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February 26, 2006
Saint Paul of the Walls with Holes In Them for Shooting Out Arrows and Such
February 29, 2004 : Part of the original wall surrounding St-Paul-de-Vence, Côte d'Azur
One would never know it now. The inhabitants of tiny St-Paul-de-Vence show no signs of being armed against certain attack. Heck, they're almost all artists. These are painters, mostly, drawn by the region's natural light. (I'm sure the éclat that comes from being associated with an artist colony holds a bit of appeal as well.) They're a far cry from their forebears, who ostensibly sought a defensive position against marauding hordes who gave meaning to the term "mediaeval on your ass."
Most sources say that the fortification came sometime in the 13th century, though the town had been around for a couple hundred years by that point. Who were the attackers? Some say the answer is relevant to current events in Europe and around the world today. These were the Moors, and they invaded southern Europe via North Africa, starting in the 8th century. They weren't sent back to North Africa for about another eight hundred years.
The Crusades are important, but are only one part of the long history of Muslim-Christian "relations" in Europe. It's easy to see how religion has played such a central role in life itself when one climbs the steep streets of this now-posh place and finds the ancient church at the very top, its walls and crypt clutching the crest, the last holdout. The Spanish missions of the American Southwest are much the same concept. After all, the Spanish Jesuits learned defense for pretty much exactly the same reason as the did these French papists.
The art was amazing to behold, and not always for its aesthetic properties. We met one entrepreneurial fellow whose commercial stuff is, we all tacitly acknowledged, just pretty junk. His "art" is that of wooing large buyers who gobble up shipping crates full of his sunny scenes and sell them to upscale developers and homeowners from Miami to Malibu. He was such a pleasant person -- and who wouldn't be, with a schedule like his?
There was also to be found art both academically accepted and real, however. This is the place of Marc Chagall's tomb, and Matisse sat in the next town over. The wife and I were checking out galleries down near the cemetery when we found "the one." I don't know how to describe the works of Joëlle Lalague, but they drew both of us in, and instantly. And then we met her. I typically err on the side of skepticism, but I except this person as one who sees into the Universe. Her paintings throb, breathe, and live. She took a liking to her besneakered American fans, it seemed. Using my stuttered French and her halting English, the three of us chatted about her organic approach to Art; our pregnancy; her assertion that art itself is born of another kind of womb, and she's just the midwife; and our awe of her having been shown alongside Pablo Picasso.
I'm sure many people I know would pooh-pooh the current state of St-Paul-de-Vence, what with its richer-than-life aura and everything. There was, after all, a whole shop for olive oil, and I don't think you could get out of there for under fifty euro. I do think St-Paul-de-Vence a necessary testament to the noble, if fleeting, idea that peace and beauty can triumph over religious hate wars and dogma-fueled destruction.
Sunday Drive | By joe lance | 09:47 PM