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The Romanesque Portal of the Abbey-Church of Cluny – Study of Polychromy Stéphanie Castandet, Juliette Rollier-Hanselmann

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The Romanesque Portal of the Abbey-Church of Cluny – Study of Polychromy Stéphanie Castandet, Juliette Rollier-Hanselmann The Romanesque Portal of the abbey-church of Cluny – Study of polychromy Stéphanie Castandet, Juliette Rollier-Hanselmann To cite this version: Stéphanie Castandet, Juliette Rollier-Hanselmann. The Romanesque Portal of the abbey-church of Cluny – Study of polychromy. Open Journal of Archaeometry, PAGEpress, 2013, 1 (1), pp.54-57. 10.4081/arc.2013.e11. hal-01133875 HAL Id: hal-01133875 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01133875 Submitted on 20 Mar 2015 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Science Arts & Métiers (SAM) is an open access repository that collects the work of Arts et Métiers ParisTech researchers and makes it freely available over the web where possible. This is an author-deposited version published in: http://sam.ensam.eu Handle ID: .http://hdl.handle.net/10985/9416 To cite this version : Stéphanie CASTANDET, Juliette ROLLIER-HANSELMANN - The Romanesque Portal of the abbey-church of Cluny – Study of polychromy - Open Journal of Archaeometry - Vol. 1, n°1, p.54- 57 - 2013 Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to the repository Administrator : [email protected] The Romanesque Portal had atypical attributes: 187 m in length, about 40 m in elevation under the dome of the great Correspondence: Stéphanie Castandet, Equipe of the abbey-church of Cluny: transept (the highest vault ever built), five Gunzo, Institute Image UMR 5158 CNRS, Arts et study of polychromy naves, two transepts, 301 windows, five church Métiers ParisTech, rue Porte de Paris, 71250 towers. Unfortunately, it was almost entirely Cluny, France. Stéphanie Castandet,1,2,3 destroyed after the French Revolution (only Tel./Fax: +33.3.85595367. E-mail: [email protected] Juliette Rollier-Hanselmann1 eight percent is left undestroyed). 1Equipe Gunzo, Institut Image UMR 5158 This research is related to a project of pro- Key words: Cluny, Great Portal, polychromy, gild- motion of Cluny’s heritage: Cluny 2010, CNRS, Arts et Métiers ParisTech, Cluny; ings. European abbey of knowledge. Gunzo, an inter- 2Laboratoire Archéométrie et disciplinary team (engineers, art historians, Archéologie, UMR 5138 CNRS, Université archeologists, restorers among others), named 3 Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon; Institut de after the abbey’s legendary designer, leads the Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux, research thanks to digital technologies and vir- Centre de Recherche en Physique tual reality. The team is working on the cre- Appliquée à l’Archéologie, UMR CNRS ation of a new digital model of Cluny abbey 5060, Université Bordeaux 3, Bordeaux, based on the latest scientific research, includ- Ackowledgements: the authors wish to thank the France ing archaeological excavations, the study of Conseil Régional de Bourgogne which provided documentary sources and the examination and funding for this project, the Centre de Recherche analysis of decorations (paintings and stained en Physique Appliquée à l’Archéologie for the glass windows). characterisation techniques, and the Musée d’art et d’archéologie of Cluny for the samples. Abstract Initially we were focused on the polychromy of the Romanesque entrance (1115-1120) of Presented at the 38th International Symposium on The Romanesque abbey of Cluny was almost Cluny III. The immense portal (around 16.60 m Archaeometry – May 10th-14th 2010, Tampa, entirely destroyed after the French Revolution. high) represented a Majestas domini. The Florida. As part of the Cluny 2010 initiative (the com- Christ enthroned in a glory is attended by memoration of the 1100th anniversary of its angels, cherubim and the symbols of the four This work is licensed under a Creative Commons foundation), the Gunzo project leads the Evangelists on the tympanum, while, in the Attribution 3.0 License (by-nc 3.0). research and promotion of the heritage of archivolts above, the Eternal Father, attended Cluny thanks to digital technologies and virtu- by the twenty-four elders and a circle of angel- al reality. This interdisciplinary team is work- ic beings, constitute the celestial lCourt use of only ing on the creation of a digital model of the Heaven gathered to receive him. In 1810, the Cluny abbey according to the latest scientific portal was blown up with gunpowder and only research, including the archaeological excava- few mutilated fragments remain. In order to try tions and the study of the documentary to reconstitute it and its polychromes, we base our work on the previous results from Conant sources. Samples of polychromes and gildings formed using energy dispersive X-ray spec- (1968) and Kleinschmidt (1970) who studied were collected from