complete experience of a medieval pilgrimage church. The dates of construction are
controversial. If erected, according to the texts, during the abbacy of Odolric (1031–60),
it would be one of the first, following Saint-Martin of Tours, of the great “pilgrimage”-
type churches. Several writers, however, have cited archaeological factors, such as
variation in stone and configuration of the chevet, to extend construction into the 12th
century. Small in comparison with other churches of this type, the nave of six bays is
elegant in line and bold in the verticality of its proportions. The transept is wide; a lantern
tower surmounts the crossing above 14th-century ribbed vaults. The chevet unites two
distinct types: chapels in eschelon opening off the transept and ambulatory with three
radiating chapels.
The towers of the western façade are a 19th-century addition. The tympanum of the
Last Judgment, retaining significant traces of polychromy, is one of the most celebrated
in all of Romanesque sculpture. Christ the Judge, right arm raised in blessing, the left
lowered in rejection, forms the center of a great diagram of salvation and damnation.
Directly below his feet, St. Michael confronts a demon. The elect advance with dignity,
seeking the Paradise of Abraham’s bosom; the damned are shoved into Hell, where
sinners and tormentors are graphically ren
Conques (Aveyron), Sainte-Foy.
Photograph courtesy of Whitney S.
Stoddard.
dered. St. Foy, worker of miracles and deliverer of captives, intercedes for humankind.
Inscribed banderoles and gables reinforce and expand the message. The figures are
weighty, their faces impassive; the presentation is direct, vivid, and anecdotal.
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