DURAN-PORTA - The Lombard masters as a deus ex machina.pdf

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The Lombard masters as adeus ex machina in Catalan First Romanesque

JOAN DURAN-PORTA

The importance of the Lombard tradition in the seminalgeneration of Romanesque architecture is a subject that hasbeen discussed at length. Traditionally, the Lombard focus hasbeen regarded as a determining factor in a conception of architecture which has been widely called First Romanesqueafter eminent Catalan art historian Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Thisarchitectural model has essentially been characterised by the useof a small, extremely ductile masonry, and by the application of a highly particular ornamental lexis on the surface of the wallsbased on combinations of lesenes and series of blind arches.

The very term First Romanesque was coined by Puig iCadafalch to replace the concept of Lombard architecture,which had an identical meaning until the first third of the 20thcentury, associating the northern Italian tradition and theitinerant practices of the Lombard builders with the origin anddissemination of a Romanesque sub-style, the LombardRomanesque. The purpose of this article is precisely to re-

analyse the evidence and arguments that reveal the presence of the so-called Lombard masters in Catalonia and how they introduced the technological underpinnings of the new Romanesque architecture. It is true that today the FirstRomanesque is often denied the category of an architecturalstyle, yet it is generally accepted that at least thebuilding techniquesused in most of the buildings from the first half of the 11th century in Catalonia was rooted in Italy, and that itsarrival in the Catalan counties was due to bands of itinerantLombard builders who were hired to reproduce theconstruction methods of their home country in Catalonia 1.

Paradoxically, when I began to take an interest in these

issues some years ago, I thought that this Lombard hypothesishad already begun to lose ground in the historiography devotedto the origins of the Romanesque, specifically the CatalanRomanesque. Several French authors, Elianne Vergnolle inparticular, roundly discredited the existence of the Lombardmasters, ce mythe des maons lombards itinerants , as thetransmitters and creators of the new architecture outside theirhomeland2. However, I later saw that this was a minority interpretation, and that when it does appear it tends not to beaccompanied by solid argumentation or analysis of the issue,perhaps because from the French vantage point it is too muchof a southern affair, overly peripheral. Since my initial position

was to share the negative opinion about the existence of the

Lombard masters, my aim from the start has been to determito what extent the proof of the Lombard presence in Catalonafter AD 1000 was solid (or, indeed,not solid).

I would like to stress that my intentions are not to deny thcontacts between Catalan and Lombard architecture in the heof the Middle Ages, nor do I want to claim that there are ncontributions from abroad in the roots of the CatalanRomanesque. What I aim to demonstrate is that the theoreticmodel accepted until now, based on a massive migration Lombards as a vehicle for introducing Romanesque architect(or techniques), has not been and cannot be demonstrated, anthat it is the result of a fallacious interpretation (or an oveinterpretation) of the documentary sources. I aim to demonstrathat the Lombard masters are merely a myth created fohistoriography, a handydeus ex machina capable of resolving a particular case in the complex problem of the inter-territortransmission of artistic knowledge in the mediaeval period3.

However, first I would like to stress the peculiar roassigned to Lombardy as a reference for the origins of t

This article is part of the research project HUM2006-12475 of the Unive Autnoma de Barcelona. I would like to thank Manuel Castieiras for his acontinuous support. I am also in debt to Jordi Camps, who has made signobservations on the contents of this paper, especially related to Italian sculpto Anna Orriols, who has carefully read the text and whose clever commeimproved it in an ostensible way.

