Souillac (Lot), church of Sainte-Marie.
Isaiah. Photograph courtesy of
Whitney S.Stoddard.
latory with three radiating chapels—is a smaller, more refined version of the plan of the
cathedral of Cahors.
The sculpture now mounted on the interior west wall of the nave is one of the
highlights of Romanesque carving. Above the entrance, and flanked by seated figures of
SS. Benedict and Peter, is one of the oldest representations of the legend of Theophilus.
To the left of the present door is Joseph or Hosea and to the right, the masterpiece of the
Souillac sculptors, the expressive “dancing” figure of Isaiah. The former trumeau is
carved on three faces. On the right lateral face, three pairs of figures either struggle or
embrace; on the central face, a medley of gripping, devouring beasts culminates in a
tortured human; on the left lateral face is the redemptive scene of Abraham and Isaac. On
a second pilaster, a lion and lioness, suggestive of the crossed pairs of the Moissac
trumeau, devour a ram. Both the original disposition of the sculpture and its iconography
have been the subject of controversy.
Jean M.French
[See also: PÉRIGUEUX]
Aubert, Marcel. “Souillac.” Congrès archéologique (Périgueux) 90 (1927):261–70.
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 1676