medieval manuscripts the monster is often depicted devouring people. Architecture There are also depictions in architecture. The aforementioned sculpture once incorporated into the right side exterior of Église Sainte-Marthe de Tarascon purportedly dated to the 11th century, and counted as the oldest representation recorded. This sculpture of the tarasque depicted the beast in the act of devouring a human, in typical fashion. This tarasque was a quadruped that bore close resemblance to the beast trodden underfoot by St. Martha in the paneling sculpture of the choir stalls at Cathédrale Sainte-Marie d'Auch, according to Abbé François Canéto. Another example is the carving of a The tarasque in the Montmajour Abbey near Arles. Yet another is carved in the capital column of the Church of St. Trophime (Église Métropolitaine de Saint-Trophime) in Arles, dating to the mid-14th century, though earlier commentators, such as Faillon who supplied detailed drawings of the capital, considered it to be an example of early Gothic art from the 11th century. Festivities The festival of the tarasque was initiated on April 14, 1474 during Pentecost in Tarascon, at the behest of René of Anjou, in order to amuse his citizens with a reenactment of St. Martha's miracle. Later, a second festival was held on 29 July, the feast-day of Saint Martha. In former days, the effigy of the tarasque was paraded through the streets twice a year, and a maiden portraying St. Martha escorting the tarasque held it by the leash (or a white ribbon) in one hand. In the modern day (post-World War II), the festival came to be held annually on the last Sunday of June, to tell the tale of the Tarasque, as well as Tartarin, the main character of Alphonse Daudet's Tartarin de Tarascon. 19th century descriptions The tarasque paraded through the streets once changed from a wooden prop painted green to a metallic contraption in the early 19th century. Aubin-Louis Millin (1808) described the tarasque effigy as wooden, and consisting of hoops covered in painted cloth. German writer Christian Friedrich Mylius (1818) elaborated that "Every year on the 2nd day of Pentecost, a grotesque wooden likeness of the dragon, or the Tarasque, is carried through the city; it resembles a turtle; it consists of a wooden framework covered with wax canvas, painted apple-green, with gilded hooks and thorns on its back". A tarasque used in the jeu de tarasque during the Pentecostal festival