1 These Lombard masters would be the heirs of the ancientmagistri comacini mentioned in some legislative sources from the Longobard kingdom (7th-8thcenturies); thats why they are often called simply (and not always propecomacini. See, for example: S. LOMARTIRE, Tra mito e realt: riflessionisullattivit dei magistri comacini nellItalia del nord tra XII e XIV seco Magistri dEuropa. Eventi, relazioni, strut ture della migrazione di artcostruttori dai laghi lombardi , Como 1997, 139-154; and C. TOSCO, Gli architetti e le maestranze , in Arti e Storia nel Medioevo, II, Del costruire:tecniche, artisti, artigiani, committenti , E. Castelnuovo and G. Sergi, eds.,Torino 2003, 50-55.2 E. V ERGNOLLE, Les dbuts de lart roman dans le royaume franc (ca. 980ca.1020),Cahiers de Civilisation Mdivale , XLIII (2000), 161-181.3 A first part of my research has already been published in J. DURAN-PORTA ,Lombardos en Catalua? Construccin y pervivencia de una hiptecontrovertida, Anales de Historia del Arte , vol. extra (2009), 247-261; J.DURAN-PORTA , Una reconsideraci sobre els orgens de larquitectura romna Catalunya: el mite dels mestres llombards,Catalan Review , XXII (2008),

227-238.


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Arte Lombarda| JOAN DURAN-PORTA

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Catalan Romanesque, and not just in terms of the architecturebut also for the mural painting 4. The early painterly experiencesof the Catalan Romanesque, grouped around the anonymousMaster of Pedret, have also been deemed imported fromnorthern Italy by one or several workshops of Milanese paintersclose to contemporary Lombard painting (Civate, Prugiasco)and ultimately dependent on formulas and resources thatappear in around AD 1000 in the decoration of the apse of SanVincenzo in Galliano (fig. 1)5. Manuel Castieiras has justbegun to survey the Lombard connection to the Catalanpainting linked to Pedret. Castieiras refutes the arrival of painters from the region of Milan and clearly posits a directly Roman influence, which would join a rich previous localtradition unfortunately lost today 6. So, the Lombard painters,who have occasionally been included in the teams of itinerantbuilders7, would never have existed either.

The Lombard question in Romanesque Catalonia

In the early 20th century, the publication and swift translationinto English of the emblematic book by Giovanni TeresioRivoira,Le origini dellarchitettura lombarda e delle sue principali derivazioni nei paesi doltrAlpe , carved a permanent niche forthe perception of the Lombard origin of much of the EuropeanRomanesque among the criticism. In this theoretical model,drawing on a long-standing tradition, the northern Italian hubacts as a generator of architectural formulas which later spreadacross much of Europe, perhaps even as far as Normandy and

the British Isles8

. (It is curious to see how this idea has beenrejected over time, and how historiography has ended upregarding Lombard architecture, conversely, as a regional,peripheral phenomenon, remote from the major creativearteries of the mediaeval world9).

The first approach to this theoretical contrivance by Catalancritics dates from 1907, when Puig i Cadafalch published Lesinfluences lombardes en Catalogne, the text of a lecture thathe had delivered one year earlier at the Congrs Archologique

de France10. In this text, Puig accepted the prevailing idea of t

Lombard origin of part of Romanesque architecture, and relit to Catalonia. He also accepted the presence of itinerabuilders originally from northern Italy as a vehicle for spreathis model. It is symptomatic to see how Puig shows reluctance to assume that the Lombard schemes playexclusive or even dominant role in the formation of the CataRomanesque, although he does readily admit to the vehicurole of the itinerant builders. In any case, his cautiforeshadows the subsequent development of his theoret

1. Galliano, San Vincenzo, exterior view.

4 Even if its true that this insistence in Lombard influences allowed first Catalanscholars to detach Catalan romanesque from the Spanish world (which wascertainly convenient to their political interests), in fact the formulation of theCatalan-Lombard question was never related to any national apriorism, butconnected to the dominant ideas on the origins of Romanesque architecture at thetime. See X. B ARRAL, Puig i Cadafalch: le premier art roman entre idologie etpolitique, Medioevo: arte lombarda , A. C. Quintavalle, ed., Milano 2004, 33-41.5 Galliano is also often considered a model for 11th century Catalanarchitecture. A recent analysis on the building: M. R OSSI, Il rinnovamentoarchitettonico della basilica di San Vincenzo e il battistero di San Giovanni Battista a Galliano, in Ariberto da Intimiano. Fede, potere e cultura a Milano nel secolo XI ,Cinisello Balsamo 2007, 87-99.6 See the contribution Manuel Castieiras publishes in this issue of Arte Lombarda (Il Maestro di Pedret e la pittura lombarda: mito o realt?).Previously: M. C ASTIEIRAS, Mural painting , in M. C ASTIEIRAS- J. C AMPS,Romanesque art in the MNAC collections , Barcelona 2008, 56-66.7

