He had been there for more than a century, forgotten.
While digging in the steeple of the church of Saint-Cornier-des-Landes, a resident of this commune of Orne, Elisabeth Barrière, discovered a painting lost for a hundred years.
According to the Foundation for the Safeguarding of French Art, it is a copy of a painting by the painter Philippe de Champaigne,
Christ and the Samaritan Woman
.
The original, painted around 1650, is currently on display at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Caen.
A kitty was opened to restore the work, damaged by time and poor conservation conditions.
“The painting was placed on the cupboard which houses a mechanism for the church clock.
It looked like an old door
,” recalls Elisabeth Barrière.
At the time, this Norman for several generations immersed herself in the family archives.
We proudly pass on to him the history of this very religious village in Normandy.
“It is said that during the Revolution, when everyone was casting church bells to make cannonballs, the inhabitants of Saint-Cornier-des-Landes were the only ones to resist.
We kept our bells
,” she explains proudly.
The painting, when it is found by Elisabeth Barrière in the steeple of the church of Saint-Cornier-des-Landes.
Elisabeth Barriere
The other anecdote that comes up regularly is the resistance of the inhabitants of Saint-Cornier-des-Landes in 1905, when the law separating Church and State was promulgated.
At that time, all places of worship have a duty to make an inventory of the property they have.
In this small village in the Orne, as in a few others, we are convinced that the State is going to plunder the property of the churches.
“The revolution left a bad memory in the minds of many Catholics.
The fear of being robbed is very present in people's minds"
, explains Jacqueline Lalouette, author of
The State and the cults
(ed. The Discovery).
In Normandy, in the Pyrénées-Orientales and Haute-Loire, demonstrations are organized to prevent the State from gaining access to the churches.
At the same time, in Saint-Cornier-des-Landes, goods were piled up in the church tower to protect them from possible spoliation by the French state.
Among them, this copy of a Philippe de Champaigne, found by Elisabeth.
A "striking" painting
When Ornaise gets their hands on this canvas damaged by time and humidity, specialists are called in to find out if it can be repaired.
It is possible, he is told, but the estimates indicate that it will be necessary to pay a minimum of 8000 euros to restore the work.
Coincidentally, the Foundation for the Safeguarding of French Art is presenting a national competition at the same time.
The principle is simple: several works to be restored are put in competition in each region.
A vote is organized and the work of art that has received the most votes is the one that will have a budget of 8,000 euros.
"The deputy mayor of Saint-Cornier-des-Landes made me discover the painting, which I found striking"
, remembers Pauline de Poncheville, responsible for the works of
"The story of this painting is crazy," she continues.
Admittedly, it is a copy, but the painting is different from the original format, which is quite modest in size.
Here, the work is larger, rectangular.
The artist has given himself a freedom that makes his painting a work in its own right.
The enthusiasm of the inhabitants of Saint-Cornier-des-Landes for the painting carries it to the final of the competition.
On social networks, the deputy for the 3rd constituency of Orne, Jérôme Nury, relays calls for a vote.
“It's a wonderful painting because it's very symptomatic of our state of mind,”
he explains.
My constituency is a high place of the Norman chouannerie, we have long been wary of the Republic, of the State.
It is moving to find, 100
years later, in these conditions, this painting which says something about our history.
The painting loses the competition by a few votes.
However, the inhabitants do not despair of seeing it restored and replaced in the church.
“It is common for projects that do not win to create mobilization despite everything,
analyzes Pauline de Poncheville.
The inhabitants become aware of what belongs to them.
Sometimes, this leads the town halls to launch the restoration work themselves.”
The foundation has imagined a participatory kitty to restore the painting.
If the 8,000 euros necessary for its restoration are raised, the canvas will return to the village church.
In other words, in its place of 117 years ago.