Eglise Saint-Fraimbault et Saint-Antoine

English translation

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History

The Church of Saint-Fraimbault and Saint-Antoine of Epineu-le-Chevreuil, mentioned in the 12th century, was founded according to tradition around 1060 by Hoël, bishop of Le Mans, and was under the authority of the chapter of Le Mans cathedral. At the beginning of the 16th century, Julien de Baïf, canon of Le Mans cathedral and lord of Epineu, had the choir rebuilt and erected a seigniorial chapel to the North. Julien de Baïf is buried in the church. Enlargement of the church in 1843 thanks to the generosity of the Duke of Tourzel de Sourches. Today, the church with a single nave adopts a Latin cross plan consequent to 19th-century works with the north arm of the transept erected in 1843. The nave is preceded to the West by a porch tower with a mansard roof. The south elevation of the nave allows one to see, beneath the 19th-century render, Romanesque masonry as well as the arch of a small Romanesque opening to the East. The nave is pierced on each side by three windows with pointed arches fitted out in the 19th century. The chevet shows a substantial three-sided elevation with buttresses, but it is the highly sophisticated vaulting system of the choir that commands our attention: a straight bay and apse vaulted with ribs, liernes and tiercerons with pendant keystones bearing the arms of the Baïf family. The springings of the vault ribs rest upon corbels decorated with angels holding a shield. One can appreciate the quality of the vault design, the profiles of the ribs as well as the keystones, although these were redone in the 19th century. The seigniorial chapel to the North, whose gable emerges externally, also displays vaulting of great quality. The church preserves part of the moveable furnishings of the 16th century and decoration, as well as the stained-glass window of the seigniorial chapel classified since 1972, the statues of Saint-Fraimbault and Saint-Antoine classified since 1906, elements from the liturgical arrangement bearing the arms of the Baïf family and re-erected, the altar and retable of the seigniorial chapel, and finally the gilt-copper funerary plaque of the heart of Julien de Baïf also classified. Even if one can only regret the works of the 19th century, these improvements which damaged the architectural character of the nave, whose simplicity corresponded to a historical reality, one cannot but emphasize the spatial beauty of the 16th-century choir, the great coherence of the whole: architecture, decoration and furnishings.