Sens And Its Cathedral, 2023

July 1st was our last day of touring in Europe for 2023. From La Ferte-Loupiere we continued toward Paris, stopping at Sens for a look at its cathedral, the first totally Gothic cathedral. We had visited Sens cathedral before, in 2013, on a gallop around the Ile de France, looking at nearly all the earliest Gothics. We had just finished The Great Courses series on Gothic cathedrals. We were impressed then and were now again. It's a beautiful city, Sens, and a great cathedral.

Old Sens...another wonderland of beautifully-carved
half-timbered buildings

The cathedral, begun in 1137, finished in the 13th
century; the design of the Master of Sens, who obviously
knew all about what Abbot Suger was doing at Saint-Denis

Organ and rose window

Cute devils; and proof I always take pix of the same
things

Becket window

Eustache window

Prodigal Son window

Chartres-like blue in the chancel

Rare dorsal view

Nice capitals here and there

The Celestial Concert window

Helpful map of what, when, and where; note
the tiny transepts, a later add-on

Moving right along, Sens' beautiful market hall, across the square

And its Mairie (city hall)

And a great city center park, near where we parked; rain had begun,
and it was time to move on...

Danse Macabre At The Church of St. Germain, La Ferte-Loupiere, 2

Continuing our visit to this extraordinary place...

Again, pix of pix, but these several identify the various players...
actor, artist, laborer, emperor, cardinal, pope, king, priest, hermit...

From the west end

The Annunciation

Three knights and death

From west to east...the colors were far more vibrant in person...

The Pope gets special musical attention

From the east, again

Barrel vaulting

Better see it soon!

Danse Macabre At The Church Of St. Germain, La Ferte-Loupiere, 1

June 30th was a really great touring day for us, as we hyper-fast-forwarded 28,000 years from the caves of Arcy to the church of St. Germain at La Ferte-Loupiere and its great Danse Macabre. The village of La Ferte-Loupiere is some few miles northwest of Auxerre and, notably, provides two free RV spaces across the road from the church (east side), with electricity, and welcomes over-night stays. The church has the usual pedigree, going back a thousand years or more from the foundations, renovated or rebuilt numerous times, with the usual Romanesque, Gothic, and later facets. Alas, the church struck us as in very poor condition, especially considering the artistic treasures it houses, all murals from the presumably earlier 16th century: the Three Knights and Death, St. Michael skewering a demon, an Annunciation, and, most famous, the Danse Macabre, some forty characters that run nearly the length of the nave, and whose depictions are said to yield many insights into later Medieval life and society. The Danse was whitewashed early in its history, by ecclesiastical order, but rediscovered and revealed in 1910. I'm posting some of my many pix of the church and the murals but definitely recommend the church friends' website, http://lamefel.fr, for closer views and English description.

Eastern facade of St. Germain, La Ferte-Loupiere

West; central aisle and two flankers; first documented in 1137

Not in English too

Nave, looking east

Nicely carved pulpit for a relatively remote place

Altar, etc.

Very rickety old staircase

Starboard aisle; note boxed seats

Solitary

Long view of the murals...we'll come back to them

In the port aisle, an extraordinary interpretive display, covering 
the pigments, mural technique, the paintings themselves

For example, one of a dozen

Ditto

Capital on a pillar; the present church floor is nearly
2 meters above the original 12th century

More, demonstrating the expanse of the display

Yes, it's in French, but the descriptions are so good,
and our Francophile friends will appreciate them...about
the Three Knights encountering Death

Skewering the demon; this a pretty good 16th century copy
of a Raphael Skewering, executed at the command of Leo X as
a gift to Francois I, in 1518, to celebrate the wedding of Leo's
nephew to a French noble woman; two pretty major art
patrons; so it says
 

An Annunciation

Main attraction, the Danse

More to come...