Christian SAPIN, CNRS Dijon-Auxerre
Marc SUREDA I JUBANY, Museu Episcopal de Vic1
CUXA ET CLUNY II, GENÈSE DES ESPACES RELIGIEUX SOUS OLIBA ET ODILON
The still preserved abbey church of Saint-Michel de Cuxa, dedicated in 975, and now lost abbey church of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Cluny, dedicated in 981 (known as Cluny II), are seen, each in its own context, as two major monuments of religious architecture the early western Middle Ages. The comparison between the two buildings has already been undertaken on various occasions. However, less attention has been paid to the comparison between the two remarkable figures ruling these abbeys during the first half of the 11th century, Odilon de Mercoeur (961-1049) and Oliba de Cerdagne (971-1046), and between the main modifications they both made in their respective churches. The analysis of the monuments on this perspective, especially from the results of the last excavations in Cluny, reveals common points that highlight their place in the contemporaneous architecture, and maybe the continuation of relationships initiated during the previous century
Stéphane BERHAULT, Architecte du patrimoine
LA CATHÉDRALE D’ELNE, DE L’ÉTUDE AU CHANTIER. ÉTUDES, CONFIRMATIONS ET DÉCOUVERTES
Following a request from the township, owner of the building, a preliminary study for its restoration has been ordered to architect Stéphane Berhault’s agency AEDIFICIO. After this study, a first phase of work took place between 2016 and 2018. The study has offered a broad spectrum of services to assess the whole building. The project proved to be a logical extension of its analytical part and of the reflection. Too often considered as a simple phase of execution, it remains the main moment for observations. The architect must “think as” a builder. The analysis of the construction becomes fundamental for it allows to identify the steps of the work. It is also the moment for documentation and comparison. As always in a scientific process, the reduced size of the ensemble is a weak point that might lead to ideas and connections far too obvious or sclerosing. The cathedral Sainte-Eulalie in Elne has benefited from a study willing to reveal the building to better understand this long-life richness, without reduction or trivialization. In turn, thanks to this study, it enlightens the understanding of other buildings, and the cathedral can take the place it deserves in the history of medieval construction.
Xavier BARRAL I ALTET, Université de Rennes, Université de Venise Cà Foscari
« HARDI COMME LE LION ET LUXURIEUX COMME LE PORC ». À PROPOS D’UNE SCÈNE NON REMARQUÉE D’UN CHAPITEAU DU CLOÎTRE DE SAINT-MICHEL-DE-CUXA
One of the capital in the famous cloister of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, dated ca. 1140, shows sculptures of lions with two bodies and one head located under the angle volutes. They attack a docile sow and ostensibly show their prey’s vulva. During the Romanesque period, it was common to represent naked men and women, and exhibitionist animals within the churches, as licentious images full of irony referring to sexual acts, or simple exhibitionist gestures. Many examples are mentioned in this chapter to culturally frame the image in Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa cloister. This image can be explained by reading the Secretum secretorum when the man is said to be “bold as the lion, and luxurious as a pig”
Michel MARTZLUFF, UMR 7194 : Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle-Université de Perpignan-Via Domitia
Cécile RESPAUT, Contractuelle Inrap ; Association Archéologique des Pyrénées-Orientales
REGARD SUR LES SCHISTES OUVRAGÉS DANS L’ART ROMAN DES PYRÉNÉES CATALANES
Primary metamorphic shales form vast territories east of the Pyrenees. These laminated rocks poorly lend themselves to the shaping processes of stone facing. However, these types of shale have sometimes been treated as cut stone, assembled in standardized seats, chisel polished and even sculpted on some occasions. Romanesque architecture made of processed shale, in association with sculpted marbles, dramatically developed in the 12th century in the monastic foundations of Sant Quirc de Colera, Sant Pere de Rodes, Serrabona and Marcèvol, then spread to a dozen remarkable parish churches, before wasting away at the beginning of the 14th century. The location of “chiseled shale” in the elevations makes it possible to propose an archaeological analysis deviating from the consensus concerning the architectural evolution of well-known and lesser-known buildings. On the other hand, this study leads us to question the builders’ choices during the construction.
