The frescos of Lourouer-Saint-Laurent church
And also
The tops
The church
Near the Romanesque church of Nohant-Vic and its gorgeous frescos, here’s another frescos church! Lourouer means “place of prayers”. We think the church belonged to abbey of Massay (Cher) then to abbey of Déols (Indre).
This church is pretty old, dating back to the 11th century. Then it was extended: the current choir was raised between the 13th and the 14th c., with the fitting out of the lateral chapels. In the 17th c., they added the tower-bell… The first frescos restoration was made in 1989.
We have a unique nave, a tower-bell with a porch (like the one in Brinay or in St-Anne of Nohant), a Gothic choir, lateral chapels. The Romanesque nave is the oldest element!
And in that nave, they found the famous frescos, hidden under 10 coats of distemper!
Murals
Here, we have plenty of murals, made between the beginning of the 12th century and the 13th c. We have scenes from the Passion, mostly.
Monks who made the frescos in Nohant probably made those ones too: after all, they are neighbouring and the two churches belonged to abbey of Déols.
So, what have we got? In the nave, a Virgin with baby Jesus, an Entombment, a Crucifixion.
On the nave’s northern wall, we recognize saint Jack, a farmer with the word AGRICOLANUS, saint Nicolas resurrecting children in the salting tub. On the southern wall, the apparition of Jesus to Mary-Magdalene or Simon the Pharisee’s house.
And also the Zodiac (symbol of months) in medallions and the farmer’s daily work (like in Brinay): harvest, grape-picking…
In the choir, decorates with Louis XIV’s style panelling, we have Gothic frescos, representing the struggle of a knight and a dragon: saint George? Saint Michael? As you want!
The anecdote!
They also found, during the dig, a treasure made of 130 crowns (15th c.) people used in the kingdom of Bourges.
The Way of the Cross and the benches were made by… guess who? Abbot Aymond, our joiner priest of Thévet-Saint-Julien (Indre)!