Ryes (Canton of Ryes, Calvados) Church of Saint-Martin

   The church of Saint-Martin in Ryes was under the patronage of the abbey of Fécamp. It underwent significant restoration in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, especially on its façade, the walls of the nave and transept. The choir is from the 13^th century. The tower at the transept crossing survives from the Romanesque period as well as the large arches of the nave. These date from the beginning of the 12^th century as is attested by the sculpted décor of the arches and capitals. The arches are decorated with chevrons and crenelated fretted patterns. They descend onto large monocylindrical columns, via capitals sculpted on their four faces. These capitals present a varied decoration of sculpted almond motifs, palmettes, foliage, masks, animals (lion, wolf, sea monsters etc…) and figured scenes with Daniel in the lions' den and the Three children in the furnace (?).

Bibliography

- Bertaux, J.J. - " Contribution à l’étude de l’art roman en Normandie : L’architecture des églises paroissiales romanes de l’ancien doyenné de Creully ", dans Annales de Normandie, mars 1966, 16^ème année, n°1, p. 3 à 32, (p. 11)
- Caumont, Arcisse (de). - Statistique monumentale du Calvados, Hardel, Caen, 1859, T. II, p. 572 à 577
- Les siècles romans en Basse-Normandie, Art de Basse-Normandie, n° 92, Printemps 1985, p. 119