Romanesque Art in Southern Manche: Album Part 7

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106. Saint-Jean-le-Thomas. The Romanesque murals, in the south wall of the nave. In this country scene, with wheat ears visible on the left, a figure wearing a large cloak holds a flask and pours wine in a cup held by another figure. On the right, a third figure holding a tillage tool is partly erased. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-055]

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107. Saint-Jean-le-Thomas. The Romanesque murals, in the south wall of the nave. The third painting, of which much has disappeared, is the struggle between a figure with a cloack whose head is surrounded with a halo and another armored figure who seems to be on the ground. This could be St. Michael's struggle against the Devil, according to abbot Poree, pastor of the church at the time of the discovery of the murals in 1974. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-056]

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108. Saint-Jean-le-Thomas. The Romanesque murals, in the south wall of the nave. Situated between the country scene and the fight scene, this detail shows that the mural was painted directly on the lime plaster, which explains the clear background. Photo by Alain Dermigny.

[Alain-057]

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109. Saint-Jean-le-Thomas. The Romanesque murals, in the south wall of the nave. This partial view of the fight scene shows that all contours were drawn in ocher paint, and inside surfaces were painted in ocher and buff. Only these two colors were used, directly on the lime plaster. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-058]

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110. Saint-Jean-le-Thomas. The Romanesque murals, in the south wall of the nave. The paintings are surrounded with a foliage border. The flourishes run between two horizontal stripes. The first stripe is ocher along the flourishes and the second stripe is buff along the ocher stripe, with a row of white dots at the junction of the two colours. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-059]

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111. Saint-Jean-le-Thomas. The Romanesque gate and its porch, in the south wall of the nave. Like often in the region, a porch was built later on--this one is from the 15th century--to offer to pilgrims and paris.h.i.+oners two stone benches and a shelter from rain and western winds coming from the sea. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-54]

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112. Saint-Jean-le-Thomas. The Romanesque gate, in the south wall of the nave. The semi-circular arch of the gate is formed of a grain adorned with a simple torus molding. The arch rests on two attached columns that seem an extension of the torus, with the same diameter.

The columns are topped with capitals with a square abacus. The capital baskets are carved with barely visible small angle hooks. The square base is topped by a double torus. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-55]

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113. Saint-Jean-le-Thomas. Sketch of the Romanesque gate, in the south wall of the nave. Sketch by Marie Lebert.

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114. Saint-Jean-le-Thomas. The porch. The stone roof of this 15th century porch is made of irregular schiste plates joined with a thick mortar. The arch of the Romanesque portal is adorned with a torus.

Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-060]

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115. Saint-Jean-le-Thomas. The Virgin and Child. Situated under the 15th century porch, at the south of the nave, this stone statue stands above the Romanesque gate. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-061]

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116. Dragey. Location. The village of Dragey is located on the current coastal road going from Granville to Avranches, 20 kilometers south of Granville and 13 kilometers north of Avranches. Dragey was on the route of three medieval roads, the first one coming from Saint-Pair-sur-Mer, the second one coming from Coutances and the third one coming from Saint-Lo. The sh.o.r.e road coming from Saint-Pair was crossing the dunes of Dragey before reaching Mont Saint-Michel, the final destination for many pilgrims.

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117. Dragey. Panorama. On the hill where the church stands, the silhouette of Mont Saint-Michel and Tombelaine emerge from the mist.

For pilgrims, this view was announcing the end of a long quest. The church of Dragey was given to Mont Saint-Michel in the 11th century by Robert, duke of Normandy. Dragey and his church were among the dependencies of Saint-Jean-at-the-end-of-the-sea, that later became Saint-Jean-le-Thomas. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-34]

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118. Dragey. The church, built on a hill, is isolated with its rectory at about one kilometer from the village. The church is placed under St.

Medard's patronage, and the second saint is St. Eloi. The parish of Dragey belonged to the deanery of Genets and the archidiachone of Avranches. The Romanesque nave is from the 11th or 12th century, whereas the tower and choir are from the 13th century. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-062]

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119. Dragey. The church is not situated in the village, unlike the other churches in the region. Visible from far out at sea, the tower was a landmark for seamen. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-063]

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120. Dragey. The church has a one-row choir and a three-row nave. The tower rises between choir and nave. Only the nave is Romanesque. The choir and the tower, more recent, are from the 13th century. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-35]

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121. Dragey. The church plan. Regularly oriented from west to east, the rectangular building is formed by a three-row nave and a one-row choir.

This whole building has an external length of 40,8 meters and an external width of 9,1 meters (width of the front). The tower rises between choir and nave. Plan by Marie Lebert.