Montcherand, Vaud (Switzerland) - Apse

Ancient cluniac priory of St. Stephen. The church stands at the crossing of 3 roads of pilgrimage (St. James Way, Via Francígena & Great Itinerary of Cluniac Sites). One possibility is that the first mural may have been painted (early 12th) century by a pilgrim traveling his way to Compostela. Early in 1536 the Calvinist movement of the Reformation and the Bernese occupation of the region dictated that all murals in catholic churches be whitewasehd and it's thanks to this process that this mural has been preserved. Is the oldest example in French speaking Switzerland of the representation of human figures in religious art. In 1902, the fresco is discovered quite by chance, when trace of blue paint emerges under the whitewhasch.  Two more restorations was necessary (1979 and 1991) until this day. [Clunypedia](http://clunypedia.com/)/[map](http://clunypedia.com/map)