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In August, 2003, I discovered two wall paintings hidden behind the altars of the north and south aisles of the church. While inspecting two sculpture brackets on either side of the altar in the north aisle, I noticed that a small wooden piece of the altar had been removed, revealing some fragments of plaster that had fallen behind the altar that were clearly painted. I removed these three pieces and noticed that they were but fragments of much larger wall paintings. The removal of these fragments also revealed a pleasant surprise - the coat of arms of abbot Guy de Baudreuil (1492-1531) were painted on the wall, allowing me to determine that these paintings were about 500 years old! Further inspection of the altars themselves revealed that the canvas paintings which provided the backdrops for the altars could be easily removed, hopefully revealing the walls behind. I immediately went to the mayor's house, to seek permission to remove the canvas paintings. He returned with me and we set about removing the canvas painting of the north aisle altar. To our surprise and delight, well-preserved wall paintings awaited us.
After some inspection of these paintings we moved to the south aisle altar. Here, the bottom third of what is clearly a depiction of the Pieta had been visible for some time, but had gone unnoticed. Unfortunately, removal of the canvas painting on this side revealed only the thick wooden slats used as a backing for the altar. The altar could not be easily moved, and we were concerned that pulling the slats away from the wall would result in the destruction of the wall paintings, as they appeared to be separating from the wall in places. We were unable to determine the subject of these paintings.
The paintings have been called to the attention of the Monuments Historiques, and are scheduled for restoration sometime in 2005, at which time it should be possible to determine what lies behind the south aisle altar.
Below are thumbnail images of my most recent photographs of the paintings taken in January, 2004. Clicking a thumbnail will take you to a page that has large, detailed images of various significant portions of the paintings.
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The altar in the north aisle with its canvas painting removed, revealing the wall paintings behind.
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The upper portion of the painting depicts Saint Veronica holding the Sudarium, the cloth with which she is said to have wiped the face of Christ on his way to the Crucifixion, and which miraculously retained His image. This is a detail of the face of Christ on the Sudarium.
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The central portion of the bottom of the painting depicts the Virgin Enthroned with Child.
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A detail of the Virgin and Child
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A detail of the Virgin
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A figure of the donor, Guy de Baudreuil, is largely hidden behind the framing of the altar, but his dedication rises up in a scroll which appears to read "A MATER DEI, IN MEMORIAM MORI", or "To the Mother of God, in memory of my death"
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The patron is flanked by the large figure of a male saint, perhaps Saint Martin.
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A detail of the head of the male saint.
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The fragments initially removed from the back of the altar bear portions of two figures, one male and one female, which stood to the right of the Virgin and Child.
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Fragments bearing the male saint.
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Fragments bearing the female saint, who has long blond hair and may represent Mary Magdalene.
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The altar of the south aisle.
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The visible portions of the Pieta.
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Detail of the body of Christ
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Detail of the face of Christ.
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