Malraux once called the Abbey of Saint-Savin in Poitou-Charentes for the “Sistine Chapel of the Romanesque period”. True is it that it holds one of the largest Romanesque paintings in Europe and has been officially designated as part of our World Heritage since 1983
From its position of the River Gartempe, the Abbey church of Saint-Savin dominates the landscape east of Poitiers with its well-preserved Romanesque exterior.
The Abbey of Saint-Savin was founded by Badillus (Badilon) of Marmoutier, who was clerking for Charlemagne in the beginning of the 9th century and dedicated to the two brothers, Savin and Cyprien from Macedonia. As Christian martyrs they ended up decapitated and according to legend Savin ended oup being buried at Gartempe. Later it was enlarged by Louis the Pious and placed under the care of his “Grey Eminence”, Benedict of Aniane. As such it became one of the French centres for monastic Benedictine reform.
Today it serves as the local parish church, while the monastic buildings are used for local administrative purposes. It was been designated by UNESCO as World Heritage in 1983.
The Church
The construction of the Romanesque church of the Abbey of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe was begun in the mid-11th century, and was carried out under the direction of the abbots Odon and Gervais.
The cruciform church carries a square tower over its crossing. The transept was built first, then the choir with its ambulatory with five radial chapels in the polygonal apse. In the next building campaign, three bays of the nave were added, the bell tower and its porch, and finally the last six bays of the nave. The bell tower is finished by a fine stone spire more than 80 meters high, added in the 14th century and restored in the 19th century.
It is a remarkable experience to enter the church and discover its beautiful and magnificently scaled columns with foliate capitals its painted vault with scenes from the Old Testament. The columns are painted in trompe l’oeil to resemble colourful variegated marble.
The Murals
The paintings, which adorn the vault of the ship, the gallery, the choir and the crypt are believed to have been carried out between 1095 and 1115.
Although fragmentary, extensive murals survive in the western gallery, the nave, the crypt and the porch. In the gallery the subject is Christ’s Passion and Resurrection with the entombment occupying the central position. The vault carries a painted ceiling measuring 460 m2, 42 metres long and 11 meters wide. Of the 61 original scenes, 44 are retained. They outline the major episodes of Genesis and Exodus.
In the crypt, the entire wall is painted with scenes from the lives of SS. Savinus and Cyprian. Divided into three sections, the barrel vaults carry six scenes from the Revelation.
The clothes
One of the interesting features in the scenes are the depiction of clothes, which illustrate the difference between the dresses of the workers and the nobles and kings parading their finery. Examples of this can be seen below, but it pays to consult the generous web-publication featuring a massiv high definition photo of the paintings in the vault. (Click on photos and see the details)
The Future
Since 2014 the management of site has been reevaluated. In October 2015 a new general plan of this important French Heritage site was launched with the object of expanding the buffer zone and raising the awareness of the site as a potential cultural tourist hot-spot in the area.
SOURCE:
“L’église romane de Saint-Savin (Vienne) : une voûte peinte exceptionnelle”. 2013
Official site: Saint-Savin at Gartempe
See more:
Le vieux pont à Saint-Savin from the 13th century is well-preserved thanks to the continous effort of the city to rebuild the bridge. In the end of the 19th century a new bridge was constructed.
READ MORE:
Saint-Savin: l’abbaye et ses peinture murales
by Robert Favreau
Connaissance et Promotion du Patrimoine du Poitou 1999
ISBN-10: 290576421X
ISBN-13: 978-2905764218
PHOTOS:
© Région Poitou-Charentes, inventaire du patrimoine culturel / J. Bonneau, 2013.
