Vals - Sainte-Marie

The enigmatic church Notre-Dame de Vals towers over the tiny village of Vals (pop 90). The church, that is partly "troglodyte", carved into the giant rock, has three levels. The oldest part, called "the crypt", probably dates to the 9th or 10th century.

Most surprising here are frescoes, discovered under several layers of plaster in 1952. They are dated to around 1100/1120 and meanwhile got restaurated.

The Virgin reclined on a bed under an ornamented blanket.

Below is the "First Bath". The midwives (nimbus) flank the vessel. Young Jesus does not really look like a newborn baby.

The scene reminds me on - Byzantine icons from Italy. Ravenna maybe.

Peter Hubert´s interesting article on the iconography of the Nativity and the First Bath:
www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/nativity_of_christ.pdf