Today's Cathedral: Autun

Autun Cathedral in Burgundy is one of the gems of Romanesque France. The main structure of the Cathedral was built in 1120 to 1146, under the direction of single unknown master.

The exterior appearance was greatly changed by the addition of the Gothic spire and numerous side chapels, but the interior, especially the nave, retains its Romanesque purity.

The cathedral is most famous for its many sculptures. The famous tympanum in the west portal bears a signature, Gislebertus hoc fecit. (Gislebertus made this.) Art historians think they can detect the hand of the same sculptor in many of the cathedral's carvings, and they call this person Gislebertus. Some spoilsports think Gislebertus was the person who paid for the tympanum rather the one who carved it, but we will ignore them and call our master sculptor by the only name we have for him.

This is a Gislebertus work on one of the capitals in the nave, The Adoration of the Magi. Quite lovely, although to judge from the age of the Christ child the magi arrived about five years late.

The Fall of Simon Magus.

Virtues and Vices. Compared to other Romanesque sculptors, Gislebertus was focused on Biblical and church scenes. If he was not a monk himself (which seems unlikely), he may have been a lay brother or otherwise associated with a monastery.

Here a mysterious man, perhaps the master mason, presents a church to a bishop. He is wearing an "Autun Bonnet," an item of clothing only attested in the carvings at Autun.

And one not attributed to Gislebertus, Cockfight.

What a lovely place it is, and what a marvelous survival from 900 years ago.