vault along the entire length of the nave and transferred the main
thrust to the thick outer walls.
The builders of Saint-Sernin were not content with just but-
tressing the massive nave vault. They also carefully coordinated the
design of the vault with that of the nave arcade below and with the
modular plan of the building as a whole. The geometric floor plan
(FIG. 17-5) is fully reflected in the nave walls (FIG. 17-6), where en-
gaged columns(attached half-columns) embellish the piers marking
the corners of the bays. Architectural historians refer to piers with
columns or pilasters attached to their rectangular cores as compound
piers.At Saint-Sernin the engaged columns rise from the bottom of
the compound piers to the vault’s springing (the lowest stone of an
arch) and continue across the nave as transverse arches.As a result,
the Saint-Sernin nave seems to be composed of numerous identical
vertical volumes of space placed one behind the other, marching
down the building’s length in orderly procession. Saint-Sernin’s spa-
tial organization corresponds to and renders visually the plan’s geo-
metric organization. The articulation of the building’s exterior walls
(FIG. 17-4), where buttresses frame each bay, also reflects the seg-
mentation of the nave. This rationally integrated scheme, with re-
peated units decorated and separated by moldings, had a long future
in later church architecture in the West.CHRIST IN MAJESTYSaint-Sernin also features one of the
earliest precisely dated series of large Romanesque figure reliefs—
a group of seven marble slabs representing angels, apostles, and
Christ. An inscription states that the reliefs date to the year 1096 and
that the artist was Bernardus Gelduinus.Today the plaques are
affixed to the church’s ambulatory wall. Their original location is
uncertain. Some scholars have suggested they once formed part of
a shrine dedicated to Saint Saturninus that stood in the crypt (a
vaulted underground chamber) of the grand pilgrimage church.
Others believe the reliefs once decorated a choir screen or an exte-
rior portal. The relief illustrated here (FIG. 17-7), the centerpiece of
the group, depicts Christ in Majesty seated in a mandorla, his right
hand raised in blessing, his left hand resting on an open book in-
scribed with the words Pax vobis (“peace be unto you”). The signs of
the four evangelists (see “The Four Evangelists,” Chapter 16, page
412) occupy the corners of the slab. Art historians debate the sources
of Bernardus’s style, but such a composition could have been used
earlier for a Carolingian or Ottonian work in metal or ivory, perhaps
a book cover. The polished marble has the gloss of both materials,
and the sharply incised lines and ornamentation of Christ’s aureole
are characteristic of pre-Romanesque metalwork.
Stone sculpture, with some notable exceptions, such as the great
crosses (FIG. 16-9) of the British Isles, had almost disappeared from
the art of western Europe during the early Middle Ages. The revival of
stonecarving is a hallmark of the Romanesque age—and one reason
the period is aptly named. The inspiration for stone sculpture no
doubt came, at least in part, from the abundant remains of ancient
statues and reliefs throughout Rome’s northwestern provinces. Yet
these models had been available for centuries, so their presence cannot
explain the sudden proliferation of stone sculpture in Romanesque
churches. Many art historians have noted that the reemergence of
monumental stone sculpture coincided with the introduction of stone
vaulting in Romanesque churches. But medieval builders had erected
stone-walled churches and monumental westworks for centuries, even
if the structures bore timber ceilings and roofs. The earliest Ro-
manesque sculptures, in fact, appear in timber-roofed churches, such
as Saint-Étienne (FIG. 17-2) at Vignory. Therefore, the addition of
stone vaults to basilican churches cannot explain the resurgence ofstonecarving in the Romanesque period. But just as stone vaulting
reflects the greater prosperity of the age, so too does decorating
churches with large-scale sculptures. Both are consistent with the
widespread desire in the Romanesque period to beautify the house
of God and make it, in the words of Gervase of Canterbury, “a par-
adise of pleasures.”
The popularity of stone sculpture in the 12th century also re-
flects the changing role of many churches in western Europe. In the
early Middle Ages, most churches served small monastic communi-
ties, and the worshipers were primarily or exclusively clergy. With
the rise of towns in the Romanesque period, churches, especially
those on the major pilgrimage routes, increasingly served the lay
public. The display of sculpture both inside and outside Roman-
esque churches was a means of impressing—and educating—a new
and largely illiterate audience.
CLUNY III The primary patrons of Romanesque sculpture were
the monks of the Cluniac order. In 909 William the Pious, duke of
Aquitaine (r. 893–918), donated land near Cluny in Burgundy to a
community of reform-minded Benedictine monks under the leader-
ship of Berno of Baume (d. 927). Because William waived his feudal
rights to the land, the abbot of Cluny was subject only to the pope in
Rome, a unique privilege. Berno founded a new order at Cluny
according to the rules of Saint Benedict (see “Medieval Monasteries
and Benedictine Rule,” Chapter 16, page 420). Under Berno’s succes-
sors, the Cluniac monks became famous for their scholarship,436 Chapter 17 ROMANESQUE EUROPE17-7Bernardus Gelduinus,Christ in Majesty, relief in the
ambulatory of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, France, ca. 1096. Marble,
4 2 high.
One of the earliest series of large Romanesque figure reliefs decorated
the pilgrimage church of Saint-Sernin. The models were probably
Carolingian and Ottonian book covers in metal or ivory.1 ft.
17-7AChrist in
Majesty, Saint-
Genis-des-
Fontaines,
1019–1020.