MOLET Henri, Near the Bazacle, the Garonne and ancient remains.

Following an analysis of the topography and character of the river during the ancient period at the level of the Bazacle ford, the remainder of the causeway and the changes in its use have been examined, along with the ancient building near the Bazacle whose ruins were brought to light by the breaking of a dike during the flood of 1613. The direct and indirect evidence have allowed the latter to be precisely located and led to an understanding of the spoiling which led to its almost complete destruction from 1621. On the basis of information culled from various authors, from archaeology and Roman architectural rules, it is nevertheless possible to at least imagine its appearance. 

MANIÈRE Gabriel, Archaeology of the “Petites Pyrénées”. Ausseing, Roquefort, Belbèze, Cassagne. The Gallo-Roman temple of Belbèze-Pédégas.

The discovery in 1962 of the Balesta menhir and of the rocky sanctuary surrounding in the commune of Roquefort, as well as the discovery on the same lands of the workshops of stone masons from the Acheulean epoque, with Gallo-Roman vestiges, drew the author's attention to this area of the Pyrénées, where he discovered significant quarries at Belbèze and proof of their working since the Gallo-Roman epoque.

Shortly after, research at the site led to the discover;y of the vestiges of a Gallo-Roman sanctuary, accompanied by a temple and a pool fed by a spring. Of Roman inspiration, the temple and its layout nevertheless retain indigenous characteristics both in the numerous votive altars and in the ritual objects. It appears to have suffered the fate of pagan temples destroyed in keeping with imperial edicts, at the end of the fourth century. Excavation of the sanctuary has uncovered proof of the existence of an ancient pilgrimage site.
Not far downhill, the Junac site received a new early Christian sanctuary, where sarcophagi of local limestone were found, whose covers had four sloping sides. The site, taken as a whole, is witness to its long-standing religious character, from pre-history through the end of the Middle Ages.

CABAU Patrice, Opusculum de passione ac translatione sancti Saturnini, episcopi Tolosanae civitatis et martyris ( A provisional edition and translation)

The Brief Passion and Translation of St. Sernin, Bishop of the City of Toulouse and Martyr is one of the most venerable monuments of the history of Christian Gaul. Having probably taken final form in the second decade of the fifth century, this basic text was used to creat the offices on which the martyr's cult was based. Known most notably to Sidonius Appollinaris, Venantius Fortunatus and Gregory of Tours, the Opusculum enjoued a wide and rapid diffusion, which was prolonged at the end of the ninth century and at the beginning of the seventeenth by the production of more less fantastic expanded versions. This new edition of the short work, based on a version transcribed in the eleventh century in the scriptorium of Moissac abbey, is accompanied by a provisional translation.

BOUDARTCHOUK Jean-Luc, “UBI ALMA - ”, Concerning a partially unedited inscription from the early Christian mosaic from the Daurade church (Toulouse).

At the time of the destruction of the Daurade church in the eighteenth century, a fragment of an inscription in mosaic was recovered, which was part of an iconographic program from late antiquity (fifth century). It contains the beginning of a phrase: “UBI ALMA.--”, as near-contemporary transcriptions (three copies) of the “Malliot manuscript”. Only a fragment of this mosaic, with the first word of this inscription has come down to us. This article attempts to establish the meaning of the second word, ALMA, which cannot definitively be said to be truncated or not. Three hypotheses are put forward, the first two related to the cult of the Virgin Mary (alma or almah), the third being part of a proper name: Almachius. Now, this rare name is notably borne by a Toulousan said to have lived in the times of Theodoric, and to have died “at the Capitolium”, in the medieval Life of the martyr Antonin, called Antonin of Pamiers, while the Daurade is considered, by Nicolas Bertrand, writing at the end of the fifteenth century, to be the templum Jovis altitonantis. 

TESTARD Olivier, Reflections on the meaning of the western façade of the cathedral of Toulouse.

This study attempts to draw conclusions concerning a reevaluation of architectural knowledge of the master of the works of the thirteenth century. Essentially, it explores the intentional characteristics of the architectural layout which were chosen only to convey a meaning. One must thus include in one's analysis details usually considered merely decorative. By using a mystical reading of the western rose window, which uses the symbolism of the circle, of light and of numbers to represent a theophany, it is possible to read the whole of the facade, following some southern facades, as a monumental poral. The composition becomes representative of a way of thought which is anchored in the difference between literal and spiritual exegesis of the Bible in favor of the second. The device thus created, associated with the single nave of exceptional width, aims at setting the stage on the exterior for the doctrine of the Holy See related by the Cistercian bishop, and in the interior, a revelation of the encounter with God promised to the elect.

BALAGNA Christophe, The gemstone collection at the Musée des Beaux-Art of Mirande.

The gemstone collection at the Musée des Beaux Art of Mirande includes some thirty pieces of interest. Notable among them are items from the Romanesque epoch that can certainly be attributed tot he former Cistercian abbey of Berdoues, found close to Mirande. Other, more numerous pieces, probably date from the first half of the fourteenth century. Indeed their structure, molding and decoration identify them as contemporary productions, visible throughout the Midi. Therefore, they probably belong to the former convent of the Cordeliers de Mirande, since they display numerous similarities with the house of the Little Brothers of the Archbishopric of Auch.

BORDES François, The “American” leaf of the Annales de Toulouse (1371-1372 and 1372-1373).

