France - Centre
Commune:  Loche  Bueil-en-Touraine  Cléry-Saint-André   St-Paterne-Racan Tours
 Department:  Indre-et-Loire  Loiret
Indre-et-Loire
Loches
Collegiate Church of St Ours
Church open during normal hours follow the signs to the Church or Logis Royal or Chȃteau not the nearby Donjon.  Parking nearby is free. Well worth a visit not only to see this beautiful effigy but the town itself.

    

The beautiful effigy and tomb of Agnes Sorel, mistress of Charles VII (Joan of Arc's Dauphin) has now been returned to the church where it was orginally situated, having been for many years housed in the neaby Logis Royal. She died at the early age of twenty-right and a portrait of her, with one breast bare, may been seen in that latter building. Note that her feet rest on two lambs, a rebus of her Christian name; agneau being French for lamb. For details of Agnes's recently examined skeleton click here.
Bueil - en - Touraine
Parish Church of St-Pierre-aux-Liens
/ Collegiate Church of St-Michel-et-Sts-Innocents
Very welcoming churches, open normal hours: one connects to the other. Well signposted. Park in village, which is well worth a detour.
The parish church is linked via a door (seen in first photograph on the right) to the collegiate church, which was built to contain the tombs of the lords of Bueil. . The four effigies lie in niches in the wall, three of which can be seen in the second photograph on the right.


Jeanne de Montejean (1459), 1st Wife of Jean V de Bueil. (ref:: 303/XVIII; p.122;pl.56).  Note her head dress and arms in relief carved on her gown.


Martine Turpin, 2nd Wife of Jean V de Bueil. This effigy was originally in the now destroyed chapel of the nearby château of Plessis-Barte and moved here in 1850. Note the gablette, the unusual position of the arms,  long hair and  bare feet.



Marguerite de la Chausade (1443) & below Pierre de Bueil (1414) These effigies were originally side by side on a tomb chest, now destroyed.
      

St-Paterne-Racan
Abbaye de la Clarté Dieu
A tourist information board in Buile-en-Touraine promised that there was a very fine military effigy here. A notice on one of the entrance gate posts stated 'Private Property' and one on the other was the telephone number to arrange visits but this no longer functioned. However we received a very warm welcome from the owners. There is very little remaining above ground of the actual church but much of some of the conventual buildings remain and some of these are used for exhibitions. The promised military effigy is now permanently on display in the Cloisters Museum, New York. However we were shown the incised slab (above) which is unfortunately fractured and defaced. The feet of a military effigy can just be made out and there are remains of an inscription
Candes-St-Martin
Free car park in the village
St Martin - a Roman soldier who converted to Christianity - founded a church here and later became Bishop of Tours; he died here in 397 and was buried in his cathedral. The present church is 12th -15th century. There are two modern effigies of St Martin - one rests on a tomb chest, showing him in his pontifical robes and the other as a monk, below the altar. Both are in St Martin's chapel at the NE end of the church
Tours
There's an excellent train service from Paris; I have not tried parking here but probably similar to Angers
The Cathedral
Above: Children of Charles VIII & Anne of Brittany. Note the baby and young child. Carrera marble by Jérôme de Fiésole. Italian style but the effigies are in the Medieval tradition of Michel Colombe. The monument was in the Basilica of St Martin from 1506 and moved to the Cathedral in 1834.

Right: Michel-Jean Amelot (1724) Diplomat; Conseillier d'Etat to Louis IV. He was the nephew of Archbishop Michel Amelot de Gournay

 
A Series of Monuments to the Atchbishops of Tours of the 19th and 20th Centuries
Felix Pierre Fruchard (1874) Charles-Théodore Colet (1883) René François Renou (1913) 
Far left: Jean-Baptiste du Chilleau (1824);  Near left: Augustin Louis de Montblanc (1841)
Albert Negre (1931) Ludovic Gaillard (1956) Louis Ferrand (1980) Michel Moutel (1998)
Basilica of St Martin
There have been several churches on this site over the grave of St Martin. Only towers of the medieval church now remain, other parts of the building having been demolished in the Revolution and later. A new Neo-Bazantine basilica was erected over the grave of St Martin 1888-1924 by Guillaune René Meigan, Archbishop of Tours, whose monument in the crypt is shown to the right. Above  is the structure built over St Martin's grave, also in the crypt.
Loiret
Cléry-Saint-André
 Collegiate Church of Our Lady
Church open during normal hours. Park in the free car park next to the church.
King Louis XI 'The Universal Spider' (1483) Louis was one of the very few kings of France who wished to be buried elsewhere than St Denis.

A drawing from 1481 is still extant of the projected effigy and which shows the King kneeling but wearing armour and with shoulder length hair; this was perhaps based on an earlier design of 1472 by Jean Fouchet. This drawing probably differs from the final monuments constructed by Conrad of Cologne, goldsmith of Tours and Laurent Wrine, cannon maker, in gilt bronze and enamelled brass. This was melted down by the Hugenots in 1562.

The present effigy, sculptured in 1622 is the work of Michel Bourdin of Orleans, painter and architect of Paris, who constructed the monuments according to a design drawn by him in 1617.

This was destroyed in 1792 but the remains were collected by Alexandre Lenoir (who has been referred to in the section on St Denis) for display in his museum and reconstructed by the sculptor Besuvallet and the marbler Scellier. In 1818 the Prefect of the Loiret transferred the monument back to Cléry and a base was constructed by the architect Pagot and the sculptor Romagnesi. A drawing by an English visitor of this base - more in keeping than the present one - still exists.

During the restoration of the church in 1868 the tomb was again dismantled and in 1874 the effigy repositioned on a simple slab at ground level. It was replaced in 1896 on the present incongruous base which was constructed by the sculptor Libersac and the marbler Barberon.

The King and his Queen, Charlotte of Savoy, are buried in a vault which can be entered via a floor grill at the side of the monument; there their skulls may be seen displayed. Watch this space!		 Above: The heart of Louis's son Charles VIII (1498) was also buried at Cléry; above left  is a stone mounted on the wall, which reproduces the inscription on the casket which contains the heart and, right, the stone above the actual burial vault. His monument at St Denis was destroyed at the Revolution.
Below Left: stone with simple cross and inscription, now mounted on wall.
Right: Stone on floor marking the burial of  the Breton Tanneguy du Chastel (1477 ) He was killed by cannon fire while leaning on the King's shoulder at the seige of Bouchain; he was buried here on Louis's request.
 

 
Return to previous ('Monuments') page click here