H. STOTHART, Studies relating to the influence of Lombard artists in Catalan

Spain during the 11th Century , inIl Romanico, Atti del Seminario di studi diretda Piero Sanpaolesi , Milano 1975, 212-224.8 G. T. R IVOIRA , Le origini dellarchitettura lombarda e delle sue princderivazioni nei paesi doltrAlpe , Roma 1901-1907 (Lombardic Architecture: Its Origin, Developement and Derivatives , London 1910). The expansion of Lombard artists had been absolutely magnified in G. MERZARIO, I Maestri Comacini. Storia artistica di mille duecento anni (600-1800), Milano 1893. Fora panoramic view on the European context of the Lombard question, DURAN-PORTA , 2009, 248-250.9 Some views on this matter: A. C. Q UINTAVALLE, Arte lombarda, medioevo e idea di nazione. Dalla storia dellarte al romanzo, in Medioevo: arte lombarda ,2004, XI- XXVI. Focusing on strictly Lombard architecture, but not really willwith the debate on the Lombard expansion, see the classic study by APORTER , Lombard Architecture , New Haven - London 1915-1917.10 J. PUIG I C ADAFALCH, Les influences lombardes en Catalogne , in Congrs Archologique de France. LXXIII e Session tenue en 1906 Carcassonn et Perpign,

Paris - Caen 1907, 684-703.


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ideas, in which Lombardy becomes a transmitting hub morethan the creator of building formulas, whose origins theCatalan author seeks somewhat overenthusiasticaly in thearchitecture of the Middle East11.

The notion of these itinerant Lombard masters met withimmediate success, and was furthermore confirmed by thesurprising discovery that the very term lombard (or la mbard)appeared in Catalan mediaeval sources as a synonym for builder.This was revealed by Josep Gudiol in the article Quelcom sobreels Lambarts, published only three years later12. In this article,he demonstrates the semantic evolution of the old demonym asa term to describe the trade of builder. However, the fact is thatthis circumstance only occurs (and Gudiol stresses thiscautiously) from the last third of the 12th century,and never inany previous document . The first documented case is masterRaimon Lambards famous contract to complete theconstruction of the cathedral of La Seu dUrgell, which I willtalk about more later in this article. This contract dates from1175, so it is more than 150 years after the supposed migrationof Lombard masters in the beginnings of 11th century. Theremaining documents are from the 13th or even the 14th century.

If Puigs theses on the Lombards have an analyticalfoundation grounded on the formal and decorative similaritiesbetween Catalan and Lombard architecture, Gudiolscontribution strengthened the relations between both regionswith documents and it also served to solidify the idea of theitinerant Lombard masters. To Gudiol, and to subsequent criticsfor the 100 ensuing years, the use of the demonym Lombardas a synonym for builder is the consequence of the success and

fame achieved by these ancient Lombard masters who arrived inCatalonia just after AD 1000. The fact that more than 150 yearswould elapse between their arrival and the earliest mentions of them in the documentation does not ever seem to have surprisedanyone.

We shall revisit this issue in the second part of this article, asfirst I would like to briefly examine the reception and evolutionof the theory of the Lombard masters in Catalonia. From thestart, the most hotly debated part of Puig i Cadafalchs theorieswas the very concept of the First Romanesque, much less thanthe matter of the itinerant Lombards, who were certainly a collateral question in Puigs theory. First Romanesque was

accused of having been erected as an ideal model, assuming thata series of technical elements or ornamental features served toconfect a unified stylistic scene. Pierre Francastel, in particular,devotes an entire chapter ofLhumanisme romanto insightfully dismembering Puigs theories: La carte du premier art romansuggre donc une image entirement fausse de la realit parcequelle ne nous rvle pas lexistence dun cercle de culturehomogne, mais seulement la presence, des poques diverses,et dans quelques rgions artificiellement isoles, dun certainnombre de caractres aussi artificiellement retenus commecaractristiques lexclusion de tous les autres13.

