Le bas-relief roman de l’Annonciation provenant du réfectoire de Charlieu

Abstract

The relief of the Annunciation from the reader’s pulpit of the refectory at Charlieu (Loire) has recently been placed in the abbey museum, where it is clearly visible for the first time since the 1844 demolition of the refectory. It is closely related in both style and technique to the sculpture of the east end of Cluny III ; Charlieu was an important priory of Cluny. Surviving Benedictine refectories as early as that of Charlieu, which probably dated to the late 10th-or early 11th century, are rare and little is known about their decoration and furnishings. On the right of the relief, a nimbed monk, whose identity is the subject of debate (several candidates are mentioned), communicated directly with the monks seated below the pulpit at the tables in the refectory. With his finger he points towards the scene of the Annunciation on the left, directing the monks’ attention towards the first episode of the Incarnation, a remarkable example of Romanesque sculpture communicating with its audience directly by means of glance and gesture.