Wood or stone structures of porches and churches, from Norway to Normandy.

Exhibition, with a conference, on wooden or stone sculpted constructions of porches and churches, from Norway to Normandy, through Denmark and England.

This exhibition of photographs and drawings is held in the Sainte-Trinité–Saint-Sauveur church in Fours-en-Vexin, a building from the 12th and 13th centuries featuring a 16th-century porch. Classified as historical monuments, the church and its porch also house a Nativity altarpiece dating from around 1500, originating from Utrecht, as well as a 16th-century high relief of the Throne of Grace created by Nicolas Quesnel, the sculptor of the tomb of the cardinals of Amboise at Rouen Cathedral.
The site is situated in an area marked by Norman history, near Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, where the treaty between Rollo, jarl of the Vikings, and Charles III the Simple, king of the Franks, was signed in 911.

The exhibition explores the connections between the carved wooden frieze of the church porch in Fours and Viking-origin motifs visible in other buildings in Normandy (Bayeux Cathedral), England (Greensted Church), Denmark (Hörning Church), and Norway (Urnes Church and the Oseberg site). These ornaments are characterized, in particular, by stylized animals in the shape of "S", with open jaws and front legs, represented in ribbons, in reversed profiles or adorned with pear-shaped lobes, as well as by double-headed figures with fixed gazes.

Unlike the iconography expected at the entrance of a 12th-century church — generally a representation of Christ in majesty — these decorations feature dragons and snakes, as highlighted by Peter Anker and Aron Andersson (Scandinavian Art, vol. I, Zodiaque, 1969). This presence is part of the tradition of Germanic animal ornamentation, which is the origin of Viking art, developed in Denmark at the end of the 5th century, according to James Graham-Campbell (Viking Art, Thames & Hudson, 2021).

The exhibition thus traces the origin of these motifs and their spread through time and space, up to the territories of William the Conqueror.

Practical information:
All public
Free

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