Airvault - Saint-Pierre

Saint-Pierre was the church of one of the largest Augustinian abbeys in the Poitou, that was founded in 991 by Audéarde, the wife of viscount Herbert I of Thouars. The monastery was on one of the "chemins" of the Via Turonensis, so when the number of pilgrims increased, the Canons Regular of St. Augustine had this large church erected in two construction phases from the 12th century on. The western facade and the narthex are the youngest parts of the structure.

When the era of the pilgrimage ended, the abbey declined and impoverished during the Hundred Years' War. Most conventual buildings were destroyed in the Wars of Religion. The abbey church now serves the parish.

Here are thre of the 24 "Elders of the Apocalypse" populating the main archivolt (previous upload). This is a common icon on Romanesque portals, but - "normally" the Elders hold a veille in one and a parfum bottle in the other hand. Here this bottle got replaced by a crown. And normally they are seated on furniture - here they sit on lions.

Revelation 4:4

"Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads."

Actually the the Elders seen here are only about ten years old, as the facade got severely damaged by revolutionary vandals. Only 4 of the 24 sculptures survived the times undamaged. During a renovation done 2003/2004 the group got reconstructed.