Ben Hammott Research - The Fleury Tableau from the Rennes-le-Chateau Church Of Mary Magdalene.
Option 4 - Saunière's Baluster.
The wooden baluster is one of the objects linked to the beginning of the 'Rennes-le-Chateau Mystery' as a possible location for the parchments Saunière is said to have found. The story goes that the bell ringer found a glass vial containing a small rolled up piece of parchment, fallen from a secret compartment in the Baluster. He handed this over to the priest Sauniere and never saw it again.
Antoine, the bell-ringer, used to recount this story to his grandson, also named Antoine Captier, ending with, “and it is thanks to me that the priest became rich!” Perhaps fittingly, the present day Antoine now has ownership of the wooden baluster. I was lucky enough to meet with Antoine and his wife Clair, who kindly let me view and photograph the Baluster, and for this I am grateful. More about the baluster and the Glass Vial HERE
Baluster Pillar Top and the Fleury pillar Top Comparison.
As you can see above there is a resemblance between the two. This could by why Sauniere included it in the tableau, to remind him of the object that changed his life. The baluster obviously held some importance to him as unlike the rest of the pulpit which was disposed of, the baluster he kept.
The complete Baluster.
Hidden Details.
To the left of the unknown figure are some painted marks. At first glance I thought it was
simply grass, but with no other similar grass
in the left or right sides of the tableau, I took a closer look. It could
just be my imagination but if you look at this
picture the marks seem to be indistinct
letters and once could have formed a word.
Faded with age or covered in dust and grime, like much
of the tableau, the word, if that’s what it is,
cannot be made out clearly. With all that has
happened at Rennes-le-Chateau over the years, it is possible that if this was a word, and so a clue, it
has since been made illegible by someone. The letters could be an R something YLH or II, which makes no sense but, as previously stated, they are the only single blades of grass painted anywhere on the two sides of the Tableau, why? They are also by the only figure that appears on the left and right paintings and by one of the only two bushes that appear in both. This little scene could be hiding more details. The two bushes have not been painted in the same amount of detail. The bush on this right side is so dissimilar it
looks as if someone
has purposely
dabbed on blobs of
paint to cover
something up, if so
what? Maybe what the figure is looking at originally wasn't a bush at all but a cave or some other landmark.
Notice the dissimilarity of this singular bush to the one in the right-hand side of the tableau, also how better detailed this one is.
1st February, 2007
A very interesting article 'The Rock of the Magdalene' b has just been posted on the Arcadia website, they examine the Magdalene, a strangely overlooked rock. Included in the article is an examination of certain paintings, one of which is by the Dutch Master Jan van Scorel who appears to have hidden a number of secrets in his painting of 'Mary Magdalene'. What is of interest to me is that this painting also features a solitary figure in the landscape that bears more that a passing resemblance to Saunieres unknown figure in the Tableau.
The Painting and the Person from the landscape compared to Sauniere's lone figure. Figure Research Here.
Connected or Coincidence? Read the full article HERE to find out more.
For more information on Sauniere's Baluster click HERE to visit the Société Perillos website and view the article posted 26th January, 2007
Home - Top - Research Menu - Fleury Research 2
Rennes-le-Chateau - Famous for the mysterious antics of its former priest Berenger Sauniere. Sauniere redecorated his church embedding clues to the secret he discovered during the renovations of the Rennes-le-Chateau church dedicated to Mary Magdalene.
click pic for larger image
The thin diagonal piece of wood seen running from the top to the bottom is the access panel to the secret compartment. It is now firmly glued in place.
This information first appeared in the Rennes-le-Chateau Chronicle 2005/6
This is how the actual ornate pillar top looks in the Fleury tableau. it even looks wooden rather than stone.
Some have suggested the stones in these paintings are representations of local landmarks, the Bread stone as one example.
I have filled in the
missing part of the
fallen pillar to form a
completed view, enabling
the pillar’s design to be
more easily visualised and a more accurate comparison.
The fallen ornate pillar or column in the foreground is commonly associated with
with three events:
1 - The destruction of Holy Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans.
2 - The sacking of Rome when the Holy Treasure of Jerusalem was taken by the Visigoths.
3 - The Visigothic altar column that
supposedly started Sauniere on his journey to fame and fortune. 4 - The church Baluster.
All three are equally of value to us
interested in the mystery, as they are all linked to a treasure of some kind.
Unfortunately options 1 & 2 are impossible to prove or disprove at this moment in time.
Option 3
Comparing the
Visigothic Altar
support from Sauniere's church with
the pillar top
from the painting,
we can see there is
no similarity.
Click to view Visigothic Altar Page
.
Right Hand Painting details
The position of the wording underneath the Tableau has been altered at one time. You can still see its original position. Probably just to keep VENEZ A MOI central. further evidence of Sauniere having details re-done if they were not to his liking.
Just who is this lone figure Sauniere has included here?
Could it be the priest himself or perhaps even Boudet. It could also Marie Dénarnaud, Sauniere’s
faithful housekeeper
and lifelong friend.
Whatever the identity of this person is, they are holding something which looks like
an umbrella, how strange. It could also be a badly painted walking stick. The figure is staring intensely at a bush. It, like all the other
details in the church, must
have been added for a good reason. Figure Research Here.
The figure is looking at the singular bush growing in this landscape. Is it a clue? A landmark? Or nothing more than artistic decoration?
Is the purpose of the group of buildings painted here to be identified as locations in the Rennes-le-Chateau area?
The mount here is believed by many to depict a hill or mountain found near Rennes-le-Chateau. The scene depicted here is taken from the Bible. The people have come to be cured of their ailments by Jesus. But if we replace Jesus with Sauniere, then the people on the hill become us, those looking for his treasure or secret. The expression and mannerisms of Jesus's or Sauniere's, posture could then be saying, 'well here are the clues - find them and you will be cured of your poverty.' We know the angle of Christ’s head was important to Sauniere as he made the workmen redo it more than once until he was satisfied with the result. Could it be because Sauniere wanted it to stare in the direction of a location situated outside the church?
Could the sack of gold represent the position of the secret he had found - a cave on the depicted hillside?
All the figures have gold hems on their garments.
The little boy, top left,
wearing Victorian clothes is just one of the many unusual aspects of this
scene. Sauniere
as a boy perhaps.
There is much to learn from this highly detailed Tableau, but for now we will concentrate on just a few details.
The Fleury Tableau, depicting the Sermon on the Mount, is the largest single piece of artwork in the church and is a three dimensional Fresco.
Consisting of twelve figures, most of which are female which is an oddity as most bible references portray this scene with mostly all men.
The Fleury Tableau
The bag in the Tableau
photo above and shown larger here, in relation to the
people, is huge.
Sauniere has also positioned
it centre stage. These two
details alone point to its
importance to Sauniere.
Bag of Gold Nuggets,
not coins as some have thought.
