The fiddle-playing angel-demon of Thines

The musician angel-demon and the dancer of Notre-Dame de Thines

This remarkable capital crowns one of the outer columns of the apse of Notre-Dame de Thines, in the commune of Malarce-sur-la-Thines. Built in the 12th century by the Benedictines on the road from Le Puy-en-Velay to Santiago de Compostela, this Romanesque church was listed as a Historic Monument by Prosper Mérimée in 1850. It still overlooks the peaceful Ardèche valley of Malacare.

We learned of this capital at the archaeo-lutherie conference in Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, during the talk given by the instrument maker Benjamin Margotton, whom we were pleased to count among our members. Taking advantage of our stay in the Ardèche, we carried out operation GALATÉE 204 on 12 June 2024, devoted to the digital inventory of this Romanesque capital.

As Benjamin Margotton explained in his talk, this representation is remarkable and unusual in many respects.

Angels are usually beardless, yet here we find a bearded angel with a feathered right wing, while the left wing seems scaly. This curious figure seems to combine the attributes of angels and demons. In his left hand he holds a pear-shaped fiddle whose head, sadly much worn by time, still shows two half-moon sound holes and the tailpiece. His right hand seems to grasp that of a contorted dancer at his side.

The dancer, for her part, holds the bow, which she draws under the guidance, or perhaps the possession, of this angel-demon, to play the fiddle he holds in his other hand.