Logis à l'enseigne de sainte Marthe

Re-employed above a street store of the same name, this stone sign seeming to date from the eighteenth century is certainly that of the former inn Sainte-Marthe.
She represents the patron saint of hoteliers sitting next to Mary holding the child Jesus. In the Bible, Martha receives Jesus into her home in Bethany, near Jerusalem. The two characters who frame them are, on the left, Saint Peter who carries the keys and, on the right, Saint James the Major, protector of the pilgrims, recognizable by his long stick named bumblebee and his calebasse in the shape of a pear, dried squash and hollowed out serving as a gourde. The scene is blessed by the Holy Spirit symbolized by the dove placed above them.
This bas-relief, restored by the association of the Friends of Old Niort, still retains some traces of polychromy because, originally, it was painted in order to be seen from afar.