The Mural Paintings in the Cluniac Chapel of Berzé-la-Ville

A unique example of Burgundian Cluniac mural paintings from the 1100s, the painted decorative programme in the chapel of the ancient priory in Berzé-la-Ville (also known as the ‘Monks’ Chapel’) was discovered under a layer of limewash in 1887. This ensemble, which is of a remarkable quality, attests to a Cluniac style with Italo-Byzantine influences and therefore underlines the close links that the abbots of Cluny maintained with Rome and Monte Cassino, the source of the Benedictine Order, which maintained links with the Byzantine Empire.

Located ten or so kilometres from the abbey, the villa in Berzé-la-Ville served as a place for the abbots of Cluny to spend their vacations and was particularly appreciated by Abbot Hugh of Semur, who owned the property and bequeathed it to Cluny at his death[1]. Abbot Hugh (1049–1109) was responsible for the reconstruction of the Abbey of Cluny (the third abbey at Cluny), which was for many centuries the largest church in Christendom. Unfortunately, it was almost completely destroyed at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The construction of the chapel of Berzé-la-Ville is attributed to this abbot and builder, and the paintings—they have a very distinctive style that distinguishes them from surviving examples of French Roman mural paintings—may be the work of artists who had come to the Burgundian abbey.

However, there are no documents relating to the edifice’s construction. A terrible storm does however seem to have caused a fire c.1105, which indicates that the high chapel[2] was erected at a later date. But Jeannine Wettstein has clearly demonstrated that the architecture in the apse (particularly the blind arches on the second level) indicates that the paintings were part of the initial building programme[3]. Moreover, it has been suggested that there are close stylistic similarities with two manuscripts from the scriptorium of Cluny c.1100. These comprise a Lectionary (Paris, BNF, new acq. Lat. 2246) and a copy of the De Virginitate Sanctae Mariae treatise (known as the Parma Ildefonsus) written by Saint Ildefonsus (Parma, palatine Library, ms. 1650)[4]. Consequently, everything leads us to believe that the painted decorations were designed by Hugh of Semur and probably executed during his term as abbot, or completed later during that of his successor, Pons de Melgueil (1109–1122)[5].

Although it is known that Abbot Didier of Monte Cassino (1058–1087) ordered manuscripts and gold objects from Byzantium, and that Hugh of Semur went to Monte Cassino in 1083, it is difficult to confirm the origin of the Byzantine influence in the Berzé frescoes. Janine Wettstein was torn between Italian and Ottonian art as the origin of the influence, emphasizing that the Parma Ildefonsus, which is very close in style to the Berzé paintings, had for a long time been considered to be a work from southern Germany. Mentioning Ottonian art is also a roundabout way of evoking Byzantium, especially as Otton II married the Byzantine princess Theophano; and it is known that Hugh of Semur went to Germany on several occasions and had the privilege of standing godfather to Emperor Henry IV.

The painted decorations in the chapel, which seem to have been confined to the apse[6] during the Roman period, are arranged in three sections. In the lower section, busts of saints seem to emerge from behind a hanging that covers the lower half of their bodies. Inscriptions identify them as saints of eastern and western origin.

The middle sections is pierced with three apertures flanked by two blind arches, in which are represented the scenes of the martyrdom of St Blaise to the north and St Vincent to the south[7]. In the spandrels of the semi-circular arches surmounting the apertures, are represented busts of the five wise virgins from the biblical parable (Mathew 25: 1–13), who have been given the names of saints. They are accompanied by St Consortia, the patron saint of Cluny[8]. The eschatological parable of the virgins awaiting the arrival of the Bridegroom was read on 22 June, the day of her veneration. The virgins are represented ready and prepared for their wedding, dressed like Byzantine empresses.

In the centre of the cul-de-four vault that constitutes the third section, Christ is represented on the Throne in a mandorla: He is bestowing a blessing on St Paul with his right hand and is handing a phylactery to St Peter with his left hand. Behind the two recipients of this Traditio legis, are the twelve apostles of Christ, whose presence recalls the evangelical mission given to them in Galilee by the risen Christ. On either side of the mandorla, the deacon saints Vincent and Lawrence stand before St Paul. They are identifiable by the inscriptions and two abbot saints—probably the founders of the order—are represented before St Peter.

This programme of mural paintings clearly underlines the clergy’s duty—they have succeeded the apostles as carriers of the universal divine message—to proselytize. It lays emphasis on the example of the martyr saints, while reminding Christians—through the parable of the wise and foolish virgins—that they must always be prepared to welcome the Second Coming of Christ.

However, it seems that this programme, as Elizabeth Lapina has attempted to demonstrate, may also be interpreted—in a more subtle way and because of the choice of the saints and martyrs represented—as a representation of the battles between Christians and Muslims during the First Crusade and the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula.

In 1940, Wilhelm Koehler conducted research into Byzantine art to identify the origin of the lively and skilfully rendered figures in the Berzé paintings. But, in 1992 Niels Stradford wrote ‘it is important to underline the major aesthetic difference that distinguishes the great Berzé painter from his contemporaries in the Byzantine world’[9]. Recently, Juliette Rollier-Hanselmann put forward a theory that demonstrated that the Berzé paintings largely owe their style to work from Latium[10] and not southern Italy, which would tend to confirm the role played by relations between Cluny and Monte Cassino and Cluny and Rome in the circulation of models and the movement of artists. This connection is quite feasible, as the abbey of Cluny had the privilege of being directly dependent on the papacy since its foundation in 910.

[2] On peut déduire la date de l’orage et des travaux de reconstruction en recoupant les Vies de saint Hugues, son testament et une charte de 1104-1105. Cf. J. Virey, 1927, p. 447-449.

[3] J. Wettstein, 1971, p. 77.

[4] M. Schapiro, 1964, p. 45 et s.

[5] C’est la thèse de N. Stradford dans son article « Berzé-la-Ville. Chapelle des moines », D’ocre et d’azur. Peintures murales en Bourgogne, Dijon, 1992, p. 206-209.

[6] Des sondages sur les murs de la nef n’ont pas permis de déceler de traces d’un décor peint roman.

[7] L’inscription “DA[DI]NUS” désigne le préfet d’Espagne Dacien qui ordonna le martyre de saint Vincent et non l’empereur Décius, persécuteur de saint Laurent. Cf. É. Palazzo, 1988, p. 178.

[8] É. Palazzo, 1988, p. 181.

[9] N. Stradford, 1992, p. 207.

[10] M. Schapiro insistait également sur une origine italienne du style des peintures de Berzé. Cf. M. Schapiro, 1964, p. 45-46.