selected lapidary frag- trometry coupled with scanning electron fragments of the 30s excavations and on new ments which are representative of different microscopy (SEM) (JEOL JSM 6460LV – Oxford parts from the Romanesque Portal (jambs, lin- fragments excavated by G. Rollier at the end of INCA 300). Structural analyses were carried tel, tympanum and archivolts). Pigments and the 80s. The remaining polychromes are suffi- out using micro-Raman spectrometry gildings were analysed using scanning elec- cient to indicate the predominant colours of (Renishaw RM 2000), which allowed identify- tron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X- most of the decorative and iconographic ele- ing pigments. The Raman spectra were collect- ray spectrometry (EDS) and micro-Raman ments. ed using a laser excitation at 632.8 nm. spectrometry. The physicochemical analyses point up the use of relatively expensive mate- rials, such as gold leaves, lapis lazuli or Non-commerciaMaterials and Methods cinnabar. Moreover, some blackish layers were Results and Discussion identified as altered leaves of tin. The palette and abundance of metallic leaves should About 40 samples of painting were collected reflect the prestige of the abbots of Cluny. from lapidary fragments discovered during Stone and preparation archaeological excavations (K.-J. Conant in It seems that the two types of limestone 1928-1950 and G. Rollier in 1988-89). The used to build the Romanesque portal (Blanc et selected fragments are representative of dif- al., 1990) have not kept the colours the same Introduction ferent parts of the portal (jambs, lintel, tympa- way. In the lower parts, in gray-beige oolitic num, and archivolts). Their study provides limestone, more vulnerable to degradations, The year 2010 marks the 1100th anniversary data about the materials used for decoration the coloured elements are often damaged. On of foundation of the greatest Romanesque (preparatory layers, pigments, metallic leaves) the upper parts carved from a creamy-white abbey of Europe. Cluny – located in Burgundy, and helps us identify their alterations (signifi- limestone pisolithic, softer and more porous, France – was synonymous with power. Put cant in the case of a virtual restoration the colours are better preserved. under the supervision of Rome, it was at the because of the colour changes it can create). A layer of lead white (Table 1) was general- head of a vast network through all Europe. Its Polished cross-sections of stratigraphic ly used as preparation for the pictorial layers. church, called Major Ecclesia, was the greatest sequences of these samples were prepared and Only the elements belonging to jambs have a of Christendom until the reconstruction of St- examined under optical and scanning electron yellow ochre preparation (Table 1), and St. Peter’s Basilica of Rome in the 15th century. It microscopes. Chemical analyses were per- Peter’s, preserved in Rhode Island (USA), is Table 1. Qualitative scanning electron microscopy energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry and Raman results for determination of the used pigments. Colour Samples (example) SEM-EDS Raman Identification White (preparatory layer) Bdx 14 301 Pb, (Cl, Ca, Al) Lead white Lead white Wing of angel, archivolt White (repaint) Bdx 13 360 Ca, Si, Al, (Fe, S) Calcite Lime wash Atlante, lintel Yellow (preparatory layer) Bdx 14 329 Si, Al, Fe, Cu, Ca, Pb, K, (Mg, Ti, P) Goethite Yellow ochre Molding, jamb Bright yellow Bdx 14 301 Pb, Sn, Si, Ca, Cu, (Al, Fe, Cl) Lead-tin yellow Lead-tin yellow Wing of angel, archivolt Blue Bdx 13 368 Si, Ca, Al, Pb, Na, Cu, P, K, Fe, S, Mg, (Cl) Lazurite Lapis lazuli Background, angel, archivolt Blue (repaint) Bdx 13 368 Cu, Si, Ca, Fe, Al, P, (Cl, Mg, K, S, Ti) Azurite Azurite Background, angel, archivolt Red Bdx 13 362 Hg, S, (Al, Fe, Ca) Vermilion Vermilion Halo of angel, archivolt Orange Bdx 13 340 Pb, Si, (Al, Ca) Red lead Red lead Acanthus, lintel Green Bdx 14 301 Cu, Ca, Si, Al, (Fe, Cl, K) -? Wing of angel, archivolts Bright green Bdx 13 329 Pb, Sn, Cu, Ca, Si, (Al, Fe, Cl) Lead-tin yellow Lead-tin yellow in copper Molding, jamb - resinate ? Black Bdx 13 353- Carbon black Carbon black Mustache of elder, archivolt Rose (flesh tone) Bdx 13 333 Pb, Hg, Si, Fe, Al, Ca, (S, K, Cl, Mg) Lead white and vermilion Lead white and vermilion Sleeping soldier, lintel Grayish Bdx 13 328 Sn, (Si, Pb, Al, Cl) - Tin leaf Rosette, jamb l use only Gold Bdx 13 357 Au, Pb, Ca, (Al, Fe) - Gold leaf Hair of angel, archivolt SEM-EDS, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. composed of lead white mixed with grains of vermilion [analyses carried out at the Conservation Department of the Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, USA), in 1973].Non-commercia Palette The figures of the tympanum, lintel and archivolts stand out against a blue background. The chemical analyses show the presence of an aluminum and sodium silicate (Table 1).
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