Capitals covered with vegetal ornamentation

The Cloister of Moissac is renowned for being the oldest Romanesque cloister in history, constructed in exactly 1100, as shown on a monumental inscription. It has a total of seventy-six decorative capitals, two thirds of which depict scenes from the Holy Scriptures and the life of the saints, while one of them presents an event contemporary with its construction: a historiated capital depicting the Jerusalem Crusades (n° 69).

The neighbouring column (n° 70) is covered with foliage, its stems enlacing twisting fleuron. On the small faces, the stems outline a very regular pattern along a symmetrical axis that articulates the successive plans of the bell-shaped capital. The pattern opens out on the larger face where two wide triangular indentations, which separate the two bells, present only vertical bands. In their higher registers, the bells are joined and the areas left bare by the coiled stems in the centre of each bell are occupied by a small star-shaped motif. The twisting four-lobed fleuron stand out from the rest of the vegetal designs of the cloister, which are predominantly formed of indented lamina. The ensemble of the design is marked by small, very regular lines. The design of the bell is taken up again on the bevelled abacus, with on its upper band a frieze in mock Kufic script, the text of which, naturally, cannot be deciphered. While no direct stylistic link can be made between the fleuron on the capital and the floral ornamentation as it appeared on ivory caskets from al-Andalus between the tenth and eleventh centuries, there are similarities in the carving technique—on an almost flat surface—and the rhythmic design of multiple, tiny, striated leafy flora. We cannot, therefore, speak of a direct copy, but the hint of the Moresque is there: The ensemble of the capital’s abacus finds its source of inspiration in Islamic motifs, the evidence of which it is worth citing. It is thus tempting to see a direct allusion to the Muslim control of the holy site of Palestine with its immediate neighbouring capital depicting the Jerusalem Crusades (n° 69).

References to Islamic art were rare in early Romanesque art of the eleventh to early twelfth centuries in the south of France. In a few exceptional cases such as the tympanum of Conques, a mock Kufic motif is used to decorate the drapery of an angel as an obvious sign of wealth and luxury (the use of such a motif later became quite frequent, with the same aim, on the edge of the ciborium of Maître Alpais constructed in Limoges and in conservation at the Louvre for example). The Muslim as a figure is seldom represented and when he is, he carries no specific traits.  There are, however, references to historical events (the sacking of Saragossa in Angoulême, for example), or to generic facts (Islam versus Christianity in León), but even here the reference is never outright, nor is it common: In its iconography, the Church was more concerned with exposing its dogmas than stigmatising an enemy.