inflated cheeks. The compact composition lies symmetrically around the axis of the shaft. Here, too, lost black stones accentuated the monster's pupils.

The siren appears frequently in medieval iconography , the bird siren less often than the fish siren. Long hair, here somewhat coarse with two strips of stiff, slightly spiral-shaped curls, characterizes the pitfalls of lust, which preachers like to compare with Aphrodite's net . Seductive, frightening, but at the same time enchanting, the siren draws people in, in order to plunge them into their doom with their love skills and their melodic but deceptive sounds, here with Olifanten, if they do not, like the clever Odysseus out of caution, “their ears” clog " . Involuntarily, this figure is reminiscent of the Homeric text ( Odyssey XII 439f): “He who hears the song of the sirens out of imprudence is lost; his wife and children will never see him again at home; the sirens enchant him with their harmonious song. ” For the people of the Middle Ages, the siren was an image of seduction, of the female demon, the symbol of temptation and fornication. (P. 294 + 295)

Pillar No. 3

  • Choir apse, column shaft No. 3

  • Choir apse, base No. 3

  • Choir apse, capital no.3

Its stem adorn the entire length extending equal width grooves a fluting , whose large and small depths but significantly switch to two-thirds and one-third of their length, and the alternately from throat to throat. The throats are separated by narrower bars. The upper ends of the throats are finished in a semicircle. Small tassels hang above in the lower ones . The shaft and the capital are separated by a ring made of a round profile.

The capital bears well-cut acanthus leaves and loosened corner buds with spiral tendrils and fruit stands.

Without a profile, the shaft stands bluntly on the base of a high relief of a bastard monster with two bodies of resting lions and a common human head of a senior with a fixed frontal gaze towards the viewer and a closed mouth. His upper lip is adorned with a twisted mustache, his chin is covered by a long, divided beard, the ends of which are grasped by both hands of the imaginary creature and pulled downwards. His arms are covered by wide sleeves. The shoulders of the monster are covered by the long hair on the back of the head that merges into the manes of the lions' bodies. The forehead is covered by a straight-trimmed pony hairstyle. As with the other sculptures, the black or colored polished stones formerly located in the deep holes of the pupils are missing here.

This strange mythical creature half human and half lion, reminiscent of an Egyptian sphinx , is difficult to interpret. The piercing gaze of this creature, which is still characterized by a primitive animality, initially instills fear. The strong hair and beard growth are signs of masculinity and strength. Meanwhile, the calm and wisdom emanating from the genteel face of the old man, combined with the strength of the lion, can become a symbol of power and protection. In this sphinx and the lion, the following symmetrical column near the axis of the choir, one can undoubtedly see guardians of the holy of holies. (P. 296)

Pillar No. 4

  • Choir apse, column shaft No. 4

  • Choir apse, base No. 4

  • Choir apse, base No. 4 from the left

Its capital is adorned by broadly unfolding acanthus leaves, the base of which has been worked with a stone drill. The capital and shaft are also separated by a ring made of a narrow round profile.

The shaft shows flat and convex bands in weak relief, which wind very closely next to each other in spirals around the shaft. The shaft ends at the bottom without profiling directly on the high relief of the base.

As with the previous ones, the axis of the predominantly symmetrical construction of the base runs exactly radially to the center of the semicircular floor plan of the sanctuary. The monster, a lion made up of two bodies and a common head, crouches with its rear end on the ground, into which its paws claw. The front part of the body rises towards the middle and holds its paws protectively over a ball that rests on a central, compact column with a round, profiled spider and base. The protruding neck and shoulders cover lank manes. The lion's oversized head rises centrally above the column with a ball, with wide-open eyes and small protruding ears. The lion bites with its mouth between the protruding cheekbones and bared front teeth into the strong central body of a huge snake, which is the only non-symmetrical part of the composition. On the right side of the base, the snake's front body loops around the lion's mane and bites its upper neck from behind. On the left, the whole back part of the snake loops around the whole body of the lion and further down around its rear part. The fur, the muscular paws, the claws and the tails of the cat's body are carefully designed, as are the scales of the snake, whose head, which is instinctively thrown back, reveals a devilish face: large eyes, small protruding ears and a cat's nose.