The critique is pertinent, and modern historiography

cannot but share much of it, even though the real purpose of

Francastels discourse seems to be less to reflect on the FRomanesque (whatever that happens to be) than to claim throle of northern architecture (in other wordsFrencharchitecture) in the formation of the true Romanesque af AD 1070, namely the so-called High Romanesque. Howevwe also have to acknowledge that despite this criticism, the iof the First Romanesque immediately took root everywheeven in French academia, to which Puig i Cadafalch realbelonged on account of his schooling and career14.

Over time, the concept has been properly nuanced, antoday it has resulted in two more or less opposite meaningSome of the critics follow Francastels arguments and deny unitary value of the architecture described by Puig, basingupon a strictly chronological view: the First Romanesqunderstood as a simple premier ge roman, inclusive andmultiple, decharacterised15. This view enables us to more vividlyrelate the Romanesque experiences of the northern and southeregions of Europe, although it tends to group the differenexperiences within a context we could call deterministic aspoint of departure for the future achievement of a completunique and dominant style, that is, the High Romanesque16.

The second way to approach the issue is by recognisingcertain unity in all First Romanesque architecture, but limitithis common element to the building technique, in particular the kind of masonry used. This includes the use of the petit appareil and securing the outer walls with the popular system lesenes combined with corbeling blind arches (fig. 2)17. Thissecond interpretation, not too surprisingly, is dominant icurrent Catalan historiography and is also the interpretation th

supports the hypothesis of the Lombards direct contribution


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11 The theory of First Romanesque first appears in J. PUIG I C ADAFALCH, Le premier art roman. Larchitecture en Catalogne et dans lOccident mditeraux X e et XI e sicles , Paris 1928. Later: J. PUIG IC ADAFALCH, La geografia i els orgens del primer art romnic Barcelona, 1930 (La gographie et les origines du premier art roman, Paris 1935).12 J. GU DI OL I CUNILL, Quelcom sobre els Lambarts,Revista de la Asociacin artstico-arqueolgica barcelonesa , 62 (1910/II), 329-335.However, it is interesting to highlight the lack of references to Lombamasons in a previous article about Catalan romanesque builders: A.DEF ALGUERA , Els constructors de les obres romniques a Catalunya,Empori ,I (1907), 129-142.13P. FRANCASTEL, Lhumanisme roman. Critique des thories sur lart du XI e sicle en France , Paris 1942 (reimp. Paris 1970), 47.14 Henri Focillon was the main supporter of Puigs theories in France. SeeFOCILLON, Art dOccident. Le Moyen ge roman et gothique , Paris 1938, 27-32.15 The contributions of Marcel Durliat were especially outstanding: MDURLIAT, La Catalogne et le premier art roman,Bulletin Monumental , 147(1989/III), 209-238; M. DURLIAT, Rflexions sur lart roman en France,Cahiers de Civilisation Mdivale , XXXIX (1996), 41-65.16 See, for example: E. V ERGNOLLE, LArt Roman en France: architecture,sculpture, peinture , Paris 1994. Nowadays, the attention to first Romanesque isalso present in France thanks to the international colloquiumLe premier art roman cent ans aprs. La construction entre Sane et P autour de lan milcomparatives, Baume-les-Messieurs - Saint-Claude, june 2009.17 C. Edson Armi convincingly proves that the system had initially statpurposes, so it was undisputably connected to the use of the petit appareil : C.

E. A RMI, The Corbel Table,Gesta , XXXIX (2000/2), 89-116.


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the Catalan Romanesque. That is, it enables us to regard thebuilders who came from Lombardy as the introducers not of a First Romanesque style but of what was actually a Romanesque building method that replaced the traditional 10thcentury construction procedures used in the Catalan counties18.Nobody would deny that this new, revolutionary and highly intelligent way of building reached Catalonia (and otherplaces) in the early 11th century, and that it quickly took theplace of the traditional technique characteristic of the pre-Romanesque19.

