Part 4

183. Saint-Loup. The Romanesque tower. This square tower consists of two floors topped by a spire. The first floor is ornated north and south with large blind arcades. The second floor is opened by a bay on each side. The level between the two floors is underlined by a chamfered band. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-099]

184. Saint-Loup. The Romanesque tower. The upper floor is opened by a bay on each side. This bay is surrounded by a semi-circular arch formed by two grains surrounded by a chamfered band. Each grain is molded with a thick angle torus followed by a listel and a broad shallow cavetto. On both sides of the bay, the grains rest on four small attached columns. The basket capitals are carved with geometric designs--angle hooks, half-circles--or human heads. These baskets are topped with a square abacus going on as a square horizontal band along the wall. The square base of the small columns is topped by a double torus. These bays are similar to the west and south gates, with the same moldings for the grains and similar sculptures for the capital baskets. Photo by Marie Lebert. [Marie-22]

185. Saint-Loup. The Romanesque tower. The lower floor is adorned north and south by a double blind semi-circular arch toped by a prominent band going on as an horizontal band on the bare wall and then on the east and west sides. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-100]

186. Saint-Loup. The Romanesque tower. On the lower floor, a small opus reticulatum (diamond-shaped blocks) is present at the corner between the twin arches. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-101]

187. Saint-Loup. The Romanesque tower. The upper floor is opened by a similar bay on each side. The semi-circular arch of the bays is formed of two grains surrounded by a chamfered band and resting on four small attached columns. The capital baskets are carved with geometric designs such as angle hooks and half-circles, while other baskets are carved with human heads. These bays are similar to the west and south gates, with the same moldings for the grains and similar sculptures for the capital baskets. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-102]

188. Saint-Loup. The Romanesque tower. The cornice rests on modillions carved with human heads or molded in quarter-round. Most of the cornice was rebuilt during the rebuilding of the octagon spire on a square base, with skylights. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-103]

189. Saint-Loup. The Romanesque tower. Detail of the cornice and its modillions carved with human heads. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-104]

190. Saint-Loup. The Romanesque south gate, in the first row of the choir. The semi-circular arch is formed of an grain surrounded by an archivolt made of a chamfered band. The grain is molded with a thick angle torus followed by a listel and a large shallow cavetto. The grain rests on two attached columns. The capital baskets carved with human heads are topped with abaci molded in quarter-round. Photo by Marie Lebert. [Marie-21]

191. Saint-Loup. Sketch of the Romanesque south gate, in the first row of the choir. Sketch by Marie Lebert.

192. Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme. Location. The village of Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme is located 5.5 kilometers south-east of the town of Avranches, in the hills of the river Selune. Saint-Quentin was situated on the medieval road taken by pilgrims from Tinchebray, Conde-sur-Noireau, Falaise or Lisieux to reach Mont Saint-Michael. The parish of Saint-Quentin was one of the nine parishes around the episcopal church of Avranches, grouped in the deanery of Chretiente (Christendom). This deanery was part of the archidiachone of Avranches.

193. Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme. The large church has a rectangular narthex (wide porch) along the entire length of the front. The base of the tower and the nave are Romanesque--probably from the second half of the 12th century--and have similarities with the church of Saint-Loup. Several parts are from the 13th century: the narthex before the church front, the two floors of the tower, the three-row choir, and finally the south side chapel of the choir. The north side chapel was built later on, in the 15th or 16th century. The walls of the nave still bear the mark of the large bays that were opened in the 18th century to replace the small Romanesque bays. The present bays date from 1951, with a size similar to the original bays. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-105]

194. Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme. The church plan. Regularly oriented from west to east, the building is formed of a three-row nave and a three-row choir with a flat apse. The whole building has an external length of 47 meters and an external width of 9.6 meters (width of the front). North and south, two large chapels are adjacent to the first two rows of the choir. They are so large that they look like transept arms. The tower is between choir and nave. The church front has a narthex (wide porch) on its entire length. Plan by Marie Lebert.

195. Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme. The large tower, between choir and nave, rests on four thick piers that receive east and west two semi-circular arches with a double ring. The row between choir and nave is topped by a groin vault with an oblong plan. In the foreground, the wooden barrel vault of the nave was rebuilt in 1926 and 1927. The nave pavings were laid in 1929. The church walls were covered with lime plaster in 1953. Photo by Marie Lebert. [Marie-24]

196. Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme. The large tower has a Romanesque base and two floors from the 13th century, with a saddleback roof. In the foreground rises a Romanesque wayside cross. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-106]

197. Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme. Detail of the Romanesque wayside cross situated near the church. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-107]

198. Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme. The church front is adorned on its entire length with a rectangular narthex (wide porch) from the 13th century, topped by a balustrade with an openwork design. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-108]

199. Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme. The Romanesque gate of the church front. This gate is surrounded by a semi-circular two-groin arch and an archivolt. The grains rest on four attached columns, with square bases adorned with a torus topped by a chamfer. The capitals baskets are carved with balls, heads with a prominent chin, and a human being on all fours. These rough sculptures are in high relief. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-109]

200. Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme. The tower base and its Romanesque gate. This walled-up gate is similar to the south gate of the church of Saint-Loup. His semi-circular arch is formed by a grain surrounded by an archivolt with a chamfered band. The grain is molded with a thick angle torus followed by a listel and a shallow cavetto. The grain rests on two thick columns through a band modled in quarter-round forming the abacus of the capitals and going on along the bare wall. The capital baskets are carved with a tree on the right and two human heads on the left. The bases are square. The left base is topped with a chamfer adorned with tiny triangular claws and a torus. The right base is topped by a double torus. The tympanum is formed by a large monolith block of granite resting on inside abutments through a band molded in quarter-round. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-110]

201. Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme. Sketch of the south gate, that is walled-up at the base of the tower. Sketch by Marie Lebert.

202. Sartilly. Location. The town of Sartilly is located on the road between Granville and Avranches, 15 kilometers south of Granville and 11 kilometers north of Avranches. Sartilly was on the medieval road going from Saint-Lo to Mont Saint-Michel, the final destination for many pilgrims. The parish of Sartilly belonged to the deanery of Genets and the archidiachone of Avranches. The church is under St. Pair's patronage.

203. Sartilly. The Romanesque gate was the west gate of the Romanesque church, and is now the south gate of the church that replaced it. The Romanesque church, which was ready to collapse, was demolished and replaced in 1858 by a much larger building of Gothic inspiration. Photo by Marie Lebert. [Marie-10]

204. Sartilly. The Romanesque gate. The capital baskets are carved with various designs like oak leaves, acanthus leaves, scrolls framing an acanthus leaf at the corner, or corner curls. The sculptures, carved in high relief in granite, are much more elegant than in any other small church in the region. The square base of the columns is topped by a double torus. Photo by Marie Lebert. [Marie-11]

205. Sartilly. The old Romanesque church, demolished in 1858, in a drawing from the journal Revue de l'Avranchin dated 1924-1926. This church was described in the Minute Book of the City Council (Registre des Deliberations du Conseil Municipal) of Sartilly of 1837-1864: "The church we should replace is an old building (...) composed of: 1) a dark nave which is 19 meters and 60 centimeters long and 7 meters wide, with the lower part of its walls soaked with moisture and cracked in several places, and not standing straight anymore, particularly towards the end of the church; 2) a tower between the nave and the choir (...); 3) a choir which is 9 meters long and 6 meters wide (...)." Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-118]

206. Sartilly. The Romanesque gate is in granite, which is the local stone, Sartilly being located at the heart of the granite ground of Vire. This gate, probably from the second half of the 12th century, is the most beautiful Romanesque gate in the region. The moldings of the arch and archivolt are the result of meticulous work, as well as the sculptures of the capital baskets, with oak leaves, acanthus leaves and scrolls. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-111]

207. Sartilly. The Romanesque gate. Sketch of the arch, the archivolt and a column. This gate, which was the west gate of the Romanesque church, is now the south gate of the church that replaced it. Sketch by Marie Lebert.

208. Sartilly. The Romanesque gate. The arch of the gate is formed of three grains: a grain with a lower centering, and two semi-circular grains surmounted by a archivolt. The first grain is molded with a thick angle torus followed by a listel and a large cavetto adorned with large and slightly rounded bezants. The second grain is molded with a thick angle torus. The third grain is molded with two tori surrounding a listel. The archivolt is a prominent cordon ornated with saw-teeth in high relief carved with a hollow row of triangular sticks. It rests on both sides on two carved heads with well designed features. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-112]

209. Sartilly. The Romanesque gate. The left columns. On each side of the gate, the three grains rest on three attached columns through an impost molded with a cavetto. The square part of the impost is adorned with a small hollow molding. The impost goes on above the external pier supporting the archivolt. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-113]

210. Sartilly. The Romanesque gate. The left side of the archivolt. The archivolt is formed by a band adorned with saw-teeth in high relief carved with a row of triangular sticks. On either side of the arch, it rests on a head carved in the granite. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-114]

211. Sartilly. The Romanesque gate. The left side of the archivolt. Detail showing the same carved head, in profile. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-115]

212. Sartilly. The Romanesque gate. The right side of the archivolt. Detail showing the second carved head on which the archivolt rests. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-116]

213. Sartilly. The Romanesque gate. The right side of the archivolt. Detail showing the same carved head, closer. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-117]

214. End of this album, with a cap and its angel holding a shield, in the church of Saint-Pair-sur-Mer. Special thanks to Alain Dermigny and Claude Rayon for their beautiful pictures. Many thanks to Bernard Beck, Daniele Cercel, Georges Cercel, Philippe Dartiguenave, Al Haines, Nicolas Pewny, Martine Valenti, Marie-Noelle Vivier and Russon Wooldridge for their kind help over the years. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-22]

Copyright (C) 2010 Marie Lebert, Alain Dermigny, Claude Rayon. All rights reserved.