A Hellmouth in the Brenne

 Musician angels.

The church in Paulnay, to our east in Indre, houses a number of wall paintings. They were created during the 14th and 15th centuries. To the left of the entry there is a depiction of the Last Judgement. The black flames seem to spurt forth from the earth, and the Devil pushes the Damned into the fire. On the nave is a depiction of the monthly activities undertaken by people. Between the apse and the nave you can see two musician angels. The one on the left holds a rebec (a bowed stringed instrument), the one on the right a cornemuse (bagpipes). In the apse is Christ, done with intense colours and surrounded by the symbols of the four Evangelists. 

 

 Interior.

Up until May this year the paintings were badly degraded due to the humidity, and conservation action was urgently required. Luckily the Foundation du Patrimoine had stepped in and a fundraising campaign meant that work to fix the drainage and conserve the paintings commenced in May 2022.

 

 Front facade.

The church in Paulnay has been a listed Historic Monument since 1910. It was erected in the first half of the 12th century in the Poitevin Romanesque style. Its ornately carved facade and painted interior make it a particularly noteworthy church in Indre and it generates a bit of historic interest and tourist visits. Archaeological digs have also revealed its pre-medieval history, with the foundations of a 2nd century Gallo-Roman temple and Merovingian burials found. The two sarcophagi on the forecourt bear witness to the archaeology.

 

 Western door.

The small simple church has a nave but no aisles or side chapels. The earliest wall paintings are traces on the nave ceiling vault which date from the very end of the 12th century.

 

I think these carved birds around the door represent doves.

Most notable on the exterior are the carvings of mermaids and birds. The mermaids in particular are unusual motifs in Berry. Mermaids have quite a complicated symbolism and can be associated with birds; the soul separate from the body; funerary rites; virginity; demonic temptresses able to turn men away from God with their promise of love; the sins of cupidity, arrogance and luxury; and/or the perversion and destruction of men through desire. Put simply, they represent the dangers of going to sea at the time.

 

 Carved eagles on a capital on the front facade.

Paulnay is one of the communes in the Brenne Regional Natural Park. Indre is the modern 'county' (Fr. département) name for the old province of Berry. There is a well regarded workers restaurant where you can get a cheap simple lunch directly across the road from the church.

A demon pushes sinners into the flaming mouth of a monster known as the Hellmouth, symbolising the entrance to Hell.

 

Last Judgement scene. How many demons can you see? There are at least four plus the Hellmouth and the Devil himself looming large. I assume on the opposite wall there would have been a scene of the righteous ascending to Heaven, but it has been lost to the damp.

Mermaid.

Winged monsters with male human heads, eagle's claws, and coiled slug like bodies.

Carved head of a man with a forked beard, poking his tongue out.