Lecture 3: Romanesque Sculpture and Architecture
(c. 1120–1132). The abbey’s greatest historical fame is connected to the
Crusades. It was here, in 1146, that the great Cistercian abbot St. Bernard of
Clairvaux preached the sermon that launched the Second Crusade.Although we are looking at the nave as the example, it is important to note
that the throng of barons and clergy from all over Europe who gathered at
Vézelay was so enormous that the event took place outside the walls of the
city. Vézelay remained one of the major starting points of the pilgrimage
roads. In 1190, Philip Augustus, king of France, and Richard the Lion-
Hearted met here to set aside their differences and unite on the Third Crusade,
although the Second Crusade was a disaster.In 1120, on the eve of the July pilgrimage, the church at Vézelay was
destroyed in a tragic ¿ re that claimed 1,000 lives. This tragedy reminds us of
the great numbers of pilgrims who set out from there and other starting points
on the pilgrimage roads. The rebuilding of the church began immediately,
and the nave was complete by 1132. In this handsome nave are famous
historiated capitals—capitals with sculpted scenes.Our example shows Noah Building the Ark (c. 1120–1132, Vézelay, Ste.
Madeleine, nave, capital). The most famous sculptural monument at Vézelay
is in the narthex, which was built to a larger scale to accommodate crowds
entering the church. The portal of the Mission of the Apostles (c. 1120–1132,
Vézelay, narthex) is our next example. In this façade within a façade, a door
opens into the nave, and above that door is the tympanum with the Mission of
the Apostles. Many of the principal Romanesque tympanum sculptures depict
the Last Judgment. The highly original subject of the Vézelay tympanum,
Mission of the Apostles, reÀ ects the church’s fame as a starting point for
pilgrims. Vézelay is one of the ¿ nest monuments in the Romanesque style,
and it leaves us on the threshold of the next moment in medieval culture:
the Gothic. Ŷ