Grimaces

The first mention of the name Sauveterre dates back to around 1120. The town was built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Gave d'Oloron. Sauveterre's mission was to defend the southern and western borders of Béarn. The town formed a village organized around the castle. Between the second half of the 12th and the first half of the 13th century, Saint-André was built. This church was built outside the first town. A second settlement called "Saint-André" therefore arose around this church. The town was an essential stopover for pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela, as the town is located on the Via Lemovizenis (Vézelay route). Grimace maker with really well teeth

The very remarkable baptismal in the Église Saint-Barthélémy, (11th century), in the village of Farges-lès-Mâcon. It is romanesque - but this smiling face is bizarre! Was this just a very humorous carver, who worked for a very humorous customer? It is not that the carver could not work better, the whole baptismal is pretty perfect, but this grimacing face.... Or is it a smiling angel, happy that another soul is saved here? Maybe you know better...

The former church of a priory, built 1150/1170, got remodelled quite often over the centuries. This was done not only by architects, but as well by clerics. The church was dedicated to St. Genesius first, then to St. Limin, followed by Saint-Martin. In the 19th century the dedication changed to Saint-Bonnet and some decades ago to Saint-Bénilde, a saint born in Thuret in 1805 under the name Pierre Romançon. There are interesting carvings here. Ever since the art history discovered them as specific works of art, they have been a subject in the literature. B. Craplet ("Auvergne roman", 1992) describes the carvings just as "unskilled". He in general disagrees with Z. Swiechowski ("Sculpture Romane D'auvergne", 1973), who sees this as the work of "naive folk art". A. Gybal ("L´Auvergne, berceau de l´artroman", 1958) describes a specific "Thuret-style" being a totally simplified work of art. Only to be found here. For him, the simplification is the result of the artists inspiration. He makes totally clear, that this is not "folk art" ("l`art populaire"), but the result of artistic work of very skilled monks ("moines tres cultives"). All corbels in Thuret are done by carvers, that worked in the more "orthodox" style of the Auvergne. So their works are not in the center of discussion. Here is a "mouthpuller", eyes wide open. He is making a grimace - showing the rows of his front teeth.

..like this. Maybe the official jester of the monastery...

In the center of Le Douhet, a village just 12 kms north east of Saintes, is Saint Martial, a 12th century structure, that had to be stabilized by buttresses within the 15th century, when a steeple was built. The western facade is richly decorated with friezes and archivolts over the portal and the flanking blind arches. There are as well some remarkable corbels. Here is a mouth puller, presenting his ivories.