I didn’t take any photos, but here is the village website, English version, to situate is a bit.
We went to La Mas d’Agenais this morning to see the Rembrandt in the church. There was no one there except the statues and the painting, a crucifiction, nothing remarkable, except that it was painted by Rembrandt, and it’s hanging on the wall of a C11th village church in the Lot-et-Garonne. The painting is unremarkable but the church has the charm of small country churches where the statutes of saints, Sacred Hearts and Madonnas are what draws the eye. One in particular is rather touching, Mary holding the infant Jesus, a Mary dressed like a peasant with braided hair and no veil, holding a fat baby with the jowls of a bloodhound, the ugliest Jesus I’ve ever seen.
River runs heavy
slow the canal troubled green
silence of birdsong.
The Four Swans 
It does sound charming. I acknowledge Rembrandt’s skill, but he’s never been one of my favorites. I wonder how one of his paintings ended up there. Older child and I have been known to look for the ugliest baby Jesuses in a museum. 😉
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It’s a really pretty place. I can’t remember how the painting was discovered. It was lent to some big museums where there was high security, but it’s back here now, and no security whatsoever.
It’s hard to paint babies, and if the baby is God, I suppose there’s a lot of symbolism to take into account, but they rarely look like babies at all. I’ll take a photo of Jesus next time we go. He’s quite something 🙂
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I look forward to seeing it. 🙂
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I like Rembrandt’s, compared to most others… I have not seen many originals close up… but I did not find his boring.
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He painted real people with real (often) hard lives. You can read it in their faces.
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And the light. That’s what captures my interest in them. The contrast. They were also the first exhibit in the museum, so I suppose that good timing figured into it as well.
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Yes; the faces shine out of darkness. I imagine the interiors were pretty monochrome in that part of the world at that epoch, dark clothes, white ruffs and veils, and very dark furniture, no frills.
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Sometimes, I am amazed by where you can find the work of famous artists. I used to spend a lot of time in Germany and one day happened on a schloss that was filled with Rubens work. Turns out he was born in that town. Who knew? I thought he was Flemish.
Once in an art supply store in Chicago I found several (maybe five) Rembrandt sketches just hanging on the wall. These kinds of surprises will make your day, whoever you are.
Thanks for sharing.
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Amazing when they’re not surrounded by high security too.
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I like the architecture of the church. So heavy outside, so light inside.
I am always looking at Mary and Jesus wherever I find them–so different from each other, so interesting all the various interpretations. Best when not idealized. Babies are hard to represent well for any artist, (K)
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It is a nice church. The pillars divide it up into dozens of different perspectives.
Yes, I look at the mother and babies, always hoping to find a couple that look as though a loving spouse and parent had painted them.
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