Fountain 1. St.Sebastian, near Port Launay, Brittany 20 July

 

Down the dappled path, past the cows and the apple trees and the blousey hydrangeas, the Fountain of St. Sebastian sits in its unassuming corner. The still water is not deep, no more than a few inches. It is intensely clear and magnifies the mossy plants and pebble floor. I have no proof of its use as such, but it would be romantic mating ground for frogs. I would certainly go there for frolics if I were a frog, or a toad, for that matter.
Although I have been here numerous times over the years, the only sign of other visitors is that the grass was occasionally cut. Recently the church had been burgled and carved wooden panels of Sacred Hearts or blush cheeked angels had been pried off the paint encrusted alter that ran the width of the church. Fortuitously most of the panels were found nearby and replaced. Up until then the church was open to visitors and swallows. Now the key is wherever they usually keep the keys for locked churches.

 

Since the mid16th century, St. Sebastian, wearing a lichen blindfold, is being shot by two marksmen over the arch which leads into the churchyard. I have already lyrically waxed over this saint so I will turn my attention to the archers. Of course it is a stylistic device to place them point blank to the victim, but the rather relaxed, hand on hip, 'I can even hit you with my eyes closed' pose of the archer on the right is curious and why I love wandering around old French churches. The stories from the Bible or the lives of the saints always have a subtext which is about real, contemporary people.

The Calvaire, which proliferates over Northern France, can sometimes be simply Jesus on the cross with Mary, his mother, and St. John the Beloved. Sometimes it is elaborately populated with scenes from the Last Supper, of sleeping guards leaning against an empty tomb, or gambling soldiers throwing dice to decide who wins Jesus' cloak, etc.

 Here the crucified Christ is at the top with Mary and John. A cherub is holding up a chalice to catch his blood. Below them is the pre-crucified Jesus clutching a staff while his bare little legs poke out from under his cloak. He is flanked by soldiers whose horses are fully tacked up and shod. At the base of the cross are what are most likely the patron and his rather tall, stylish wife kneeling in supplication. A lantern rests beside her.

Calvaires were used for veneration as well as for navigational marker posts. Views across the low lying landscape of Brittany are punctuated with these monuments. Some historians feel that they are the natural progression from the megaliths which are still dotted about the place.