Bourbonnais roman: église Saint-Julien de Meillers
The modern-day département of Allier is technically part of Auvergne, which encompasses the large mountainous area in the center of France. However, historically, it used to be the duchy of Bourbonnais, located just between Auvergne and Burgundy —two powerful neighbors. The duchy may have been quite smaller than such neighbors, it nevertheless was the fief of the Bourbon family, which gave many kings to France, reigned over other European countries and still is the royal house of Spain.
When you drive on the small back roads of France, you often see those enticing brown “heritage” signs that alert you to the nearby presence of an old church, a castle or another place of interest. I routinely complain about not having the time to do all those certainly very interesting détours. However, that day (the EXIFs tell me it was June 30, 2023), I decided to follow the brown sign that pointed me to the village of Meillers, and I was not disappointed, as my short visit to the local parish church, dedicated to Saint Julian, proved quite interesting indeed.
Saint-Julien is concerned by a restoration project funded by the Fondation du Patrimoine, for which I work as a pro bono photographer.
The gorgeous archivolt that frames the western portal is supported by two massive columns with lovely historied capitals showing, in particular, animals playing music: here, a donkey playing the harp, next to a lion playing the viola.
Such figures are not so uncommon in the enormous realm of Romanesque sculpture. Those themes were probably inspired by the fables of Phædrus, a Greek fabulist from the first century and the spiritual heir of Æsop, the Greek “inventor” of the fables who lived around 600 BC.
The fact that such themes were adopted and displayed in places so prominent as these shows that, even in abbey-founded (and -funded!) churches, humor had a place, and it was possible to entertain the members of the congregation and make them smile as they entered the house of God, instead of scaring them.
Bourbonnais roman: église Saint-Julien de Meillers
The modern-day département of Allier is technically part of Auvergne, which encompasses the large mountainous area in the center of France. However, historically, it used to be the duchy of Bourbonnais, located just between Auvergne and Burgundy —two powerful neighbors. The duchy may have been quite smaller than such neighbors, it nevertheless was the fief of the Bourbon family, which gave many kings to France, reigned over other European countries and still is the royal house of Spain.
When you drive on the small back roads of France, you often see those enticing brown “heritage” signs that alert you to the nearby presence of an old church, a castle or another place of interest. I routinely complain about not having the time to do all those certainly very interesting détours. However, that day (the EXIFs tell me it was June 30, 2023), I decided to follow the brown sign that pointed me to the village of Meillers, and I was not disappointed, as my short visit to the local parish church, dedicated to Saint Julian, proved quite interesting indeed.
Saint-Julien is concerned by a restoration project funded by the Fondation du Patrimoine, for which I work as a pro bono photographer.
The gorgeous archivolt that frames the western portal is supported by two massive columns with lovely historied capitals showing, in particular, animals playing music: here, a donkey playing the harp, next to a lion playing the viola.
Such figures are not so uncommon in the enormous realm of Romanesque sculpture. Those themes were probably inspired by the fables of Phædrus, a Greek fabulist from the first century and the spiritual heir of Æsop, the Greek “inventor” of the fables who lived around 600 BC.
The fact that such themes were adopted and displayed in places so prominent as these shows that, even in abbey-founded (and -funded!) churches, humor had a place, and it was possible to entertain the members of the congregation and make them smile as they entered the house of God, instead of scaring them.