Did there have to have been itinerant Lombard masters for

this technique to have been introduced here? And, in any case,is the existence of the Lombard masters documented in any way? Why is the appearance of this same technique in southernBurgundy, another architectural powerhouse in the early 11thcentury, not related with the direct arrival of Italian builders,who were also their neighbours?20

In Catalonia, it is understandable that the Lombard hypothis still widespread, especially because it has always beendifficult to argue with the prominent figure of Puig i Cadafalc21.Even today, in fact, it is common practice to qualify the coun11th century constructions that use the petit appareiland the walllexis of blind arches and lesenes as Lombard architecture,popularly and in specialised publications22. I am interested inhighlighting two recent studies, one by Manuel Castieiras,the other by Gerardo Boto and Nazaret Gallego, because tencompass two opposite ways of viewing the arrival ofLombard formulas and masons23. While Castieiras upholds thetraditional idea of linking them specifically to the architectpromotion carried out by Abbot Oliba and other members ofCatalan elite24, Boto and Gallego opt for a more gradual arrival aposit that the first tests of the Lombard schemas were carriedin the region of La Ribagora, northeast of what today is AraTherefore, the adoption of the construction system formulatethecomacini [sic] masters in the northern Italian churches backthe early 11th century would lead to a gradual process ofamiliarisation and investigation with the new foreign, avant-resources, which achieved their first moment of splendour inmonastic milieu of La Ribagora during the first quarter of thethcentury, specifically at Santa Maria dObarra25.

In fact, that these new techniques (regardless of whethenot they were brought here by the Lombards) should reachcounty of La Ribagora before the Catalan counties (which located further to the east, were better connected, had a mpowerful aristocracy and a much more solid architectutradition, were economically stronger) is difficult to believ

and actually only the early datation of the lovely churchObarra, which is thought to have been built in the time Abbot Galindo (1003-1025) though there is no documentevidence for this enables this conjecture to be plausible.

In my opinion, abolishing the link between the early 1thcentury architecture in La Ribagora and its neighbour

18This interpretation was generally accepted in the Simposi InternacionalEls comacini i larquitectura romnica a Catalunya , Barcelona - Girona, november2005, especially in the nevertheless highly interesting contribution of J.-A. A DELL, Laparici dels magistri comacini a Catalunya. Aspectes tecnolgics i dorganitzaci . The acts of this symposium have not been published yet.19The traditional techniques related to theopus caementiciumwere in use fora few more decades only in the counties of Empries and Rossell. These localprocedures, howevere, were also there applied to already Romanesque-designedbuildings, as in the emblematic case of Sant Pere de Rodes: I. LORS, Lglisede Sant Pere de Rodes, un exemple de renaissance de larchitecture du XIesicle en Catalogne,Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa , XXXIII (2001), 21-39.20 For the Burgundyan architecture based on first romanesque technicalprocedures, see C. E. A RMI, Design and Construction in Romanesque Architecture.First Romanesque Architecture and the Pointed Arch in Burgundy and NorthernItaly , Cambridge 2004.21The importance of Puig i Cadafalch in Catalan Romanesque historiography is due, first of all, to the unquestionable value of his works and to theirinternational success. However, it is important to note that there was a huge gapin Catalan art studies because of the Spanish Civil War and its consequences. Itis understandable that post-war scholars read the illustrous names of the pre-

bellic past with great respect. Besides, the figure of Puig i Cadafalch was truely

