Issoire - Saint-Austremoine

Saint-Austremoine, now parish church in Issoire, was once the church of a benedictian abbey, that, following the "Vita prima Autremonii" was founded by Saint-Austremoine himself, what probably only stands for "old" or "very old".
The abbey got "revitalized" by monks from Charroux (Poitou), that had fled to Issoire after Vikings had raided the coastal areas.

The church was probably erected between 1130 and 1160/70 and now is the largest of the "crown jewels" of romanesque architecture in the Auvergne. - During the Wars of Religion infamous Mathieu Merle and his troops killed the monks, looted the abbey and tried to demolish the building. But the church withstood even the fire (only the towers collapsed), though all carvings in and outside got damaged severely. Two years later the catholic troops reconquered the town by destroying it - but they did not damage the church further. Of course, the abbey and church got looted again during the French Revolution, but soon after (1832), the church got the status of a "monument historique".

So repairs, renovations and reconstructions started comparatively early. Bernard Craplet ("Auvergne romane") is convinced, that the architects, choosen for this project, were unfortunately neither sufficiently gifted nor skilled. They "recreated" the western facade (1845), and the "pseudo-romanesque" bell-towers. Even the damaged carvings got remodeled, but worst of all, following B. Craplet, they repainted the interior (1857-1859) using pretty screaming colours.

It impossible, to find out, how much of the carvings is 12th century. The first "reconstruction" (using gypsum) was done already after the lootings in the 17th century. The mint capitals seen today are products of different phases of "recreating".
While in and around the choir is a nice light, in some areas of the aisles it is pretty dark. The carvings here are deeply rooted in the traditions of the Auvergne, what makes them very interesting.

Here is the ape/rope/man-icon again, that can be found so often in the Auvergne (eg Besse, Saint-Nectaire, Droiturier, Mozac, Clermont-Ferrand..). In French language this is called "singe cordé".

While mostly there is only one ape, lead by a man, here are two apes with ropes around their necks. While mostly the genitals of the apes are covered by some foliage, these parts can be seen here.
Between the two apes, in the center stands a person holding the ropes like a leash. Actually I have the impression that this person is a woman, having two long pigtails on either side of her head. The two apes have grabbed these tails - and hold them symmetrically.