Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

LA MADELEINE, VÉZELAYWhile Gislebertus was at work
at Autun, nearby at the church of La Madeleine (Mary Magdalene)
at Vézelay an unnamed sculptor was busy carving an even more
elaborate tympanum (FIG. 17-13) over the central portal to the
church’s narthex. Vézelay is more closely associated with the Cru-

sades (see “The Crusades,” page 442) than any other church in Eu-

rope. Pope Urban II had intended to preach the launching of the

First Crusade at Vézelay in 1095, although he delivered the sermon

at Clermont instead. In 1147, Bernard of Clairvaux called for the

Second Crusade at Vézelay, and King Louis VII of France took up the

France and Northern Spain 441

17-12Gislebertus,Last Judgment, west tympanum of Saint-Lazare, Autun, France, ca. 1120–1135. Marble, 21wide at base.

Christ in a mandorla presides over the separation of the Blessed from the Damned in this dramatic vision of the Last Judgment, designed to terrify
those guilty of sin and beckon them into the church.

17-13Pentecost and Mission of the Apostles, tympanum of the center portal of the narthex of La Madeleine, Vézelay, France, 1120–1132.

The light rays emanating from Christ’s hands represent the instilling of the Holy Spirit in the apostles. On the lintel and in eight compartments
around the tympanum, the heathen wait to be converted.

1 ft.