As with the previous motifs, the composition is almost completely symmetrical: only the snake's body is shaped with a certain freedom, so that the perfect symmetry is less disturbing. The interpretation of this high relief, a close fight between the lion and the snake, a fight in which the calm and cheerful strength of the lion is uniquely measured against the cunning of the snake, is clear. From this symbol of Christ's struggle against Satan, the struggle of good against evil in all its forms, of course, with God's help, the power of good emerges victorious. The lion as a symbol of divine power is shown here in his majestic and triumphant posture. He lays his paws in front of a small ball, which is nothing else than the globe (see article Flat Earth ), the stage of the eternal struggle between good and evil. The ball lies on a pillar, the cosmic pillar and tree of life. The scene carved in stone takes place in silence, which gives the symbol an extraordinary dimension. The royal and respectable animal is also the mighty protector of the sanctuary. According to the Romansh view, these lion monsters could have a twofold meaning, their power as an ominous monster and that as protector. (P. 206)

The symmetrical division into two bodies and a common head is very often found in Romanesque high reliefs of capitals, more rarely as here in high reliefs of column bases. But you do not want to represent a fantastic being with a head and two attached bodies. Obviously, their only task is to ensure that one scene can be seen in the same sense, not only from the front, but also from different angles from the side. Theoretically, only a being with a head and a body should be represented. The view from one side, where you can no longer see the second body, would be correspondingly more realistic than the frontal one.

Pillar No. 5

  • Choir apse, column shaft No. 5 below

  • Choir apse, column shaft No. 5 above

  • Choir apse, base No. 5

  • Choir apse, capital No. 5

This column in turn has a capital with well-cut broadly fanned acanthus leaves, similar to that of the preceding column. A string of stone drill holes separates it from the final ring of a round profile, which closes the shaft on the top.

The column shaft is decorated with a bas-relief in the manner of the first column. The shaft is divided horizontally into six levels, which are separated by braided cords. There are four on each of the lower five floors - maybe 6? - upright standing birds are shown, which alternately turn their backs or are turned to each other. In a movement full of serenity and grace, her long neck reaches over the strings that divide the floors, alternating from back to front or from front to back. With long and curved beaks, they seem to tear their chests open, a gesture that in Romanesque iconography is more reminiscent of pelicans than, for example, of ibises, which these birds here resemble. Their long "toes" have strongly curved claws. The perfectly drawn plumage of each animal consists of delicately layered feathers. The wings are in the form of a lyre along the length of the body.

On the top floor, the birds with similarly looped necks and beaks that tear open their chests are turned into turned kites, mythical creatures with spread wings, legs with curved claws and twisted snake tails.

The pelican was a symbol of Christ in Christian art. This goes back to the old belief that the pelican feeds its young with its own blood. This behavior has been compared to Christ, who gave his blood and with it his life for the people.

The origin of this interpretation is an observation of nature from antiquity. Pelicans gobble down their food and choke it up again to feed the young. You can also see that the pelican's chest is contaminated with fish blood. This was interpreted by observers in ancient times to mean that the pelican feeds its young with its own blood.

Due to a lack of knowledge of the shape of pelicans, they were very often misrepresented in the Middle Ages, as was the case with depictions of elephants and other tropical or oriental animals.

The fabulous birds of this shaft, like those of the others, form a decorative motif that is known from the Orient. It is often found on textiles or carpets that spread throughout the West after the Crusades, which were then used by sculptors and mosaicists as models for patterns, for example in the monastery church of Ganagobie .

The base of the column is a high relief of a fish siren that holds the end of its scaly tail up with its tail fin with its hand. The bust of the siren with two long strips of stiff curls protruding from the face, reach behind the tail to the earth or down into the waves. Her hands are made similar to those of the bird siren, to which she offers a kind of counterpart. Unfortunately, her sculpture is badly damaged in the area of ​​the upper body.