impressive on his own: he was not only a distinguished art historian, but alsof the main European architects of the beginnings of 20th century. Moreoever, hehas also a significant political career, being the president of the Mancomu(1917-1925), the institution of Catalan self-government previous to the restorof the Generalitat. For the polyhedral personality of Puig, seePuig i Cadafalch i la Catalunya contempornia , A. Balcells, ed., Barcelona 2003.22 See, among many others: J. A. A DELL, La renovaci arquitectnica del segl XI, inCatalunya Romnica , XVII, Barcelona 1998, 72-83; F. FIT, Sobre elsmestres dobra i la construcci medieval a Catalunya (1a part: lpoca romnica),Lartista-artes medieval a la Corona dArag. Actes , J. J. Yarza Luacesand Francesc Fit i Llevot, eds., Lleida 1999, 211-238.23 M. C ASTIEIRAS, La cuestin lombarda en el primer romnico cataln, in Il Medioevo delle Cattedrali. Chiesa e Impero: la lotta delle immagini (secoli, A. C. Quintavalle, ed., Milano 2006, 345-355 (351); G. BOTO - N. G ALLEGO,Canniques i llinatges comtals en la gestaci de la primera arquitectura roCatalunya , inEls comacini i larquitectura, in course of publication.24 A panoramic view on Catalan patrons in Romanesque period: J. C AMPS- I.LORS, Le patronage dans lart roman catalan,Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa , XXXVI (2005), 209-223.25 BOTO - G ALLEGO, in course of publication. I thank the authors for letting

me read their study before it is published.

2. Corbera de Llobregat (Barcelona), Sant Pon de Corbera, detail of masonry.


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Catalan nuclei is counterintuitive, given the proximity andhistorical and cultural relations between the regions. In contrast, Aragonese author Fernando Galtier is a staunch defender of thishypothesis, as well as the most prominent and zealous championof the theory of the Lombard masters in Spanish historiography today 26. Galtier sustains that the Lombard masters indeedbrought the new Romanesque formulas to the Pyrenees, and hehas articulated a dense theory which encompasses not justreligious but also military architecture27.

The most surprising aspect of Galtiers theory is the negativeassessment that he ultimately levels at the work of the Lombards. After regarding them as the introducers of so many novelbuilding techniques to Catalonia (and to La Ribagora), he alsodescribes them as having an extraordinary inability to resolve thearchitectural problems posed to them by the local developers:In the first half of the 11th century, the problems of Lombardartistic creation, plus their inherent defects, flourished notably when their masters accepted the constructiona fundamentis of new churches. It would seem that the main cause albeit notthe only one must be sought in the contradiction between theexpectations of the Catalan patrons, who were critical of thecoarse quality of the walls of their buildings yet proud of having managed to cover the entire liturgical space with vaults, and theexpectations of the Lombard masters, experts in stonemasonry,in working upwards on their scaffolding, but incapable of covering any space with groined vaults. The result is a long listof unfinished works28.

According to this interpretation, therefore, the arrival of theItalian builders to Catalan lands should have resulted in failure due

to their inability to construct the large barrel vaults, which precisely characterise much of Catalonias monumental architecture dating from the early 11th century. The Catalan patrons, if this theory holds, must have been rather foolish. In short, there is nothing thatcould prove this hypothesis, and the long list of unfinished worksdoes not allow us to posit an early Lombard stage followed by a second, non-Lombard phase in these buildings, but only proves theexistence of different phases in certain buildings, which is nothing out of the ordinary in the Middle Ages.

Documentary evidenceon the (supposed) Lombard migration

The use of the same construction and lexis resources is tfirst argument that enables us to associate Catalan an

Lombard architecture. The superficial similarities (in termswall-building technique) are obvious, and cannot be denieIn fact, it was precisely that technical similarity that led PuCadafalch to delimit the concept of early Romanesque, wiits extensive geographical scope. Neither is there any needstress the similarity of certain formal solutions (the betowers, the model of hall crypt) which 11th century Catalanand Lombard (and other) buildings shared, as has been staton many occasions29. These parallels are apparent enough,and no one would fail to acknowledge them despite the fathat today it is widely believed that the 11th century modelsof Catalan architecture were notably more diverse, starti

with the structures from Germanic architecture, with whicof course, the northern Italian world with its imperial ties walso related30.

