Antennas to the cosmos

photo Le style et la matière

I have been turning my eyes to the countryside more often these days, looking at things differently since we now have a house in Touraine. The house, as happy as we are with it, is going to a lot of love and work to get it back into shape. For one thing - minor I thought - it has only one finial on the rooftop, where once there were two.

photo Le style et la matière

If you look up even in the city, but especially in the countryside, you will realize that earth and sky are not such separate things as you might have thought. Many of our buildings are yearning upwards with finials and other decorative elements to point the way.

photo Le style et la matière

photo Le style et la matière

This very old decorative custom began as something functional - the need to protect the roof line from the inclement weather. A broken pot or jar, sometimes with handles, was inversed on top of the exposed wood of the central post that pierced the covering of primitive pagan huts. Now centuries later we often see these same elements, urns with or without handles, minus their original protective function. The idea of roof ornaments may also be derived from the building tradition of crowning the highest point of a house to celebrate its completion with a bouquet final, a temporary decoration translated into durable materials.

photo Le style et la matière

A recent exhibition organized by the Eco-Musée of Rennes was entitled Celestial Companions (Compagnons Célestes : épis de faîtage, girouettes, ornements de toiture). I did not see this exhibit but was interested to learn about the finial as a "symbolic link between this world and the celestial universe." This simple ornament is described as a guardan angel or a representation of a protective god of the house and its occupants on duty between earth and sky. Well, I don't know about you, but personally I never turn up my nose at any method of capturing good vibrations.   

photo Le style et la matière

photo Le style et la matière

Phallic forms, animals, fruit, pinecones were there for fertility, well-wishing 

and success in the habitation. Sometimes even more directly a man and his pregnant wife are pictured or so they say; I'll report back if ever I find that one.

photo Le style et la matière

Urns with flames

photo Le style et la matière

photo Le style et la matière 

The imitation of a bird alighting on the roof is thought to be beneficial for the home
and is natural choice for a dovecote.

photo Le style et la matière 


This spectacular decoration is on top of a church in Brittany and is a reminder of how 
the church's namesake, St Gildas, was martyred.

photo Le style et la matière

photo Le style et la matière

photo Le style et la matière

On top of churches, it is the ubiquitous gallic rooster who makes himself heard. Symbol of virility, luck, and  the daily resurrection of light, the defeat of darkness. It is often accompanied by a weather vane to show the direction of the wind and most importantly to 'orient' the church, that is to show that the edifice is pointed toward the east.(dictionnaire des symbols) 

For more, see an excellent article in French by Dominique Ronsseray