Rucqueville (Canton of Creully, Calvados) Church of Saint-Pierre

   The church of Saint-Pierre in Rucqueville was in its 11^th century plan, a rural church without exceptional characteristics: a short nave, transept and choir with flat chevet. The whole building subsequently underwent numerous transformations. But the crossing of the transept retained its dispositions from the Romanesque period with eight half columns carrying exceptional historiated capitals, especially those with scenes from the life of Christ. The study of the archives reveals that the land in the region of Rucqueville was divided between those of highest rank during the time of William the Conqueror. One of these was able to have the church ornamented with this decoration commissioned to an artist who was not from the region, or who had brought back to Normandy themes and a technique influenced by the workshops of other sites, that of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire for example.

Bibliography

- Caumont, Arcisse (de), Statistique monumentale du Calvados, Hardel, Caen, 1859, p. 297 à 301
- Musset, Lucien. - Normandie romane, Zodiaque, La Pierre-Qui-Vire, 1987, T. I, p. 289 à 293
- Musset, Lucien. " Les chapiteaux de Rucqueville ", dans Art de Basse-Normandie, n° 13, Printemps 1959, p. 12 à 15
- Noël en Normandie, Art de Basse-Normandie, n°64, p. 42
- " Les siècles romans en Basse-Normandie ", dans Art de Basse Normandie, n°92, Printemps 1985, p. 123