Mission cross (croix de mission) sculpted in granite and Kersanton stone in the parish close (enclos paroissial), Church of Saint Nonne, Dirinon, Finistère, Brittany, France. The cross dates from the 1400s.
Church of Saint Nonne, Dirinon, Finistère, Brittany, France: mission cross (croix de mission) in the parish close (enclos paroissial). The granite mission cross, with a capital of Kersanton stone, dates from the 1400s. It was restored in the late 1800s and again in 1987 - 1988. It was located for several years at the so-called mission crossroads at the north east entrance to Dirinion, hence its name. The Church of St Nonne was built between the late 1500s and early 1700s. The parish close was built in the 1400s as a result of the prosperity of the cloth trade and patronage of noble families. Parish closes (les enclos paroissiaux) are a feature of Breton art. They refer to enclosed cemeteries beside a church, each including a calvary. Breton calvaries are elaborate sculptures detailing biblical scenes and sometimes secular scenes. Many ancillary figures wear not biblical robes but elaborate 16th century dress. The naive carvings were worked in granite. At a time when many were illiterate, the stone carvings provided pictorial information. Saint Nonne (or Non) who lived in the 500s AD was the daughter of Brecan, a Welsh chieftain, and of Dinam, an Irish princess. Following a rape, Nonne sailed to Brittany to give birth to her son, Divy (Dewi in Welsh, David in English) and came to Dirinon, the place now named after her. (In other versions of Nonne’s life, she settled at Altarnun in Cornwall, England, where a church and well were built in her honour and later travelled to Brittany where she died.)
Size: 4912px × 7360px
Location: Church of Saint Nonne, l’église Sainte-Nonne, Dirinon, Finistère, Brittany, France
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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