Originally, the tympanum and lintel were planned to rest on the short columns and the
trumeau (John the Baptist). The portal, however, was raised by adding the two pairs of
Apostles and a new base under John.
A northern dynamic intensity permeates the narthex sculpture. Christ is pushed into
the block with frontal chest, transfixed head, and thin legs suspended diagonally. A
hierarchy of sizes, keyed to the hierarchy of importance, is accompanied by an increase in
the amount of relief to make the sculpture more readable and more meaningful.
According to Armi, the three portals were carved by two sculptors: the Avenas Master
carved the altar in Avenas, worked at Mâcon and at Perrecy-les-Forges, and created two
of the jamb capitals of the side portals and tympanum of the north portal at Vézelay. The
second sculptor, named the Perrecy Master, collaborated with the Avenas Master at
Perrecy-les-Forges and was responsible for two jamb capitals, the lintel and tympanum of
the south portal, and all of the Vézelay central portal. These two sculptors also carved the
Cluny choir capitals. Gislebertus, who signed his name on the lintel of the portal of
Autun, was involved in two sculptural projects at Vézelay: the outer-façade portal and the
mausoleum of Mary Magdalene.
In 1793, figures of most of the sculpture of the outer façade were hacked off. In 1840,
Viollet-le-Duc, at the age of twenty-six, was placed in charge of restorations. Because the
condition of vaults, roofs, and buttresses was so precarious, the restoration of the west
façade was postponed until the 1850s. The tympanum and lintel of the central portal were
removed to the south of the church, and damaged capitals were replaced by new ones.
The distinctive drapery style of the preserved details of the tympanum, with narrow, flat
planes, shifting inward at the bottom and separated by rounded ridge folds and
windblown terminations, can be seen also in the fragments of the mausoleum of Mary
Magdalene, now housed in the museum in the monastic dormitory. These fragments are
identical in style to the capitals and tympanum at Autun by Gislebertus. Since his hand
can be seen in the portal of Cluny, he has a career as sculptor at Cluny, Vézelay, Autun,
and perhaps beyond.
In its encyclopedic scope, the Vézelay portal (narthex and façade), together with the
capitals of nave and narthex, has a powerful effect on the modern visitor. For groups of
pilgrims gathered at Vézelay to start toward Spain or Jerusalem, the impact must have
been even more vital and moving.
The choir of Vézelay is Early Gothic, begun ca. 1185. It has a three-storied elevation
like Sens cathedral. Indeed, by studying Vézelay, which has not been altered by enlarging
the clerestory windows and raising the vaults as at Sens, one can imagine the original
appearance of Sens. The plan consists of crossing, short transept arms, single ambulatory
with five radiating apsidioles, and four square chapels in the forechoir. These nine
chapels are separated at the bottom level only, so that space is continuous around the
periphery of the choir. The treatment of the ribs and vaults exhibits fascinating Early
Gothic inconsistencies. The happy juxta-position of Early Gothic choir and Romanesque
nave imparts a visual vibrancy to Vézelay.
Whitney S.Stoddard
[See also: ANZY-LE-DUC; GISLEBERTUS; MARY MAGDALENE;
ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE; SENS]
Armi, C.Edson. Masons and Sculptors in Romanesque Burgundy: The New Aesthetic of Cluny III. 2
vols. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1983.
Salet, Francis. La Madeleine de Vézelay. Melun: Librairie d’Argences, 1948.
The Encyclopedia 1801