The Pierpont Morgan Library in New York holds one medieval leaf of the famous Toulousan Annales manuscript. Saved from destruction in the Revolution, it represents the elections of 1371-1372 and 1372-1373. The leaf also includes the portraits of the consuls for each of these years, which provide us with precious information on the evolution of the art of illumination in Toulouse in the fourteenth century. The image of the members of the town chapter for 1371-1372, decorated with astonishing richness, is now the only known example of its kind from Toulousan collections.

COSTA Georges, Jacques Lemercier and the construction of the Pont Neuf of Toulouse.

Following the damage done by the flooding of May, 1613, M. de Bellebat and Jacques Le Mercier were chosen to examine the work on the Pont Neuf of Toulouse. Their report showed that the project undertaken by the architect Pierre Souffron presented three difficulties: the narrowness of the access ramp, its excessive width, planned for three lanes and two rows of houses, and its superfluous decoration. Of the two proposals advanced by Mercier to solve these problems, the kings advisor, on September 30, 1624, chose the most economical, which reduced the width of the bridge to a dimension “similar to the Pont Neuf of Paris”, abandoning the pland to build houses on the bridge. The contract to carry out the works was awarded on March 31, 1615 to a consortium of Parisian businessmen.

The works began with the reconstruction of the sixth pier (October, 1615 - lat April, 1616) and continued with the construction of the first four arches (1617-1618.) The discovery of a split in the fifth pier in February, 1619, slowed the work, since the Commission responsible for the work was opposed to the demolition of the arch built by Souffron. The work was begun anew in June, 1625, simultaneously carrying out repairs to the fifth pier, demolition of Souffron's arch and the construction of the last three arches (1626-1628). In 1632, the bridge was essentially completed. Preparing to leave, the consortium entrusted the triumphal arch and the pavilions to one of its memebers, Jean Caillon, who had the pavilions covered with slate roofs in 1634-1635, following directives from the Commissioners.
The Pont Neuf of Toulouse occupies an important place in the history of the bridges of France, as well as in the career of Jacques Le Mercier.

BACCRABÈRE Georges, Seventeenth-century ceramics from the Grande-rue Saint-Michel in Toulouse.

In 1991 construction work brought to light two finds at two different sites on the Grande-rue Saint-Michel. They contained ceramics fro cooking, pottery with painted decoration and two molded statuettes. The common pottery includes pots, covers, dripping pans, and pots for cooking chestnuts as well as a basin a pitcher and some pieces of jars. The painted pottery includes a warmer, bowls and plates. A statuette of molded pottery represents a Pieta and a Virgin and Child. The two sites testify to the expansion of the town to the south of the ancient city in the modern period.

SARTRE Fabienne, Toulousan sculpture in the first half of the eighteenth century.

The royal sculptor Marc Arcis dominated the Toulousan art milieu in the first decades of the eighteenth century, through his training, his contacts and his technical mastery. Some of these qualities he passed to his disciples Pierre Lucas, Hardy and Parant and to his sons Antoine and Marc II Arcis. Other, less multi-facted artisans, were also to be found in Toulouse, whose work was particularly well-served by the economic situation and the increasing commissions. Expanding on the knowledge of the sulptors in wood, clumsily adapting contemporary models, these artists were frequently hampered by the woodworkers guild, before breaking away and joining the Société des Beaux Arts, or forming other groups, inspired by the Académie de Saint-Luc. After the death of Marc Arcis, work in terracotta, used by the Lucas dynasty, led to a renewal of the waning dynamism of Toulousan sculpture.

PUJALTE Marie-Luce, Two new elements in the biography of François Cammas.

An accomplished theorist in the Toulousan artistic community, François Cammas left a unique record of his professional activity in A Course in Military and Civil Architecture, which tells us both of the progress of architectural theory in the eighteenth century and of the rebirth of the arts at the end of that century, by choosing Jacques François Blondel's A Course of Architecture as a basis for his reflections. On the same note, he states that he was then sent to Holland, at the request of the Estates of Languedoc, to study hydraulic systems and more generally the conquest of the sea. These two unedited documents have thus allowed on the one hand to confirm the pedagogical fame of Professer Cammas, and on the other to show his as in the field, as an engineer, on top of his known skills as a painter, architect and draftsman.

Bulletin of the Academic Year 2000-2001.

The minutes of the meetings of the Society give an account of its various activities, recording in particular the discussions which follow the papers presented, wheter or not the latter are published in the Mémoires. Also included is information on archaeological digs, restorations in progress and various discoveries in Toulouse and the region, as well as summaries and notes: “The Lion d'Or hostelry” in Graulhet (Tarn), Vieille-Toulouse, discovery of a defensive ditch and a pit filled with amphorae, A relief in marble of Bacchus, brought to light in Valentine, Rich as Croesus? Toulouse, 1000 years of coins, Balconiesprestige and socializing in Toulouse in the seventeenth century, Did the “sacred lakes” of the Tectosages ever exist?, An archaeological study of the house at 15 rue Croix-Baragnon in Toulouse, the restoration of the murals of Notre-Dame du Taur in Toulouse, “Our Lady of Grasse” and an ancient drawing preserved in Stockholm, From Saint Saturninus to Saint-Sernin, on the body of the Bishop Saturninus of Toulouse: new considerations, Archaeological tests on the site of the Villa of Chiragan, Archaeological digs at the site of the extenhsion of The Bemberg Foundation, Hôtel d'Assézat 5 rue de l'Écharpe Toulouse, A new plan for the Basilica of Saint-Sernin of Toulouse....

Jubilee of Jean Coppolani, Honorary Director of the Society

Translated by Pamela Marquez
Department of History
Metropolitan State College of Denver

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