apsidal chapels. Notable are the octagonal cupola, ribbed in a stellate pattern, and the rich
carving of the sanctuary capitals.
The former cathedral of Sainte-Marie (begun ca. 1102) is essentially Gothic: the nave
and side aisles are 13th-century; the pentagonal choir, ambulatory, and five radiating
chapels were reconstructed in the 14th. The iconography of the celebrated sculpture of
the Romanesque portal has been variously interpreted. Remarkable are the marble
Deposition of the tympanum, the chained captives of the trumeau, and the wealth of
contemporary and anecdotal detail (musical instruments, daily occupations, culinary
customs) in the images of the archivolts.
Jean M.French
Allègre, Victor. Les vieilles églises du Béarn: étude archéologique. Toulouse: Imprimerie
Régionale, 1952.
Andral, Gabriel.“Oloron-Sainte-Marie.” Congrès archéologique (Bordeaux et Bayonne) 102
(1939):415–25.
Bartal, Ruth. “Le programme iconographique du portail occidental de Sainte-Marie d’Oloron et son
contexte historique.” Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa 18(1987):95–113.
Durliat, Marcel, and Victor Allègre.Pyrénées romanes. La Pierrequi-vire: Zodiaque, 1969.
Lacoste, Jacques. “Le portail roman de Sainte-Marie d’Oloron.” Revue de Pau et du Béarn 1
(1973):45–78.
ORBAIS
. The Benedictine abbey of Saint-Pierre, Orbais (Marne), was founded in the later 7th
century by St. Réole, archbishop of Reims. Construction of the present church was
inaugurated ca. 1165, and the initial project, which realized the five radiating chapels and
hemicycle piers, may have envisioned a four-story elevation influenced by Laon and
Noyon. Modified into a three-story scheme during the second campaign, ca. 1195, the
straight bays and upper levels of the choir were indebted primarily to Saint-Remi, Reims,
and the new work at Soissons cathedral. The bar tracery of the clerestory windows of the
nave, of which only a single bay remains, was adopted ca. 1220 soon after its appearance
at the cathedral of Reims. Although not an innovative structure, Orbais reflects the
contemporary developments in northern France, and its combination of such features as
the linkage of triforium and clerestory and bar tracery anticipate later compositions of the
Rayonnant period of Gothic architecture.
Michael T.Davis
[See also: GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE; LAON; NOYON; REIMS; SOISSONS]
Dubout, Nicolas. Histoire de l’abbaye d’Orbais, ed. Étienne Héron de Villefosse. Paris: Picard,
1890.
Héliot, Pierre. “Deux églises champenoises méconnues: les abbatiales d’Orbais et d’Essomes.”
Mémoires de la Société d’Agriculture, Commerce, Sciences et Arts de la Marne 80 (1965):86–
112.
Kimpel, Dieter, and Robert Suckale. Die gotische Architektur in Frankreich, 1130–1270. Munich:
Hirmer, 1985.
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