Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes (former abbey church)
The former abbey church of Saint-Jouin in the town of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes is one of the most important Romanesque sacred buildings in Poitou . Church construction has been recognized as a monument historique since 1862 .
history
The village already had a predecessor named Ensio (later Ension ) in Gallo-Roman times . It was on a Roman road that led from Poitiers to Angers and is also called the "Way of St. Hilary ". The existence of this connection path contributed significantly to the later development of monastic life in this place.
At the end of the fourth century, a certain Jovinus (French: Jouin ) is said to have sought solitude in the forests of the region together with a small group of “disciples”. He is said to have come from Mouterre-Silly , a town in Loudunais , and come from a wealthy family. His brother, Saint Maximin, was one of the early Archbishops of Trier . According to legend, Jovinus founded an oratory near the town of Ensio around 342 . The later founded monastery , which initially bore the name of the village, was to become one of the first centers for the spread of Christianity in the region. It is considered the second oldest monastery in France after the Abbey of Saint-Martin de Ligugé ( Vienne ), which was founded in 361 by Saint Martin of Tours . The preaching and charitable work of its founder led to his veneration as Saint Jovinus. His bones were later kept as relics in the small Carolingian monastery church. The abbey then also bore his name.
During the 7th century, Felix, the bishop of Nantes , entrusted Martin von Vertou with the missionary work of the south of his diocese and Poitou. His mission also took him to Ension , where he found a more or less regular community monastery life. He succeeded in imposing the rule of St. Benedict on the monks as a way of life. In the wars between Pippin , Charlemagne and Hunold Duke of Aquitaine in the second half of the 8th century, the monks fled their abbey.
During the time of the Norman invasions , at the beginning of the 9th century, the abbey was initially spared from any devastation, as it was located away from navigable rivers. In the 9th century, the Abbey of Saint-Jouin was able to develop into a center of monastic culture in the Haut-Poitou. In other areas of the region, the monks of the monasteries attacked and plundered by the Vikings had to flee. Many of these refugees found refuge in Saint-Jouin. For example, the monks of the Abbey of Saint Martin of Vertou left their monastery with the relics of their founder. In 843 they withdrew to Ension with the support of Louis the Pious . They gave the monastery new impulses by reviving the meanwhile forgotten Rule of Saint Benedict.
In 878, the monks restored the old Carolingian church to the current location of the abbey church. Many of the refugees brought valuable relics with them, which made Saint-Jouin a popular destination for many pilgrims, whose donations boosted the abbey's prosperity.
Saint-Jouin was on a direct route between Angers and Poitiers, which flowed into the Via Turonensis there , and was thus on an important stretch of the “ Camino de Santiago ” to Santiago de Compostela , which flourished in the 11th and 12th centuries. In the course of the 11th century the flow of pilgrims increased so much that the old Carolingian church could no longer contain it. In addition, there was no longer enough space to display the numerous relics. A new building was necessary. The foundation stone was laid in 1095 by the monk Raoul, the builder and reformer of the order, under whose leadership construction began.
In 1100 he was appointed Abbot of Saint-Jouin. As early as 1130, the main work of the abbey church was completed with the dedication of the main altar. The generous dimensions and artistic furnishings of the new abbey church set an outward sign of the abbey's prosperity. In 1179 she was subordinate to 127 churches and their parishes. Between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century, the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Jouin founded the church of Aigne in the parish of Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire ( Loire-Atlantique ), as well as the church of Saint-Jacques south of Nantes , also the abbeys of Saint-Martin in Vertou and Saint-Nicolas in Les Moutiers-en-Retz .
In the 13th century, the Romanesque barrel vaults in the central nave and choir were exchanged for Gothic , Angevin ribbed vaults .
In the same century (as indicated in a floor plan), subsidence of the terrain was noticed in the southeastern area of the choir head, which had led to the formation of cracks in the structures. As a collapse of parts of the building was to be feared, exceptionally bulky buttresses were added to the outside chapels and on the southern arm of the transept , which impair the formerly harmonious proportions of the choir head.
In 1356 the region fell into the hands of the English. Devastation was mainly committed between 1369 and 1374. In 1372 the English cut the south tower from its small bell tower.
