In this porcelain plate we see depicted the inquisition in the mountain village of Montaillou in the French Pyrenees. The inspiration is to be found in the historic novel ‘Montaillou’ by E. Le Roy Ladurie. The plate was made by the artist during his stay in France. This is a remarkable example of painting on a ceramic plate. It gives the impression of an aquarel, but also has lines with the sharpness of a drawing in Indian ink. At the edge (lower right-hand corner) of the reverse side of plate there is a minor damage and restoration.
About Montaillou
Early in the 14th century an isolated mountain village in the Pyrenees was subjected to an investigation by the Spanish Inquisition. That village, Montaillou, numbered no more than 250 residents, mainly farmers and shepherds. Jaques Fourier, the ambitious bishop of Pamiers (who would later even become the Pope in Avignon) led the investigation. Their objective was the banishment of heretics, especially those involved in the Albigensian Herecy. The roaming herdsmen of Montaillou, who let their herds graze alternately in the mountains and on the Spanish plains, spread the false doctrine and thus presented a danger. Not a single heretic was considered safe from this medieval Maigret, who forced his victims to tell more than they really wanted to admit. He uncovered all of the village’s secrets, and everything was recorded in documents: The intimate life of the shepherd and free-booter Pierre Maury, the excessive love-life of the unscrupulous village priest, both heretic and telltale, and the flammable passion of the lady of the castle, Lady Beatrice de Planissoles.
In this porcelain plate we see depicted the inquisition in the mountain village of Montaillou in the French Pyrenees. The inspiration is to be found in the historic novel ‘Montaillou’ by E. Le Roy Ladurie. The plate was made by the artist during his stay in France. This is a remarkable example of painting on a ceramic plate. It gives the impression of an aquarel, but also has lines with the sharpness of a drawing in Indian ink. At the edge (lower right-hand corner) of the reverse side of plate there is a minor damage and restoration.
About Montaillou
Early in the 14th century an isolated mountain village in the Pyrenees was subjected to an investigation by the Spanish Inquisition. That village, Montaillou, numbered no more than 250 residents, mainly farmers and shepherds. Jaques Fourier, the ambitious bishop of Pamiers (who would later even become the Pope in Avignon) led the investigation. Their objective was the banishment of heretics, especially those involved in the Albigensian Herecy. The roaming herdsmen of Montaillou, who let their herds graze alternately in the mountains and on the Spanish plains, spread the false doctrine and thus presented a danger. Not a single heretic was considered safe from this medieval Maigret, who forced his victims to tell more than they really wanted to admit. He uncovered all of the village’s secrets, and everything was recorded in documents: The intimate life of the shepherd and free-booter Pierre Maury, the excessive love-life of the unscrupulous village priest, both heretic and telltale, and the flammable passion of the lady of the castle, Lady Beatrice de Planissoles.