Saint Croix

Another church, this time in France. It's the ancient parish church of the town of Montrichard, a romanesque structure tucked under the towering castle erected by Foulques Nerra, the Black Falcon, a man so entertainingly evil he deserves his own novel (or two) plus a mini-series. The castle is 11th century, and no doubt the original church was too, but what you see in the picture probably dates from a century later.

It got its name (Église Ste-Croix) from a fragment of the true cross brought back from Jerusalem by Foulques Nerra, on one of his three pilgrimages to the city. He had a lot of repenting to do.


The picture is one of the first etchings I ever made, back in 2001 at the Ontario College of Art and Design. It's quite small, about four by six inches.