the church of Villedieu rediscovers its fresco in the apse vault

On the road from Tours to Châteauroux, you can't miss it. The Saint-Sébastien church can be seen from afar. Not by its majesty, although this Romanesque style building dating from the 11^e century has a certain cachet, but because of the inscription painted since 1884 on its pediment: French Republic, in capital letters.

A signature due to the municipal council of the time which thus made the diocese pay for the extension of the church on public property. It stands out even more since the completion of the renovation work on the exterior of the church which took place, from 2016 to 2022, for a total amount of 2.2 million euros.

“Elders of the town often talk to me about it”

After the exterior, the Theopolitan municipality decided to take an interest in the interior of the building in order to reveal hidden treasures. “In the vault at the back of the apse, we had known for a while that a fresco was covered by a layer of paint. Elders of the town often talk to me about it. It was flaking in places, revealing pieces of color. explains Xavier Elbaz, mayor of Villedieu-sur-Indre.

The fresco in question is signed Henri Grandin and was created in 1883, a year before the famous, very secular inscription on the pediment. We see a Holy Virgin, surrounded by angels with a backdrop of a shimmering sun. Two rooms, two atmospheres…

But as we definitely like painting in Villedieu, Grandin's fresco was covered with a layer of acrylic at the beginning of the 70s. A decade when modernity ravaged everything in its path.

Fifty years later, a sign of the times, cultural heritage has regained its place in the hearts and identity of the French. In Villedieu like almost everywhere else. “We called on a specialist company, Atelier Arcoa, and a project manager, Marc Cioffi, to see if it was worth undertaking work”specifies the mayor who, moreover, will inaugurate “his” gendarmerie in mid-December.

€76,000 of work

For €76,000, financed in part by grants from the region (15%), the department (15%) and the Ministry of Culture (30%), the restoration work on the fresco began in September and is underway. of completion. The fresco should be completely renovated for the Christmas holidays.

The four other, smaller vaults of the Saint-Sébastien church also have frescoes hidden behind a layer of acrylic. “For one of them, we already know that it cannot be recovered due to water infiltration, specifies Xavier Elbaz. The other three, we will see later to restore them. »

For the moment, renovation work on the town hall is more urgent.