page_title: Chinon
section_title: Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde
hierarchical_section_title: Chinon / Monuments / Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Cette fresque datée de la 2e moitié du 12e siècle pourrait représenter une chasse au faucon. Traditionnellement, on reconnaît dans les différents personnages des membres de la famille Plantagenêt. La haute qualité de la fresque (sûreté du dessin, variété des couleurs) en fait un chef d’œuvre de la peinture du 12e siècle. English: Mural in Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde de Chinon (Chapel of Saint Radegund in Chinon, France). The people depicted are traditionally thought to represent Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry Plantagenet, and their children (see source note below)
context_page_description: Chinon is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. The traditional province, Touraine, became a favorite resort of French kings and their nobles beginning in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Renaissance châteaux which they built new or erected on the bones of old fortresses earned this part of the Loire valley the nickname "The Garden of France.”
  Well-known today for its wine, castle, and historic town. Chinon played an important and strategic role during the Middle Ages, serving both French and English kings.
  Chinon has been registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.
context_section_description: The chapel of Saint Radegonde is half built into the rock face on the eastern outer limits of the town. During Antiquity, a natural underground spring at the back of the actual chapel was a site used for pagan worship. The site was Christianized in the 6th century when Queen Radegonde, later named a Saint, supposedly came to visit the hermit John who lived there. The name of the sanctuary comes from this event.
  Two naves were created, starting in the 12th century. One is carved directly into the rock and the second made adjacent to it at a later date. The chapel conserves some mural paintings, notably the Royal Hunt, made towards the end of the 12th century, the time of the power and residence of the Plantagenet family in Chinon. The fresco figures 5 riders, two of whom are crowned, and another with a bird of prey on his wrist. It has been presumed that it depicts members of the Plantagenet family in Chinon, the two crowned figures possibly being Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, or their son Henry the Younger, crowned during his father's lifetime in 1170. In addition to its subject matter, this painting is of outstanding quality in its execution, its vivacity and the variety of colours.
  Other paintings, depicting the story of Saint Radegonde and Saint John, were made during the 17th century.
  The chapel was deconsecrated following the Revolution and used as dwelling places. In 1878, it was bought and restored as a sanctuary by a benefactress of Chinon, Madame Charre.
caption: Fresco in Sainte-Radegonde chapel
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