Having said this, the distance between early 11th century Catalan buildings and their presumed Lombard models shoualso be borne in mind. This distance is perfectly normal whtalking about two lands in contact with each other, but it doseem strange if one wants to posit that the constructions both places were built by the same Italian builders. In thsense, the difference in the conception of the interior churspaces, where the prevailing preference for the barrel vaultCatalonia provided a vertical coherence which was tota

lacking in the Lombard constructions, has always seemparadigmatic to me (and is rarely stressed). The comparisbetween Sant Vicen de Cardona (fig. 3), one of the supposarchetypes of Catalan First Romanesque, and its purportemodel in San Paragorio di Noli (fig. 4), display these vedifferent ways of structuring a building vertically. The formseeks absolute unity, an organic model (which C. E. Armeloquently characterises as a continuous order31), while thelatter respects the Roman basilica tradition of the flat ceili


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26 This author has published many papers about the lombard question. See,for example: F. G ALTIER , Scemate Longobardino: una experiencia primicial enCatalua y Aragn (circa 995 - circa 1040), inPatrimonio artstico de Galicia y otros estudios. Homenaje al prof. dr. Serafn Moralejo varez , Santiago deCompostela 2004, III, 97-105.27 Galtier (like others) points the presence of Lombard masons in the firstconstructive campaign at the emblematic castle of Loarre, which he dates in thetimes of king Sancho III (ca. 1004-1035). This early datation was convincingly refuted by Philippe Araguas (P. A RAGUAS, Mozarabes et lombards: les chateaux du premier art roman en Aragon et Catalogne , in Actas del I Congreso de Castellologia Ibrica , Palencia 1998, 15-32), and recently the thesis of Roberto Viruete agreeson a datation under the reign of Ramiro I (1035-1063/69): R. V IRUETE, Aragnen la poca de Ramiro I , tesis doctoral, Universidad de Zaragoza, 2008. Bothauthors also deny Galtiers theory (and his antroponymical analysis) that Loarreand other aragonese castles (like Fantova) were buit by Italian masons.28 G ALTIER , 2004, 100.29 On the diffusion of the hall-crypt in Catalonia: J. DURAN-PORTA , Les

cryptes monumentales dans la Catalogne dOliba. De Sant Pere de Rodes diffusion du modle de crypte salle,Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa , XL(2009), 325-339.30 Contacts between Catalonia and the imperial architecture (and Burgundwere already underlined years ago by I. B ANGO, La part oriental dels temples delabat-bisbe Oliba,Quaderns dEstudis Medievals , 23-24 (1988), 51-66. Recently:G. BOTO, Monasterios catalanes en el siglo XI. Los espacios eclesisticos de, in Monasteria et territoria. Elites, edilicia y territorio en el Mediterrneo medievV-XV), J. Lpez Quiroga and A. M. Martnez Tejera, eds., Madrid 2007, 28319. On the relation betwen Lombard and German architecture: A. SEGAGNIM ALACART, Incidenze transalpine nellarchitettura padana della prima met dsecolo XI,Hortus Artium Medievalium, 3 (1997), 141-147.31C. E. A RMI, Orders and Continuous Orders in Romanesque Architecture Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians , 34 (1975/III), 173-188. Armissuggestive theoretical operation is not so far from considering the firomanesque as a truly style or at least as a constructive style. In a sen

recovers Puig i Cadafalch spirit.


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and the horizontal conception of the prominent lines in thearchitectural space32.

In fact, what most clearly discredits an overly closedcomparison between Lombard and Catalan buildings is thevariability of the solutions used in Catalonia, which would bedifficult to grasp if we simplistically attributed them to Italianworkshops. This diversity has been widely acknowledged, and itcontradicts the univocal vision of 11th century Catalan architecturederived from Puig i Cadafalchs theses. The building solutions are

structurally and aesthetically diverse, and they also reflect thedifferent functional or liturgical needs of each institution, or simply

the personal or political wills of their patrons. The great basilike structure in Santa Maria de Ripoll surmounted by tenormous transept seems to fall within a conceptual moimported from the Saint Peters in Rome33, while, for example, inthe cathedral of Vic, which was also sponsored by Bishop-AOliba, the solution of a single nave, transept and single apsewithin a very different notion, probably shared with the (avanished) cathedrals of Barcelona and Girona 34. In the cathedral of Girona, the proven use of the petit appareil (theoretically brought

over by the Lombards) together with large, well-carved ashlcertain parts of the walls, reveals well-experimented constru


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3. Cardona, Sant Vicen.