More than the bird siren, the fish siren was a widespread motif in the Middle Ages, a symbol of female seduction skills. In the church of Saint-Christo the bust of the siren was made rough, with small breasts, hands that were too big and too fat, despite the deliberately delicately drawn fingers and nails. The face of the siren bird from pillar no. 2 also appears rough, bloated and rather masculine, here not with the classic youthful face, but rather with that of the mature age. (P. 297 + 298)

Pillar No. 6

  • Choir apse, column shaft No. 6

  • Choir apse, base No. 6

  • Choir apse, capital No. 6

The last column, like the first, stands directly behind the wall pillar of the triumphal arch, but behind the southern one, and is almost completely covered by this, as seen from the ship.

The column is crowned by a beautiful classic acanthus leaf capital, which is separated from the shaft by a ring made of a round profile, which is accompanied by a very narrow profile.

The shaft is decorated with a bas-relief, which is considerably damaged in the lower area and is largely no longer recognizable. In the upper area, two monsters can be seen on the visible side, with their backs facing each other, at the same height, looped around their necks with a common loop of twisted rope and tied at the upper end of the shaft. They have lower bodies of lions whose hind legs reach far down, one of which crosses each other with the leg of the opposite. Their upper bodies, whose heads are pointed slightly upwards with crooked beaks, are reminiscent of those of birds of prey, such as those of eagles. Each of them has a kind of starfish in its beak. Their shoulders or mutilated wings point sideways. The plumage of this monster is scale-shaped, the fur is dotted, also partially structured in stripes and gives the bas-relief a certain modeling. The black stones are still preserved in the holes drilled in the pupils. Shortly below the thighs of the lion's hind legs, on a much smaller scale, a small lion's head with a torn open mouth can be seen in side view. According to one of the sources, this belongs to heraldic lions that stand upright on their hind legs.

Similar to the mythical beasts of column no. 5, these motifs are also those that mainly play a decorative role, the oriental decors were plastically reproduced. (P. 298 + 299)

The shaft stands on a rather simple base made of a thicker and a thinner round profile, which are separated from one another by a groove.

Main altar

Main altar
Dimensions
  • Table: 1.83 × 0.83 × 0.17 m
  • Base: 1.48 × 0.45 × 0.79 m
  • Relic compartment: 0.08 × 0.09 × 0.06 m

The main altar in the choir apse, the focal point of the church, justifies the magnificent and rich decor. This was created especially for this building, which is rare, and then by the same sculptor who also designed the decoration of the choir apse. Fortunately, in 1975 it was returned to its original location in the apse of the Romanesque nave.

The main altar consists of a large cafeteria (altar plate) and an artistically decorated base made of fine limestone. Both parts lay separately from each other in some dark corner of the church, probably since 1763, about 250 years ago, when a new main altar was built on the west wall of the main nave.

The edge of the altar plate is profiled all around just like the fighters of the blind arches in the main nave or the fighters of the capitals in the choir apse.

The cafeteria has a monolith decorated on three sides, the original protruding upper edge and vertical edges of which have been chipped off at some point. This probably happened in the 17th or 18th century when people wanted to "clad" the altar with wood. The surface on which the table top rests is only hewn as a makeshift square. A small, rectangular “loculus” is cut out in the middle, which has a fold at the edges into which a cover can be inserted flush with the surface. The front and side surfaces of the base are decorated with bas-reliefs.

The front is an elongated rectangle, which is enclosed at the bottom and side by a wide frame that consisted of a projection of approximately the same width on the top. The side frame was badly damaged by the chipping off of the edges, the overhang was completely removed. Inside the frame you can see a smaller rectangle that is filled with an architecture, a blind arcade of three semicircular arches that stand on four columns. The columns are equipped with stylized capitals and even fighters. They stand at the bottom on relatively large hemispherical bases, viewed as a semicircle. The niche backgrounds and the gussets over the arches are closed surfaces, which can be recognized by a fine grain. The arches each cover a large circular ring that encloses a significantly smaller circular ring. It is probably about three wells, from the pipes of which water gushes and runs down to the floor as an evenly wide jet the width of the columns and foams up there in a hemispherical shape, which here again becomes a semicircle the size of the column bases. In the inner circular ring, the initially wider water flow narrows, which illustrates the outflow quite cleverly. A vertical tree trunk rises up on both sides of this depiction, with heart-shaped leaves of ivy hanging from its curved branches on the right side, while the left side could mean fruit clusters of grapes. Four heart-shaped leaves with scaly and other structures can be seen in the inner third of the lower edge on curved stems. In the two outer thirds you can see five spiral-shaped plant tendrils.

