Veauce - Sainte-Croix

The wonderful church in tiny Veauce (pop. less than 50) was built within the 11th century. It was given to the abbey of St. Leger of Ebreuil by chevalier Aimon de Veauce, what was approved in 1115 by pope Paschal II.
Not much more is known about the early history of this church. The architect obviously was very ambitious and did a great job. So this church is sometimes compared with Notre-Dame de Saint-Saturnin. For Bernard Craplet, author of "Auvergne Romane", this is one of the nicest and most interesting churches in the Bourbonnais, mixing architectural influences of the Limagne and the Auvergne.

There are some very nice corbels under the roof of the nave.

The animal on the corbel is very similar to the carnivorous neighbour, just seen, but it is carved more detailled. This one even has nostrils. Bernard Craplet identified a fox here. The animal holds a round bread (?) decorated with a cross and is just biting into it.

I have seen corbels, depicting animals holding round objects in their mouths, quite often, but I do not know the specific meaning of it.