La salamandre : un curieux détail sculpté sur une plaque funéraire trouvée à Andravida dans le Péloponnèse

Abstract

Abstract. The four salamanders carved on the funerary slab which covered the body of Agnes of Villehardouin, fourth wife of William II of Villehardouin, prince of Achaïa from 1246 until 1286, form a singular, puzzling detail. The analysis of the distribution and the study of the meaning of this motif during Antiquity and the Middle Ages allows us to understand the reasons why it was chosen. They are clearly linked to the Franco-Byzantine personality of Agnes of Villehardouin and to the framework of intercultural exchanges between Greeks and Franks in the region where she lived.