The side surfaces of the base show snails, acanthus or thistle leaves on the left, two large, intertwined vine leaves on the right in the manner of those in the choir apse. They are stylized leaves with a serrated edge, main ribs in relief and incised secondary ribs.

This altar, which resembles the one in the Apt cathedral , is more in keeping with the classical tradition, in which the blind arches surrounded metal reliefs that have now disappeared. Its interesting symbolism shows on the front under the three arcades, as heaven, the three divine virtues as bubbling sources: faith, hope and love. The symbolic meaning of the source met in the Old Testament in Hes 47,1.7  EU and Jes 12.3  EU : "You will draw from the wells of salvation with joy water" , but also in the New Testament, for example, in John 7,37- 38  EU : “Whoever is thirsty, come to me and drink whoever believes in me; as the Scriptures say: rivers of living water will flow from his body ” . The water as a symbol of the Holy Spirit is also reminiscent of the hymn to the "Most Holy Trinity, the source of life" . Here the water springs arise from the stone cube - the rock, namely Christ - of this altar, on which one celebrates the Most Holy Eucharist, which is often referred to as the source of life. The ivy around this scene is an evergreen plant, a symbol of immortality and the survival of the soul.

In addition, there seems to be a number symbolism in the decor of this altar: the number 3 in the baptismal rite corresponds to the Trinity, which perhaps stand for the three divine virtues, complete four semicircular bases of the columns, which correspond to the four cardinal virtues: bravery, justice, prudence and temperance . The number 7 resulting from the addition of 3 and 4 reminds of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the connection of earth with heaven, a covenant that is always renewed in the sacrifice of the Mass. (P. 299 + 300)

Technical considerations

The entire decor of the choir apse and the altar of Notre-Dame et Saint-Christophe is made of fine limestone. All capitals are more or less derived from the Corinthian model. The loosening and the strong shadows are created by numerous stone drill holes, both in the high reliefs, as well as in the capital friezes of the triumphal arch and the round high reliefs of the bases. The column shafts and the altar have finely crafted bas-reliefs . With the carefully designed animal and plant decor, the special quality of the reproduction is striking, be it the fur or plumage of monsters or the extremely detailed shape of the foliage.

The entire sculptural decoration of the priory church of Saint-Christol should not only be the work of the same group of sculptors, but rather the work of a single, particularly skilled artist, however extraordinary that may be. Regardless of whether it is the frieze, the columns or the altar, you will always recognize the same personal style. Everywhere the reliefs show the same decorative form with regular grooves, as for example with the altar, the base No. 4 and the capital No. 5. Everywhere one finds the same type of vine leaf, with the characteristic serrated edge, a developed leaf, its lobes are clearly cut and jagged - you could almost determine the thistle or acanthus species - the pronounced ribs of the leaves sit on the stem on a crescent-shaped ring. The sculptor always used scales for the structure of the snake's body, the tail of the siren, the neck of the pelican, the front and back of the birds and some leaves in the frame of the front of the altar substructure. Likewise, skins are mostly dotted or dashed, as in the case of the lions and the front body of the bear. These techniques and structures indicate the same hand. Every now and then you can find traces of color on the sculptures, especially red, also black around the eyes of the bird siren. (P. 300 + 301) This indicates that the sculptures were originally painted entirely in color, which illustrated the individual representations more clearly, for example the plant parts in green, the flowing water in blue and the architecture in beige.

Literature / sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa from Guy Barruol: Romanesque High Provence pp. 285–301

Web links

Commons : Notre-Dame et Saint-Christophe de Saint-Christol d'Albion  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 44 ° 1 ′ 43.5 ″  N , 5 ° 29 ′ 28 ″  E