In the second half of the 14th century, during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), the abbey fortifications were expanded to protect against the English and against raiding hordes. The church was partially retrofitted with defense technology. The entire southern arm of the transept was raised by a whole storey and equipped with a battery of pitch cores over the entire width of the transept and on its sides, over which roofed movement areas with lockable windows were arranged for the defenders. At the same time, a generously dimensioned spiral staircase was built in the angle between the transept arm and the ambulatory as access to the extended fortifications. In the case of defense, this considerable gain in space was intended to enable defenders to stay longer, to store food, weapons and ammunition. The fortifications defended the church. The area was recaptured by the chief equerry, Bertrand du Guesclin . In 1422 the fortifications of the monastery buildings were expanded, but they were considerably damaged.
In 1447 the restoration of the buildings belonging to the convent took place. In 1467 Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes became a market town, and markets were held every Saturday. In 1476, Pierre von Amboise had the cloister rebuilt. Of this, only the south gallery of the cloister , which is connected to the church on the north side, remains today .
The religious wars (1562–1598) between the Catholic League and the Huguenots hit the Abbey of Saint-Jouin painfully. In February 1568 a troop of Protestant cavalry passed here on the way to the battle of Moncontour . They looted and pillaged the monastery. The destruction by Gaspard de Coligny's forces was so radical that almost nothing was left. The relics of St. Jouin then disappeared without a trace. In 1569 there was looting again.
In 1655 the monastery of Saint-Jouin undertook the reform of Saint Maurus , and it flourished again. The extensive buildings of the abbey extended on the north-west side of the abbey church around several courtyards and housed a.o. a. a school for painting.
A flourishing period began for the abbey until the beginning of the 18th century, when a new decline in monastic life was heralded. In 1755 the old convent building was destroyed and a new one was built. In the same year, the monastery of Saint-Jouin lost its independence and was placed under the administration of the Chapter of Amboise . In the following years, the abbey fell into oblivion and has remained uninhabited since 1770.
The French Revolution of 1789 put an end to monastic life. The abbey was sold by order of the state, and the church was returned to worship in 1795. In the French Revolution (1789) the abbey was officially closed and the abbey building was sold as a national property, some of which were also released for demolition. Fortunately, the Church was spared this fate.
Prosper Mérimée visited Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes in the mid-19th century. He found the monastery in a deplorable condition. The church, too, was unsupervised, exposed to weathering, and exhibited considerable damage. There is a detailed representation of the deplorable condition of the facade (see picture). It is thanks to his efforts that the abbey church has been largely preserved.
The restoration work, which often had to be interrupted, could not be completed until the middle of the 20th century.
Today the well-preserved abbey church, the southern gallery of the cloister and the convent building, which is privately owned, still exist from this abbey, which had an important spiritual and economic influence in the region.
The church building
Main dimensions approx
without pillar templates:
- Overall length outside: 72.30 m
- Inner length of the ships: 41.70 m
- Outside width of the nave: 17.00 m
- Length of the transept outside: 28.30 m
- Outside width of the transept: 8.40 m
- Inner length of the transept: 24.90 m
- Depth of the choir: 14 m
- Length of the choir head, from the transept to the apse of the middle chapel: 23.30 m
- Height of the arches of the choir: 8.50 m
- Total height: 15 m
Interior
The longhouse
The plan of the abbey church corresponds to a Latin cross . The nave as a three-aisled hall church adheres to the pattern common in Poitou; it has ten yokes .
The first three yokes in all naves still show the original vault with semicircular round barrels that are slightly pointed in the central nave. They are separated from one another by belt arches with a right-angled cross-section . The heights of the ships differ only slightly from one another. The sharpened dividing arches between the ships have a stepped cross-section. Their vertices are at the height of the arched belt attachments of the central nave. The belt and divider arches stand in all ships on semicircular columns ( services ) that protrude from the strong square pillar cores and the outer walls. At the level of the arches, each half-column ends with a sculpted capital with a thick cover . In the side aisles, the services are subdivided again in height on the outer walls. The dimension of the column thickness changes well below the upper capital at the height of the bulge. One column becomes two smaller ones that stand on an additional capital. Perhaps this is a sign of a subsequent (?) Increase in the number of ships, possibly already during the first construction phase.
