The Labors of the Months and the Signs of the Zodiac in Twelfth-Century French Facades. (Volumes I and II) (Time, Sculpture, Romanesque).

Abstract

The Labors of the Months and Signs of the Zodiac form a visual calendar evoking the passage of time, the movements of celestial bodies and the change of seasons on earth. A long tradition in medieval art includes such cycles in religious settings, accompanying themes of great significance in sacred art. Published material on the calendar cycle, while useful because it documents examples from antiquity to the twelfth century, does not provide much information about its meaning. Very general theories abound, unsupported by documentation, and those authors who have based their hypotheses on textual evidence usually examined only one or two passages, ignoring a vast quantity of relevant material available in patristic writings and medieval exegesis. Five important sculpted calendar cycles from the first half of the twelfth century in France form the core of this study: Vezelay, Autun, Aulnay, St.-Denis, and Chartres' Royal Portal. For each of these cycles the iconographic context is particularly rich. They occupy positions of prominence, intimately associated with important religious imagery. Investigation of the visual tradition from the Hellenistic period through the twelfth century demonstrated that Labors of the Months and Zodiacs contributed importantly to cosmological and religious programs in both classical and Christian iconography. In addition, there is a preference for a circular format surrounding images of deities. Although agricultural work is used to represent most of the months, there is no evidence that the desire to encourage manual labor dictated the presence of these cycles on church facades. Rather, texts that elucidate the Christian attitude toward time proved most useful. General texts--computus, hexaemeral literature, allegorical treatments of signs, seasons, months, and year, and philosophical writings on the nature of time--provide background for individual applications of the calendar. Most important are those texts which suggest that time between the Incarnation and the Second Coming of Christ is a purposeful action of a merciful God, who wishes that as many as possible might be saved. These provide direct and specific inspiration for the cycle in a Christian context, and are particularly relevent to the five programs studied here.