Décors d'incrustation et tendances antiquisantes dans l'architecture romane de la moyenne vallée du Rhône

Abstract

Inlaid decorations--inlays of mortar or putty in an incised stone support--resurrect an aesthetic and techniques belonging to the architecture of late antiquity. In the eleventh through the thirteenth centuries such decorations saw a notable revival in church architecture and liturgical furniture. The revival occurred in the east as well as in the west, beginning earlier in Greece and later in the western kingdoms. The geographic distribution of these decorations is spotty and fragmentary, however, just a few buildings in Greece, in the middle Rhône valley, in the north of France, and in England. At Vienne and Lyon, in the heart of Burgundy and part of the empire, the development of these inlaid decorations in Romanesque architecture of the second half of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth centuries participated in a larger protorenaissance, as the Rhône valley surrounding these cities saw several clear examples of the renaissance of ancient forms both in architecture and in decoration. While the early Christian or Byzantine origin of these inlays may be elusive, the aesthetic of costliness which defines them permits a better understanding of the rôle played by this revival in the artistic politics of the archbishops. Before studying what the influences upon them might have been, it is advisable to clearly define the aesthetic represented by the three buildings involved: in Vienne the old collegiate church of Saint-André-le-Bas and the old cathedral of Saint-Maurice, and at Lyon the cathedral of Saint-Jean-Baptiste; in this way one can avoid historical contradictions in interpreting the comparisons. Furthermore, the chronological revisions suggested by recent research are the basis of a new understanding of the position of these two cities in late Romanesque art and of their relation to Burgundy, as a major monument of Romanesque art of the mid-twelfth century, the tomb of St.-Lazare, evidently played a significant role in the constitution of this revivalist aesthetic. The inlays of Autun belong to this movement. The inlays further demonstrate the large part played by Vienne, a part well established for sculpture.