The other seven yokes were originally designed in the same way. The side aisles as well as the partition arches have received their original design there. The vaults of the central nave, in bays four to ten, were modified in the 13th century and adapted to the current Gothic style . Gothic ribbed vaults were inserted there, with an Angevin style. The belt arches were removed in favor of profiled ribs. The new arches bundled their loads over the ribs to the largely preserved capitals at their original height. The services underneath were, however, removed down to the height of the capitals of the partition arches and replaced there by much thinner round column shafts, in some cases also by right-angled pillars. The Gothic vaults are equipped with keystones that are elaborately designed with various figurative sculptures. All pillars and services of the nave and their capitals were extensively restored in the 19th century. In each yoke there is a medium-sized window in the upper half of the outer wall, with reveals slightly widened inwards and without any special decorative elements. In the course of the nave, the floor level is adjusted to the external level gradient of the site by stairs.
The daylight of the central aisle takes place exclusively through the windows of the side aisles and the large windows in the facade wall. The vault of the central nave is only dimly lit due to the lack of clerical windows .
Longhouse capital, lions
Longhouse capital, birds
Nave capital, saint with nimbus and 2 bishop's staff
Longhouse capital, birds drink from chalice
The transept
The nave opens into the transept as an extension of the three naves . The crossing is framed by four bundles of pillars , the strongest in the building, and their four-sided walls with pointed arches with graduated cross-sections. The arches to the nave and the choir are arranged much higher than those to the transept arms. Only the services on the west and east sides of the pillar bundles have carved capitals; on the other sides, rectangular pillar templates are arranged in cross-section, the arches of which are marked with transom profiles. This does not apply to the sides of the crossing pillars that point towards the choir and to which the choir walls adjoin.
The crossing dome rests with its lower hem on the crossing walls and in their corners on the relatively small trumpets , marked by a cantilever profile. A circular opening has been made in the top of the dome.
The transept arms still have the original barrel vault. As an extension of the outer walls of the nave, the arching is interrupted by a double arch . The north arm of the transept still has the two Romanesque arched windows, in the south the two windows have been exchanged for a significantly larger one with a pointed arch . The floor plan of the church indicates that the transept arms each had a chapel . The northern chapel no longer exists; the southern one was replaced by a lavishly dimensioned spiral staircase that leads up to the weir systems at the gable of the transept arm. The slender passages in the aisles of the nave and choir are covered with round arches, the apex height of which corresponds approximately to the height of the crossing capitals.
The choir with access and chapels
The choir room, which begins at the crossing, is initially built with three naves, with the same width as the nave.
The unusual design of the first choir bay suggests that the subsequent choir design may originally have looked different than it is today, or was once planned differently. This yoke connects directly to the crossing and is significantly narrower than the others. On its east side there are strong pillars with a cross-section similar to that of the crossing, but with smaller dimensions. The strong, right-angled pillars on these arrows are striking, reaching up to the vaults of the choir and gallery on both sides. The wall sections that separate the choir from the passageways each have a tall, slender passage that is covered by a semicircular arch. In its wall section it was not centered, but shifted slightly forwards. Its reveal edges are structured on both sides of the wall by means of setbacks. The arch approaches are marked by fighter profiles. Shortly and centered above the passage there are two slender arched windows between the choir and the gallery. The windows stand in two larger niches, which are covered by arcade arches, which meet on a central round column with a capital and a fighter. One floor higher, at the height of the triforiums, a circular wall niche is embedded in the middle of this wall section. This could perhaps once have been a real window of a choir with no access. A barrel vault at this height and the roof on top of it connect to the exterior. On the choir side, directly above the round niche, a horizontal cantilever profile marks the beginning of the vaulting zone with gothic ribbed vaults. On the south side alone, under the ribs that accompany the wall, a pointed arched cliff window is cut out.
The first yoke is followed by a second, “normal” width, from which the brightness increases in the choir room, to which the larger windows in the walkway and the cliff windows contribute. The Angevin ribbed vault that began in the first choir bay continues into the choir apse. This also applies to the furnishing of the upper storeys with windows. In the gallery, the ribbed vault only begins from the second yoke behind the last belt arch and continues around the entire curve of the gallery, right into the three gallery chapels.
