THE CHURCH IN THE HEART OF THE VINEYARDS

It’s been completed. Perhaps a few nuance touches will occur but it is ready to receive my signature in one corner. This is a painting of Saint Jacques Le Majeur church located in Hunawihr, Alsace, France. the painting itself is 18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas. The painting celebrates for me, Christine’s and my recent 4 week trip to France. On this occasion we lived in Riquewihr for one week and on one of those days, we walked the 2.5 kms. to Hunawihr, through the roads and paths that permit visitors to walk to numerous villages. This church was built in the 15th and 16th centuries on the foundation of an earlier church and it was initially Catholic. In 1534 Georges of Wurttenberg introduced Zwinglian reformation Protestantism to the town. His successor introduced Lutheran Protestantism in 1559. Then in 1687 Louis XIV ruled that if there were seven Catholic families in the village, the church should be used for both sects. Today it is still a dual Christian church. It is a heritage site now, a fortified church surrounded by an hexagonal stone wall with six semi-circular bastions. It is known as the church in the heart of the vineyards.