Saint-Papoul - Abbaye de Saint-Papoul

The abbey was founded within the 8th century. It is dedicated to Saint Papoul, a disciple of Saint Saturnin, missionary and first bishop of Toulouse. It was believed that Saint Papoul was martyred near the place, where the abbey is now.

Later a monk named Berenger (or Berengar) lived a pious life here. After he got canonized his relics attracted the first pilgrims to this place. In the aftermath of the crusade against the Cathars the papal organisation created new dioceses to enable a stricter control. So since 1317 the abbey church of Saint Papoul was promoted to a cathedral, holding a bishopric (upto 1801).

Saint Papoul is a quiet little village, that is one of my favourite places since a long time. The range of different artistic styles and icons in Saint-Papoul is enormous. There are the elegant (but vandalized) capitals of the early 14th century cloister, there are roughly carved heads on the outer wall of the former abbey church, there are the enigmatic capitals of the church, that looks so clumsy - and there are two works of the "Maître de Cabestany".

The "Maître de Cabestany" is known under this name since the 1930s when a tympanum and other carvings were found in Cabestany (near Perpignan).
The carvings did have a very specific style and so the anonymous artist was named "Maître de Cabestany". Research started and so far more than 120 carvings of these origins, all carved within the second half of the 12th century, are known. The carvings are spread over an area between the Tuscany in Italy, Southern France - and Catalonia in Spain. This led to the theory, that the "Maître de Cabestany" may not be a single master-carver, but a studio, where carvers learned this style. Meanwhile there is a museum in Cabestany, to is dedicated to these works of art.

www.maitre-de-cabestany.com/

The artistic style is very dynamic and creativ. The faces have almond eyes, a sharp nose, great ears and a triangular shape. The fingers of the hands are long, sometimes perspective.. ...


Here is an in-depth article about the Maître de Cabestany by Peter Hubert:

www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/the_maitre_de_cabes...