The arcade zone, made up of five arcades, is supported by six bundles of pillars, each made up of four round pillar halves, which are crowned by appropriately bundled and simply carved capitals and transom profiles. The semicircular arcade arches are rectangular in cross section and have stepped edges. Just above the wedge stones of the arches, a narrow profile marks the offset of the wall surface, in which the triforium from a blind arcade frieze is housed. This extends over the second yoke and the entire arcade zone on the ground floor. It is divided into five roughly equally wide sections, each made up of five blind arcades, with round columns that are slightly thicker than those of the blind arcades. The blind arcades are supported by slender round columns, which are equipped with simply designed capitals, fighters and bases. The arches are made of smooth wedge stones, above which the horizontal cantilever profile marks the beginning of the vaulting zone, as in the first choir bay. The pillars dividing the arcade frieze reach with their capitals below this cantilever profile, from which the ribs then strive upwards. The first two dividing columns are lined with a rectangular pillar template down to the capitals of the arcade zone on the ground floor. The ogival cantilever windows begin on the aforementioned cantilever profile. On the two arch-supporting capitals on both sides of the apse are two mid apostles sculptures . In the curvature of the ambulatory, blind arcade friezes beginning about half a meter above the floor and reaching under the windows are attached to the outer walls.
The abundance of light in the choir is increased again by three windows each in the three courtyard chapels and the two larger windows in their spaces. Their soffits are widened inwards. At the side edges of the reveal, two slim round columns with transoms and bases are built into setbacks.
Outer shape
The longhouse
The nave extends over at least ten bays, between the facade (see later section) and the transept, each separated by distinctive pillars with a rectangular cross-section. With their steeply sloping tops, they reach almost under the simply geometrically sculpted corbels of the profiled eaves cornice . In the upper half of the wall and in the middle of each yoke a window of medium size is cut out, which is covered by a semicircular arch. The window is arranged in a wall niche that is more than twice as wide. Its arch is spanned at a distance by an archivolt arch, which rests on both sides on slim round columns, the capitals of which show figurative sculptures, and whose bases , which stand in the niche corners, are profiled. Broad bands of warriors, adorned with lush vegetal decor, extend from the capitals to the yoke-dividing pillars.
The front of the archivolt arch is adorned with a broad rosette ribbon and zigzag ribbons; it is covered by a flush band with leaf motifs. On both sides of the arch there are small sculptures of people who can be recognized as saints by their nimbs on the fighter profiles . The description of the decorative elements concerns the first yoke on the south side. The other yokes change in their artistic equipment.
The entire length of the nave is covered with a gable roof with a flat roof pitch. The much more steeply inclined facade gable protrudes far beyond the roof of the ship. The ship's gable roof hits the higher walls of the transept. It is covered with red hollow bricks in Roman shape, the rainwater drips freely on the eaves.
The transept
The transept consists of the towering crossing or bell tower and the two transept arms. Originally the eaves of the transept arms were at the same height and merged with each other and were covered with gable roofs at the same pitch. Today this only applies to the northern arm of the transept. The first small window openings are still preserved in the gable wall; in the southern arm of the transept, however, these were later exchanged for a large, ogival window. The subsequent heightening of this arm of the transept in the 14th century, together with the addition of pitch cores to the gable (see section History), has considerably disfigured this section of the building. This increase with its relatively steeply sloping gable roof still covers part of the bell tower's sound hatches.
The gable wall of the transept, like two of the courtyard chapels, had problems with the stability of the subsoil. To avert this, two significantly more “delicate” buttresses have been added, which in turn are supported on vertical pillars. The pillars are additionally weighted with “ pinnacles ” extensions.
The square bell tower, the plan of which corresponds to that of the crossing, towers over the roof surfaces, with the exception of that of the southern arm of the transept, around a closed base, with two storeys above it, which are separated from one another by cantilevered cornices supported by corbels. There they also jump back slightly from floor to floor, and their floor height decreases towards the top. On each side and on each floor, two pairs of windows (sound hatches) are cut out with slender arched openings that are in turn in larger wall niches. The niches are framed by two archivolts on three round supports, which are equipped with carved capitals, fighters and bases. The arches are covered by narrow, slightly protruding profiles. The eaves cornice is also supported by corbels. The pyramid roof with a roof pitch of about 45 degrees is, like the southern arm of the transept, covered with reddish stone slabs or shingles.
The choir head
On the east side of the transept are the structural members of the choir head. Around the highest part of this assembly, the actual choir with its round apse, the ambulatory and the three courtyard chapels are staggered, each decreasing in height. The choir head is separated from the surrounding level applied in modern times by a ditch that is bordered by a parapet wall. The bottom of the trench corresponds to the original level of the sloping terrain to the east. The profiled bases of the walls and pillars stand there freely on a foundation plinth.
