Inside the abbey iv
Besides the appealing polychrome wooden statuary, there are a number of friezes of polychrome decorated stone to be seen displayed within the abbey. These depict well known scenes from the Bible, such as this example of the banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Notice the depiction of Satan within the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was Satan, symbolised by the dragon that was defeated by St Michel. Each of the displayed stone panels depicts a scene of punishment and retribution. I did not manage to get detailed information of these reliefs. They are evidently not in their original location (they appear to have once been a continuous sequential panel) which would indicate that they belonged to an earlier abbey church or were brought from some other place of Christian worship. I’m not a serious art historian, but from the style and the colours used I would imagine they are medieval – probably around the 13th century. I found them fascinating and strangely moving.
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