Emmanuel GARLAND, Docteur en histoire de l’art
LA PEINTURE ROMANE EN ROUSSILLON. UN BILAN CONTRASTÉ
In 1973 the « Journées Romanes de Cuxa » were the first ones dedicated to Romanesque paintings in the Catalan area. Since then research and reflection made a lot of progress, although no major discovery has been made. Nevertheless, unfortunately, that progress is seriously hampered by the fact that the remains which are still visible nowadays represent only a small part of what has been painted during the twelfth and the thirteenth century. These remains are unequally distributed within Roussillon, and those that we assume to have been the most prominent ones have all been destroyed. It is therefore almost impossible to accurately determine the part that Roussillon played in creating and developing Romanesque painting both on walls and on wooden slabs, compared to the neighbouring regions. Especially regarding the ones located north of the Pyrenees Mountains. But, although we cannot state either or not Roussillon played either a leading role or a second one, what remains shows that it is clearly and fully in relation with the Catalan-Pyrenean area. The exchanges and influences are really important and rich in both directions. It can partly be related to the river Segre which, by connecting Cerdagne to the city of Seu or Urgell, played a major role, at least as important as the Via Domitia.
Juan Antonio OLAÑETA MOLINA, Universitat de Barcelona / Universitat de Lleida
LES CARACTÉRISTIQUES ICONOGRAPHIQUES DES REPRÉSENTATIONS DE DANIEL DANS LA FOSSE AUX LIONS DANS LA SCULPTURE ROMANE DES RÉGIONS DU SINUS LEONIS
The distribution, characteristics and iconographic models of the representations of Daniel in the lion’s den in Romanesque sculpture in the regions around the Gulf of León are analyzed. A capital of Saint-Sernin de Toulouse is the head of series of an iconographic model which is used in Moissac and in other buildings (Notre-Dame de la Daurade in Toulouse, Lombers and Lescure d’Albigeois) and which is extends to Aquitania and even north of the Iberian Peninsula. This model does not show the prophet in a position of prayer, but adopting the position of Christ triumphant. They are also studied other representations which follow other models, such as the Saint Gabriel chapel (Tarascon), Pernes-les-Fontaines Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Saint-Papoul, Varen, Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, Saint-Pons-deThomières and Arles.
Marcello ANGHEBEN, Université de Poitiers, CESCM
EUCHARISTIE, COMMÉMORATION, ADORATION ET DÉVOTION : LA CRUCIFIXION DANS LA PEINTURE ROMANE DE CATALOGNE ET DU NORD DES PYRÉNÉES
In the churches of Catalonia and the north of the Pyrenees, we can find 17 crucifixions painted between the late 11th and the 13th centuries. This article discusses their various functions and meanings, beginning with their liturgical dimension suggested by their location and some iconographical evidence. The most significant clues are found in the program in Sant Pere de Sorpe where a deacon angel weaves his censer on the image of the Crucified painted above a liturgical cabinet in the wall, flanked by two chalices. This ensemble also suggests the presence of an altar located two-thirds of the nave and leads to consider the same organization at Sant Joan de Caselles, Cervià de Ter, Estaon and Saint-André-de-Sorède. GNI_int_Cuxa 2021.indb 264 17/06/2021 11:32 Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa, LII, 2021 RÉSUMÉS 265 The theme can also be related to the commemorations of the Passion during each mass and during the Holy Week when integrated into a narrative cycle, as in Montgauch and Sant Tomàs de Fluvià. In Cervià de Ter, the presence of six angels, inclined and reaching their hands out to the Savior, probably echoes the adoration ritual on Good Friday and the rituals of the Invention and Exaltation of the cross. Lastly, all the paintings of this corpus may have been used as a support for personal devotion, especially in Ourjout where Christ shows his pain, and in Sorpe and Estaon where the witnesses express the new sense of empathy, as it develops on the continent during the 11th century after its much earlier emergence within the Anglo-Saxon world. The crucifixion made of stucco and painting in Sant Joan de Caselles seems to encapsulate all these meanings while emphasizing its cultic dimension, since it may echo the Beirut miraculous crucifix or the Volto Santo in Lucca.