The greatest difference in the staggering of the building is found in the choir with its ceilings windows . The walls are reinforced on the long sides with right-angled pillars; on the curve of the apse , the semicircular services with capitals take over. The tops of the pillars, as well as those of the capitals, are sloping upwards and reach almost under the eaves. The smooth wedge stones of the arched windows of the upper storeys are covered by a simple round bar profile that merges horizontally at the level of the arches and extends to the pillars. The strong, sweeping eaves profile is supported by carved cantilever profiles. The saddle roof of the choir is more steeply inclined than that of the nave. It is covered with stone slabs or shingles like the tower.
The ambulatory surrounds the entire choir in a uniform width throughout, in the area of the choir apse in a semicircle. The flat, sloping monopitch roof connects to the choir just below the upper window. Very little of the handling can be seen from the surrounding area, because it is mostly covered by the handling chapels and the stair tower. Their low-pitched roofs, in the form of half cones, rich with their ridges just below the eaves of the intercourse. The eaves formation of the gallery and the chapels corresponds to that of the choir.
The walls of the chapel apses and the remaining sections of the gallery, between the chapels, are each equipped between or next to the windows with pillar templates with a rectangular cross-section, which are intended to carry the loads of the inner vaults. Their edges are ornamented with vegetal decoration. They barely reach the height of the chapel eaves and are beveled on the top. On their fronts they are reinforced by services with a ¾-circle cross-section. Immediately next to it are placed on both sides, only on one side of the walkway, accompanying much slimmer ¾-pillars, which with their capitals and their bevels push just below the eaves of the relevant part of the building.
The arched windows in the walls are among the largest in the building. They are optically enlarged by a circumferential offset. The field above the wedge stones of the window arch is decorated in relief with three flat blind arcades. Under the window, on the foundation plinth, there are two blind arcades with Keilstein round arches on four round columns, equipped with carved capitals, profiled fighters and bases.
The windows of the chapels are slightly smaller and covered by pointed arches. The window openings stand in a niche surrounding them with an archivolt made of smooth wedge stones, on slender round columns with carved capitals, profiled fighters and bases. Under the chapel windows, on the foundation plinth, there are three blind arcades made of Keilstein round arches, on four rectangular pillars, with battens and bases. The edges of the pillars and arches are decorated with geometric ornaments that are reminiscent of Gothic “crabs”. The different designs of the windows and the blind arcades in the corridor and the chapels indicate that they were subsequently added to the corridor.
Two of the courtyard chapels, the east and south-east, have three bulky buttresses that were added later, which deface the entire choir head. As with the gable wall of the southern arm of the transept, subsurface subsoil had caused cracks to form, which raised the fear of collapse of the affected parts of the structure. The buttresses are as thick as the pillars of the chapel apses and their accompanying pillars put together. They support themselves once at the upper end and again a good bit lower against the pillar template. Seen from its side, the outer contour of the buttress runs steeply upwards from its base (now underground) towards the structure, and then kinks towards the upper end of the pier template. The two inner contours are rounded. The inclination of the massive buttress creates considerable counterpressure on the affected parts of the structure. The tops are covered with semicircular pillars. A semicircular column with a carved capital is attached to the outside of the south-eastern buttress.
The south gallery of the cloister from 1476
The still-preserved south gallery of the former cloister leans against the north outer wall of the nave with a length of about 32 meters, with eight ribbed vaults. In the west wall of the north arm of the transept there is a direct connection to the former cloister via a multi-step staircase.
The facade
structure
The monumental display wall of the facade corresponds to the endeavor in Romanesque architecture in Poitou to decorate it to the last corner. The horizontal structure extends over two floors and a gable. The gable field is separated from the upper floor by a carved cantilever profile, which runs through the capitals of the paired services and bundles of columns. The vertical division takes place in three sections, namely by columns and groups of columns. Two “thick” semicircular columns take over this function on the first floor, two pairs of columns with two semicircular cross-sections on the first floor. The facade is laterally bounded by a bundle of two and three (plus two) round columns that are led around them on the right-hand corner of the facade. Two turrets rise above the carved capitals, from two storeys, the lower ones on the left with slender window slits, on the right with blind arcades, the upper ones with open arcades, both crowned with pointed eight-sided spiers.
