6533b838fe1ef96bd12a3926

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Du Zodiaque et des hommes. Temps, espace, éternité dans les édifices de culte entre le IV e et le XIII e siècle

subject

description

This dissertation deals with the iconography of the Zodiac between Antiquity and Middle Age, in particular in churches between the XIth and the XIIIth century. The heart of the dissertation is the analysis of a corpus of 260 items. These items concern the figuration of the signs of the Zodiac and the Labors of the months, whether or not combinated, within ecclesial ornamentation between the XIth and the XIIIth century. This period corresponds to the “renaissance” and to the growth of the figuration of the Zodiac in this context. The study is divided into three parts. The first section deals with historiography and with the presentation of the corpus. Then, the origins, re-appropriations and transmissions of the zodiacal tradition between Antiquity and Middle Ages are discussed. The second section considers the distribution of the Zodiac in church. Its role in exterior ornamentation relating to the theme of the Porta coeli and its role in the structuring of intern ornamentation are observed. From the floor to the vault, through capitals, pillars and arches, distribution of the Zodiac in ecclesial space is analyzed in the light of the notions of transitus and iter and in the light of a certain focusing of the ecclesial place. The third section begins with the stakes of the figuration of the zodiacal signs and their dynamic relationship with the Labors of the months. Then, the “resémantisation” of each of the zodiacal signs is observed. Finally, the last chapter is an overall view of the connections between heavens and earth which find expression in signs of the Zodiac and the Labors of the months. Their place is considerated according to their iconographical context linked to Christian history and from an eschatological perspective. Signs of the Zodiac are like operators between heavens and earth, both in the ecclesial space tented towards its celestial model and in an iconographical context which connect caro and spiritus, the Human and the Divine.