Station of the Cross 14 from Rennes-le-Chateau Details

 

Apart from the better quality finish of the Rennes-le-Château Station of the Cross, and the colours, there is no difference between the two sets of figures.

From the angle of the cloth and the leaning position of the man holding Jesus under the arms, we can tell what direction the body is being carried, towards the cave or tomb entrance included here. But as we now know, Sauniere's Stations of the Cross are not unique, but by adding the moon he has cast doubt on exactly what is happening here. The hint he seems to be portraying is that Jesus is being removed from the Tomb and not being placed inside. Maybe it would have been two obvious, or too dangerous, to alter the figures to portray this.

Maybe this is what Sauniere is hinting at?

Or, if the landscape is a representation of one near Rennes-le-Chateau, maybe this body, be it Jesus or another, is being carried into a cave nearby.

Jesus was crucified just before the Sabbath, and by Jewish law he would have to have been in his Tomb by sunset.

The scriptures tell us that the Messiah died sometime around the 9th hour of the day (9 hours after the sun had risen). The ninth hour would be about our 3pm in the afternoon. So 'they' had plenty of time to place Jesus in his tomb before sunset and the start of the Sabbath.

If the body here is being removed from the tomb then it would have taken place before Mary Magdalene entered the now empty tomb three days later. With the body of Jesus now missing, his prediction of resurrection had been fulfilled.

Is this one of the 'Secrets' Sauniere had knowledge of. That Jesus was not resurrected but was taken from his tomb to fulfil the prophecy?

Another detail appearing in Sauniere's Station that is not in the Jean d'Alcas Station, is the trail of blood from the spear wound in Jesus' side. Look at the angle of the blood stain, is it still running from the wound? Is Sauniere hinting that Jesus was still alive, that he did not die on the cross. Surely if the blood stain is from when Jesus was hanging on the cross it would be in a downward direction and not to the side like it appears here. This blood stain is also present in the Mouthoumet Station 14, so maybe it has no importance. It would be interesting to find out if Sauniere ever visited the Mouthoumet Church and the age of their Stations of the Cross to find out if they pre-date Sauniere's or not.

It is plain to see that the two sets of rocky outcrops are not the same. The mountain landscape behind is also different.

Could Sauniere have altered the rocks to match a mountain or rock feature situated in the environs of Rennes-le-Chateau?

If this is why the priest altered this rock formation, then maybe it was to to indicate the location of a tunnel entrance or cave he discovered, where inside we can assume something has been, or once was, hidden away. A 'Secret' of some kind perhaps. This 'Secret' could be documents, treasure or perhaps even a body! Maybe even all three.

Perhaps the Mountain or hilly landscape in the background Sauniere added, depicts the location where the rocky outcrop can be found, and so the cave entrance depicted here.

It is almost certain that Sauniere's Station 14 and the Jean d'Alcas Station 14 are from the same mould, which proves, if the d'Alcas designs are original and unaltered, that Saunière altered the design of his to incorporate certain details of his own.

To be certain Sauniere has altered his Station designs, another set of the Stations of the Cross matching the Jean d'Alcas designs need to be found for comparison.