In the center of the ground floor, the five-step archivolt main portal opens with semicircular arches, which extends its archivolt steps outwards and therefore requires a sloping roof. In earlier times there was a real canopy over the main portal (see old photo from the end of the 19th century). The services flanking the portal are so far in front of the facade surface that behind them, in the side walls created there, a dummy portal was created. The former round arched archival certificate portals on both sides of the main portal were later broken open and converted into doorways. On the upper floor, the central portal corresponds to a large three-tier archivolt window with semicircular arches that protrude above the band that ends the upper floor. The original false portals corresponded to two larger blind windows on the upper floor, with two-tier archivolts. They, too, were opened like the false portals and transformed into windows. The archivolt arches each stand on slender round pillars, equipped with carved capitals, spider plates and profiled bases. The first and inner archivolt is made of smooth stones from the soffit.
The verges of the gable field are significantly steeper than the adjoining roof of the nave and are covered by a narrow, sculpted cornice. The gable is used solely for the “narrative” figural sculpture.
Ornamentation and figural sculpture
The figural and vegetable sculptures on the portals are badly weathered, and you can hardly imagine the meaning of their representations. The first and inner archivolts arch made of wedge stones still shows remains of plant ornamentation. Its inner edge is slightly stepped. The second arch is also ornamented with vegetal ornamentation, but consists of longer stones "bent" lengthways. The former figurative representations on the third arch are mostly disfigured. At the ends of the arch, however, there are still remnants of tangentially arranged motifs of animals and people. The fourth archivolt arch shows portraits of men with different beard hairstyles in a radial arrangement on the wedge stones. The fifth archivolt arch again consists of wedge stones with a hardly identifiable sculpture. In the middle of the arch, geometric ornaments seem to predominate, at the bottom right one can make out some hints of faces, and on the opposite side perhaps figurative or vegetable representations. Flower rosettes can be found on the inside of the wedge stones. This last arch is enclosed by a slightly cantilevered, profiled band that is decorated with simple curves. The archivolt arches of the former mock portals show vegetal ornamentation. All portal capitals are figuratively ornamented; unfortunately these sculptures are also badly weathered.
The second archivolt arch in the middle window, above the smooth wedge-shaped stones, shows predominantly swaying vegetal tendrils in which human bodies wriggle. But you can also see the heads of monsters. The motifs of the third sheet are all different, the animals and people usually face each other in pairs. One stone shows two large birds with bearded human heads who are being grabbed by the necks by a person standing between them, another shows two deer ascending and eating from the grapes in a vine in between. Elsewhere, a bared person is writhing in plant-like tendrils that probably also carries grapes. In two scenes, two horse bodies face the viewer frontally, their heads turned to one side, and a number of others.
The archivolt arches of the side window to the left of the center are ornamented with vegetal elements. On those of the window to the right of the center are the sculptures of figurative and animal nature. The arches of all three windows are each encompassed by a wide band with vegetable sculpture.
The facade-dividing semicircular services on the ground floor are equipped with figuratively carved capitals and profiled fighters and bases. However, their striker plates do not bear any loads, as their pillars are clearly in front of the facade. But they probably carried the former wide canopy.
The capitals on the pairs of columns arranged above, like the capitals of the column bundles on the facade corners, are lavishly sculpted and are opposite them at the same height. The capitals on the services offer the following representations (from left to right): 1. Vegetable sculpture, 2. Upper body of two people who raise their hands to plant tendrils, 3. Vegetable ornamentation, 4. As before, 5. Two dog-like monsters, a bare, significantly smaller person rides on one, and holds the other monster on a leash with a collar, 6. two four-legged monsters rear up; their necks are tied one below the other, their heads hang down; their bodies are wrapped in ropes, 7. two monstrous animals with cat-like heads, 8. two people in a stooped position, with their bearded faces turned towards the viewer, 9. two horses, one of them mounted, jump towards each other, 10. large people- and monster heads, 11. galloping horse, on which a person rides who is almost on his back, 12. four-legged monster (lion?) 13. two ascending four-legged monsters (lion and horse?).
Facade capital, to the left of the main portal
Facade capitals, under the southern facade turret
Facade capitals u. Relief to the left of the central window
Facade capitals u. Relief to the right of the central window
Two reliefs are arranged above the capitals of the paired services to the side of the central window. The one on the left is interpreted as "Emperor Constantine, galloping in a hurry" and the one on the right as "Samson with the lion". The latter rides in a flying robe on the lion (?), Towards a second, high-upright person, dressed in a wide, floor-length robe. Both representations are symbols of the victory of Christ and are among the most popular themes in the Poitou portal sculpture.
