English
Introduction
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 Welcome
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-1-
In
an old farm without any remarkable exterior signs, which we decided
to buy as a "country cottage", we found in 1979 in one of
the attics, old wall paintings which were quickly and without any
doubt, dated as having been painted between 1300 and 1325. |
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-2-
The
pictures below give only a superficial overview of the importance of
this discovery. It is indeed rare to find murals, even in quite poor
condition - representing medieval non-religious scenes. |
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-3-
These
knights as well as a set of coats of arms were painted directly on
the walls of the attic of the highest part of the building between
1300 and 1325. |
There
is no doubt that the left knight carrying the "gonfanon
d'Auvergne" on his shield and horse cover represents the Count
of Auvergne.
-4-
These
pictures were taken AFTER the restorations by the Beaux Arts of
Clermont-Ferrand. Further down on these pages you will see in what
condition we found them.
Thanks
to the intervention of several members of the Académie des
Sciences, Belles Lettres et Arts de Clermont-Ferrand the paintings
were listed in the Inventaire Supplémentaire des Monuments
Historiques (I.S.M.H.) as early as 1981 and the restoration of the
paintings was done in 1982. In 1991 the paintings and the building
were fully classified as a French National Monument (Monument
Historique (M.H.).
Up
to now no one has been able to find any document or any reliable information
concerning the origin, the objective and the meaning of these paintings
. This is what we have set out to discover, maybe thanks to YOU and to Internet.
If you have a document, or even if you have simply heard about a document in
which Vinzelles in mentioned, please be so kind as to send us an email
with the details as it could get us started in the
right direction
.
