Moissac Things to Do

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The Abbey Church of St.-Pierre was demolished by the English in the 110 Years War but luckily the cloister was ignored. It was rebuilt in the 15C in Gothic style, reutilizing some Romanesque walls and the Narthex up to the bell-tower. The entrance from the Narthex preserves the Romanesque polylobed arch and colonettes. From a side door in the nave, the famous cloister is entered.

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The Narthex is built with heavy ogival vaulting. Like the cloister, its support columns have decorated 11-12C capitals. The entire narthex looks cleaned and possible a little restored. The capitals show the progress of sculptural technic. The earliest are acanthus forms. Next they become floral. Then small animal figures appear peering out from the foliage at the corners. Then it is found that the block corners are easiest to covert into three dimensional shapes, and that monsters are easier to create than beautiful figures and a ruthless imagination comes into play. The figurative work then extends along the block faces to allow for sequential scenes or repetitive ones and finally the block can be worked into the circular form of the round column below. By this time the acanthus Corinthian origin with leaves and volutes has almost disappeared.

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The friezes at the top of the East and West walls of the South Porch are respectively related to the 4 carved panels below them. On the West wall the story of Dives, the rich man, begins with him at table and in an inset to the left below poor Lazarus dying of starvation, while an Angel above him is taking his soul off to Heaven. This is portrayed in the left panel where the soul is received in the bosom of Abraham while a prophet looks on with approval. The East side concludes the story which began below of Jesus early life. To the right is the presentation at the Temple, with Joseph bringing up the rear. proceeding left is the flight into Egypt and finally the “Fall of the Idols of Heliopolis”. Worthy of note on both walls are the sculptural finishing of the edges of the friezes and their merging with the arches below.

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The west side wall of the Porch deals with sins of avarice and unchastity. The parable (Luke: 16: 19-31) starts at the inner (right) end of the frieze at the top with the story of Dives, the rich man, who ignores Lazarus the beggar. (This scene is covered in a Tip on the friezes).In the four part panel below starting on the upper right is the Death of Dives, while on the upper left he is beaten by demons as his money bags pull him down. On the lower level are symbolic pictures: on the left a demon accosts a Miser, while on the right a demon approaches a nude Unchaste Woman who is being consumed by serpents.

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The story on the east wall of the porch starts at the lower level on the left (inner) side with the Annunciation to Mary. To the right is the Meeting of the pregnant Mary and Elizabeth. The two carvings on the upper level show the three Magi at the left, approaching the Holy Family: Mary and Jesus with Joseph at the very right. The story continues on the frieze above (the friezes are covered in a separate Tip).

The Upper Porch is crenellated like a fortress (and may have served as such). High up are two small statues: St. Benedict (left) the founder of the Cluniacs and Roger (Bishop and Abbot here 1115-31). Higher up at the edge, Gabriel sounds his horn. Along the coping are brackets covered by curious modillions. This conceit will be seen everywhere that there are Romanesque carvings. Books do not comment on it, but I believe that they are part of the "graduation" pieces by the apprentice carvers. The bad ones are chopped off (and there were probably prizes awarded for the most beautiful, entertaining. lewd. etc), Of course the all the good ones were used, no matter the subject. Modillions are one of the rewards for the informed sightseer in such church projections. Look for them near the roofs of apses and chapels and other projections.

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The trumeau is a large marble block with 4 treated sides and scalloping to blend wth the inner jambs (but with 5 rather than 4 curves). (It is probably of later origin as its style suggests, but was written about as old in the 14C). On the southward face are 3 pairs of lions, one of each sex, with the female to the front standing on the haunches of her mate in a crisscross pattern. They are very deeply cut and their is a patterned background. On the east side is a dreamy faced prophet with a scroll (according to the Michelin it is Jeremiah but this is disputed). On the west face is Paul, balding and with a book. Both bodies are curved gracefully to fill their spaces and not standing rigidly; their feet are dangling in the air in an archaic manner. The rear face of the block is decorated with a pattern of scales. These statues are almost free of the block and contrast with those (of the same time?) of St. Denis, Chartres West Facade and Compostela.

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Below the tympanum is the entrance to the Narthex from the Porch. The treatment is another first in church art. It shows a scalloped doorway treatment (four curves laterally and 5 centrally). At the center is a carved trumeau made from a single block (covered is a Separate Tip). On the jambs stand two deeply carved bas-relief, full figures: at the left (west) is St. Peter, the church Patron Saint and right Isaiah. Note that both are standing flat of foot on their bases and no longer archaically with hanging feet. The lintel shows a finely wrought circular floral pattern spinning out of the mouths of pig-like creatures at the end. It is far advances from the simpler floral work on the bottom of the lintel.