Saturday 26 July 2014

Not the chateau part II

Inside, the church at Azay-le-Rideau isn't nearly as interesting. However, the original apsidal nave does retain some vestiges of 13th wall paintings. By far the best are the 3 horses above a low arch leading to the second, later, nave.
13th century wall painting: horses & figure
The current thinking is that, as the figure [much damaged] has a raised arm which could be thought to be leading one of the horses, this could be part of a representation of the 3 Magi. Whether or not this assumption is correct we really liked the horses as, despite the damage, they are vibrant and 'alive'.
The 3 horses
On the other side of the apsidal nave there is a figure thought to be St George slaying the dragon. Behind the figure is a depiction of a palace/dwelling with elaborate roof decorations.
Possibly St George ....
It was a glorious day when we went to Azay-le-Rideau and the name of this little pedestrian street off the parking lot made us smile.
Bridge over the river Indre at Azay-le-Rideau

8 comments:

Susan said...

There's a rue du petit soleil in Preuilly too.

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Susan - on a sunny day the name makes me smile.

the fly in the web said...

Distinctly vibrant, those horses....

Niall & Antoinette said...

@fly - do look a bit as if they'd be happy to charge don't they :-)

Perpetua said...

What lovely wall painting remnants. They make me wonder what has been lost....

Vagabonde said...

Those horses heads are really nice and their colors too. I also like your other photos. It looks very calm and peaceful in that picture of the bridge over the river Indre.

Niall & Antoinette said...

@ Perpetua -- quite a bit probably.

Niall & Antoinette said...

@ Vagabonde - the colors have stayed very vibrant. They reminded us a bit of the horses on the Bayeux tapestry.

Thank you :-) We've seen the river Indre in spate at that same bridge and it was wild!