Following our post on the newly restored Notre Dame du Port in Clermont-Ferrand, PJ and I decided to feature an unrestored church in Burgundy. The 12th century Église Saint-Pierre-aux-Liens in Varenne-l’Arconce is quite beautiful but is unfortunately in poor condition and in need of restoration. The name of the church translates to “Saint Peter in […]
There are many examples of the wonderful adornment in Romanesque churches – the sculpture of the capitals, the tympana, the frescoes, and even the painted churches themselves. Particularly in the Cluniac churches, the adornment of churches was so prevalent that Bernard of Clairvaux felt constrained to rail against the practice. In his “Apologia” to William, […]
In the Middle Ages, there were areas in Europe that existed in an isolation almost inconceivable today. In the center of the Pyrénées, just south to the current border of Spain, is a small east-west valley tucked into the mountains. During the winter snows, the valley is almost completely inaccessible. But in that valley there […]
There are so many wonderful stories and legends associated with the churches we photograph in France, but none is more pleasing than that of Saint Menulphe and his friend, the Simpleton of Mailly-sur-Rose, a town in the Allier. Menulphe was the son of an Irish king and very devout. He traveled to England, Brittany and […]
So often we find glorious Romanesque churches in the smallest villages of France, often remnants of a remote abbey with a village that grew up around it. Sometimes we see modest parish churches that have survived a thousand years. And other times we find something a little more surprising, a small village that once had […]
One of our most popular exhibitions is that showing the vierges romanes. These Throne of Wisdom madonnas are captivating and powerful iconographic images of the Romanesque era. Most of these are small (30 inch/76 centimeters), polychrome wooden statues from the 12th and 13th centuries. The Sedes Sapientiae(“Throne of Wisdom”) is an icon of the Mother […]
The Department of Yonne in Burgundy is one of our favorite places in France and very fertile for our photographic explorations. It is home to the Basilique Sainte Madeleine in Vézelay, the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne in Auxerre, the Collégliale Saint Lazare in Avallon and also the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Sens. Today, Sens is a fairly quiet […]
We are all accustomed to see Romanesque and Gothic churches with their austere bone-white pillars, walls, and vaulting and assume this look was the intent of the builders. When modern churches in the classical style are built, they usually follow this aesthetic guideline. The truth is that the medieval churches were often brightly painted with […]
The waters speak of love, and the breeze, the oars, the little birds, the fish, the flowers, and the grass all together beg me to love forever. Francesco Petrarca PJ and I knew very little about Fontaine-de-Vaucluse when we arrived to photograph the 11th century Romanesque church. We entered the small town and were surprised […]
The Pyrénéen town of Prades is our headquarters when we visit this part of French Catalonia. It is surrounded by some of the most pure and beautiful examples of Romanesque architecture and sits in the shadow of the great Mont Canigou, the mystic mountain that dominates the landscape. We make our home at the Castel […]
