Two months short of a full calendar year

February to June

July to November

Up at a crossroads close to the banks of the Loire lies the village of Lignières-de-Touraine, right in the centre of an area of topflight Loire valley tourist destinations. Just to the north across the river and over the lovely 19th century bridge is Langeais, south lies Azay-le-Rideau. Go west and you run into Villandry. Turn east for Rigny-Ussé.

The town itself is fairly non-descript; a busy intersection of classic French D roads, the houses strung out along each one with an open tarmacked square at the center. To one side is a small church. You'd drive through without a second glance; your sights firmly set on one of the destinations mentioned above.

However, in 2009 some restoration work was being carried out in the church, and yes, you guessed it, they found some lovely wall paintings. We weren't aware of them but Susan & Simon tipped us off. They had found out about them by chance and had been to have a look with a client.

The church is small and the wall paintings are mostly from the 12th century. However, some were repainted in the 13th and 14th centuries. All are easily seen as the roof is comparatively low. There's a lighting system, which for a small fee, lights the wall paintings so you can see them more easily.

Detail: May -- a knight and his horse

In addition to a variety of religious scenes such as the story of Adam and Eve, Christ in Majesty, Cain and Abel; there are also visual exhortations connected to living a good life. On the arch leading to the chancel there is also a charming calendar of the months of the year.
 
Like a book of hours, most months portray a scene appropriate to the time of year. In September, for example, a man is shown treading grapes in a large tun.  Sadly it isn't quite complete as 2 months are missing. It looks as if, at some point, the pillars were re-done and thus the arch has lost December and January.

In the frame of one of the windows in the apse stands Cain holding a sheaf of grain. Opposite him stands Abel with the hand of God reaching down to bless him.

It looks a bit odd, as if there should be more of the figure than just this disembodied hand and a what looks to be a bit of beard, but this was quite a common convention. One couldn't 'portray' God so this was the solution.

The glass [although now 19th century replacement] is unlikely to have had any role in the tableau.

One of the most appealing wall paintings is that of a rich man's table. He's seated at the board which is elegantly draped in a white table cloth and set with gold plate. There's a platter with a boar's head, a plate, a trencher, what looks to be a knife, some covered cups and a flagon. At the door there's a servant who seems to be pointing down to a wee spaniel-like dog. which looks longingly at the large joint of meat the lame beggar is waving over his head. Presumably this is a representation of one of the seven acts of corporal mercy. One of the best representations of the acts of corporal mercy [6 of the 7] are to be found in stained glass in the beautiful 15th century church of All Saints North Street, York.

Feeding a lame beggar  Begging for food

So the next time you're dashing off with friends or family to show them one of the four sights mentioned above you might like to pop in and see the wall paintings as well.

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UPDATE! on the wall paintings which begin with the rich man at his table feasting with his friends [see above].

We took the four separate paintings to be just that - three different biblical exhortations: feeding the hungry, making a 'good' death [& contrasting 'bad' death where your soul gets taken to hell] and the Christ child enthroned.  

In fact they are all episodes in the parable of the rich man (named Dives in the Middle Ages, presumably from the Vulgate 'dives' = 'rich', although he is not named in St. Luke's account - 16:19-31) and should be thus read in sequence.

So firstly a poor beggar, afflicted by leprosy, named Lazarus (not the 'Lazarus' who elsewhere was raised from the dead - bring on the confusion!) daily comes to the rich man's house looking for food, which is refused.  What we thought was a joint of meat above his head is now presumably a leper's clapper or bell.  The extra touch is the dog at Lazarus' feet, as the text notes that "dogs would lick his open sores" and possibly a tiny canine tongue is just visible if one looks closely.

Lazarus begging for food

Next up are the two deaths.  Dives, on the left, dies in a sumptuous bed (note the deep red cover), but a devil is hovering to drag his soul off to Hell.  Lazarus also dies, but as his shrouded body is laid in a pauper's grave an angel receives his soul (always shown as a small child) and whisks it off to the comfort of Abraham's bosom in Heaven, a popular mediaeval image reserved for the 'blessed' who are placed near to the Godhead.

Dives' death on the left, Lazaurs' on the right

The third section on the extreme left continues the parable with Dives in torment among the flames, looking up to Heaven and seeing Lazarus.  The heavily abbreviated Latin text reports his plea: "father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame" (Trans. W. Tyndale, 1525).  Abraham basically says 'Dream on, you did nothing for him when you had the chance' and so the parable ends. Presumably everyone viewing it and hearing the story would resolve to mend their ways while they still had time.

Dives begging for a drop of water

Unlike other parables this one only features in Luke's gospel and may, therefore, be quite uncommon in mediaeval iconography.

Simply click on any of the photos to enlarge them if you would like to see more detail.