Conan

LOIR-ET-CHER

EGLISE SAINT-SATURNIN

St. Saturninus was one of the most famous martyrs France has given to the Church. He was the first bishop of Toulouse circa 250. There were probably already a few Christians in the city and he made numerous conversions, even building a little church. On his way to the church he had to pass before the capitol and its temple, attracting the pagan priests' attention. One day they seized him and as he refused to sacrifice to the idols they condemned him be tied by the feet to a bull which dragged him through the town until the rope broke. Two Christian women gathered up the remains and buried them in a deep ditch, that they might not be profaned by the pagans

The church dedicated to St. Saturninus dates from the 12th century but has undergone a number of alterations and additions: Gothic windows were pierced a seigneurial chapel was built in the early 16th century. The west door and its carved corbels are Romanesque

THE WALL PAINTINGS (16th century)

"What you are, I used to be, what I am, you will be"

After the Hundred Years War and the plagues of the 14th and 15th centuries, "memento mori" became commonplace: skulls, bones, paintings reminded people that was perhaps closer than they thought and that no one, however powerful and rich would be spared. The scene depicting the three dead and the three living meeting in a graveyard is characteristic

Three young horsemen are hunting with their hawks. In a graveyard, they are stopped by three decomposing dead, who remind them of the brevity of life and of the importance of the salvation of their souls

An unusual detail: the background is scattered with flowerets and fleurs-de-lis

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