On both sides of the central window there are reliefs of three saints on consoles: below left: the patron saint of the abbey, St. Jovinus, with sword and book; center left: St. John with a bird and a book; top left: a female person. At the bottom right you can see St. Peter with the keys; right center: St. Paul, with the holy scriptures; Top right: the Annunciation, Mary drops the distaff in shock, both people stand on animal monsters (trucks), a rare iconography from the Syrian circle of images. The sculptures by Jovinus, Johannes and Paulus are new creations from the 19th century. All other figures on the facade are originals from the 12th century.
Above the former blind window to the left of the center, two men in knee-length skirts stand on cantilevered consoles, the one on the left playing a wind instrument ( shawm ?), The one on the right wearing a strap loosely over her shoulder. To their left, the upper body of an angel equipped with a book protrudes from the wall. There are also two cantilever brackets above the window on the opposite side. On the left console stands an unclothed woman with two snakes dogged in her bosom; Two people stand on the right-hand console and together, just above their hip height, carry an animal body, the head of which can be seen on the left.
The design of the pediment begins directly above the arches of the central archivolt window. There, a cornice strip of vertically arranged roof prisms runs along the entire width of the gable. The frieze of small figures on it is almost as long. Almost all of them are marked with walking sticks and cloaks as pilgrims striving towards the center, those in the foreground pray kneeling. In the center of the gable triangle, Christ is enthroned, with a cross nimbus and with arms held down slightly to the side, with the palms of the palms turned towards the viewer. The throne has a back made of a huge cross. It stands on a wide base. Immediately below the ends of the arms of the cross, Christ is flanked by two angels with trumpets.
Below the aforementioned plinth, which also forms a protective roof, stands a preciously dressed Mother of God , in the middle of the frieze of the pilgrims. The wide-cut sleeves of her robe hang down to the hem of the long dress. Her statue is about half the size of Christ's and twice that of the pilgrims. With her left hand, pointing slightly upwards, she grips a ball with a knob on its top, a symbol for the world. Her right arm is directed forward and only slightly lowered, and the palm of her hand is open and points forward to the newcomers. An equilateral triangle is arranged on both sides of the representation of Christ, still at the level of the large cross, the lower side is exactly horizontal. The triangles are formed by multi-profiled strips. The "background" of the facade surface of the gable field is decorated with engraved structures in the form of diamonds from the lower band, which closes the upper floor, up to about half its height . In the upper area there are standing diamonds (diamonds) and in the lower area, diamonds lying on one side.
There are occasional interpretations of the pictorial representations of this gable field as the Last Judgment . In addition, a number of details are missing here that otherwise always accompany a Last Judgment on facades of Romanesque architecture: If you look at the angels flanking Christ, you can see that they have put down the instruments and have just finished the blast of the trumpet. This scene does not represent the judgment itself, but rather the moment of the second appearance of the Messiah, the Parousia , on Judgment Day. The persons in the frieze symbolize the risen, who make pilgrimages to Our Lady. She has taken on the role of mediator between the risen or the earthly and the ruler of the world or Pantocrator
On both sides of the gable field, striking octagonal turrets rise up, with their tips reaching up to the height of the gable ridge, and only differing from one another in their basement levels with their detailed design. The basement of the left tower has eight smooth outer sides with narrow round arched blind window slots, that of the right tower is equipped with a circumferential blind arcade frieze, two of which are each on an octagonal side. The arcade arches are supported by slender round columns, which are equipped with carved capitals, fighters and profiled bases. The two turrets are divided into floors by a small frieze made of arcade arches, three on each side of the octagon. The small arches stand on tiny corbels with sculptures of animal and human heads. The octagon on the upper floor appears to be a little smaller than the lower one. On each side there is a slot-like window opening with a round arch cover. Small columns with carved capitals stand in corresponding setbacks on the lateral reveal corners. At the eaves of the turret there is again an arched frieze on corbels. The pointed roofs in the form of octagonal pyramids are made of the same stone as the facade and are provided with a shingle-like structure. The ridge of the gable field is crowned with a small column that tapers towards the top and has a ball at its top.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Église, Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
literature
- Thorsten Droste : Poitou, western France between Poitiers and Angoulème - the Atlantic coast from the Loire to the Gironde. DuMont, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-7701-4456-2 .
Web links
- http://pagesperso-orange.fr/abbatiale.st-jouin-de-marnes/…
- http://romanes.com/Saint_Jouin_de_Marnes/
Coordinates: 46 ° 52 '54.1 " N , 0 ° 3' 6.9" W.