Round or Square? The Axial Towers of the Abbey Church of Saint-Riquier

Abstract

Illustrating the important Carolingian monastery of Saint-Riquier, seventeenth-century engravings after a destroyed eleventh-century miniature portray the axial towers of the former abbey church as round. Yet a few contemporaneous illustrations, numerous texts, and common construction practices indicate that similar towers were rectangular. Did the seventeenth-century engravers miscopy the medieval illustration? If not, did the medieval miniature render the buildings realistically enough for the historian to draw conclusions about the architecture from it? Evidence from recent excavations has demonstrated the reliability of the copied portrayal if used with discrimination and if calibrated with other evidence. Furthermore, a detail in the seventeenth-century prints hints that the depiction of the towers could be reinterpreted: in accordance with contemporaneous examples, the towers were probably square. When historians seek to reconstruct what would be an exceptional element in a destroyed monument, histo...