Andreas HARTMANN-VIRNICH, Professeur, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, LA3M, Aix-en-Provence, France
Nelly POUSTHOMIS-DALLE, Professeure, Université de Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, Laboratoire TRACES UMR 5608, France
Christian MARKIEWICZ, Membre associé, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, LA3M, Aix-en-Provence, France
Heike HANSEN, Membre associé, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, LA3M, Aix-en-Provence, France
L’ÉGLISE ABBATIALE DE LAGRASSE À L’ÉPOQUE ROMANE : UN BILAN
From 2007 to 2011 a collective research project between several institutions undertook the archaeological, historical, archival, and artistic survey and study of the abbey of Lagrasse. They have substantially imporved the knowledge of the monument and allowed to propose a new restitution and dating of its successive phases, including those of the abbey church. Its Gothic reconfiguration has profoundly changed the architecture of the buildings, but the abbey church of Lagrasse preserves important remains from its first Romanesque state, which was undoubtedly the result of the substantial modification of an earlier church, either pre-Roman or Carolingian. In the second quarter or in the middle of the 11th century, this early medieval building (whose remains are still to be found) has been updated with the partial rebuilding of the dripping walls, with doors and windows, opening through wide and high arcades on the two arms of the protruding transept. Unaligned, skewed and unevenly sized but still symmetrical, these arms were equipped with a triplet of apsidioles, the central one being oversized. In its state from second or third quarter of the 11th century, and with pre-Roman tower on the north side, the abbey church of Lagrasse shows analogies with the church of Cuxa, which history is linked to the history of Lagrasse, and with the abbey church of Ripoll placed under the authority of Oliba. This abbot was involved in the works in Cuxa and Ripoll with the same desire to update the architectural heritage according to the formal repertoire, the modes of construction and the liturgical conceptions of his time. In addition, the excavations conducted as part of a second collective research project have uncovered the remains of the project of a large polygonal Gothic chevet with radiant chapels. It was abandoned and dismantled to give space for the construction of the modest square chevet of the current church, towards the beginning of the 14th century: did this large aborted chevet begin the project of a new Gothic church whose implementation was prevented by unfavorable political and economic context ? The church of the first and beginning of the second millennium would, in this case, have avoided complete destruction, and its transformations would thus have ultimately contributed to its preservation.
Pierre GARRIGOU GRANDCHAMP, Laboratoire TRACES, Université Toulouse, Société Française d’Archéologie
L’ARCHITECTURE CIVILE ROMANE EN ITALIE DU NORD XIE – XIVE SIÈCLE
A survey of Romanesque civil architecture of Northern Italy, from the Alps to the Apennines, and from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic, has never been proposed yet. This article proposes a first attempt of this survey; it first focuses on the vast central plain and GNI_int_Cuxa 2021.indb 268 17/06/2021 11:32 Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa, LII, 2021 RÉSUMÉS 269 then briefly compares the two areas next to it: Liguria and Veneto, which present specific features. One of the most striking features of this vast areas it that it contrasts regions mainly using stone or brick. The resulting architectures are described from the most important cities regarding the number of preserved buildings and the amount of the very unevenly available publications. This article also consider the many small agglomerations illustrating the intensity of urbanization in Northern Italy during the central Middle Ages, and the diffusion of architectural models up to the most remote valleys. Saliant features emerge from this survey. First, despite these particularisms and the opposition of materials, the main architectural types (case a schiera, torri, case-torri, palazzi con corte, etc.) and their related programs are common to all areas, Venice being one notable exception. Then, it appears that the actual terminology that opposes “Romanesque” and “Gothic” architecture, whose limits and conventional use are obvious, is not operative in Northern Italy; “Romanesque” features endure sometimes until the middle of the 14th century. Another reading grid must therefore be found, that of the duration of the features and architectural language specific to certain cities and their contado; they resisted to the importation of the Gothic vocabulary from the North, and to the attempt to go back to Antiquity offered by the “Renaissance”, and they resisted because they defined strong identities, part of what each society was at this time.