PeriodIndex

Adam and Eve

This group of eleven relief panels form part of the carved vault decoration of a sacristy bay at the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud. Executed in a soft, chalky limestone typical of the Loire region, the panels combine biblical narrative scenes with hagiographic episodes from the Life of St Nicholas and include one figure of architectural patronage.

In the 16th century (c. 1500–1600), church monuments transitioned from late Gothic to Renaissance styles amid the Reformation (1530s onward). Brasses dominated for the middle classes; alabaster tombs for elites. Meanwhile religious upheaval reduced overt Catholic imagery.

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