32I know this comparison between Cardona and Noli is truly atopos of the CatalanRomanesque studies: F. G ALTIER , Lglise ligurienne San Paragorio de Noli et sesrapports avec Santa Mara de Obarra (Aragon) et San Vicente de Cardona (Catalogne),Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa , XIX (1988), 151-157; E. FERNIESaint-Vincent de Cardona et la dimension mditerranenne du premier artroman,Cahiers de Civilisation Mdivale , XLIII (2000), 243-256. In my opinion,in spite of the use of some similar resources, the complex and meditated design of Cardona (which includes, certainly, a change in the original project) can not derivefrom a so much simpler and more modest church as San Paragorio. See also I.

B ANGO, San Vicente de Cardona. Prototipo cannico del primer romnico,

Homenatge a mossn Jess Tarragona. Miscellnia , Lleida 1996, 89-105.33 The relation with the Vatican seems undeniable to me, event thouNorthern parallels to Ripoll are often underlined: BOTO, 2007, 295-296.34 On the single nave: M. SUREDA , Els precedents de la catedral de Santa Marde Girona. De la plaa religiosa del frum rom al conjunt arquitectnic romnica (ss. I aC - XIV dC), tesis doctoral, Universitat de Girona, 2009, I,326-336. The author stresses the monumental and symbolic value of the snave plans, and links the Catalan examples to the Languedoc, which reasonable connection, after all, since Catalan cathedrals were then depen

of the metropolitan church of Narbonne.


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which may well be parallel to some of the coeval experiences in theOttonid or Burgundian world35.

Apart from the Italian and northern influences, it is impossibleto ignore the local architectural tradition, from which thewidespread interest in stone vaults, especially for the paradigmaticbarrel vault, might have come. Interest in vaults is not exclusiveto Catalonia, but it did appear here particularly early andprominently 36. In any event, it is clear that the foreigncontributions did not rely on the arrival of workshops from any

given European country, and similarly I believe that we must

examine the issue of building technique. The massive movemof foreign craftsmen is not a necessary condition for the arrivanew technicals or forms; it is enough for the technical knowleand the skills needed to arrive in order to put them into practicIt must be borne in mind that this apparently Lombardiantechnique largely thrived because it did not require specialiststereotomy (or specialists in anything, in fact); in other wordsdid not require masons trained in the most delicate ostonecutting tasks, namely the precise carving of stone ashlarsthem to fit into the different places in the structures being bui Another key to its success is also, of course, that it enabledkinds of local building materials to be used, something that spethe construction process up and even more importantly mait vastly cheaper. Obviously, this does not mean that there is knowledge behind the technique, which indeed there iFurthermore, this knowledge is in no way humble or inherenta limited, unsuccessful art form, as some historiography so ofclaims. On the contrary, the organic organisation of the buildinthe articulate resolution of the wall systems, the lucidity of tvolumetric interplays and the modular combinations of the spaframeworks are not only characteristic of a solid, learned tradibut also provide us with many clues to understanding thsubsequent evolution of Romanesque architecture, despite the that the use of large carved ashlars then became widespread.

However, the transmission of all this knowledge does nseem to require a mass movement of builders in any way. Inot necessary to link the circulation of technical knowledge wthe travelling of craftsmen, it is enough for the knowledgemove. And the usual repositories of this knowledge in 11th

century were still the religious intellectuals. In that sense, role of the Benedictine monastic networks must have beparticularly important, as they nurtured cultural (and politicclimates that were favourable to exchanges37. Another issue iswhere they came from and where this technical traditioemerged from, and bearing in mind that the Roman substraultimately survived the architectural processes of the entMiddle Ages, the traditional idea linking it to the experienceItalian brick architecture (however, not necessarily Lombard Italian in general) would make sense. Nevertheless, thgeographic scope of the Roman and Late Roman monumenlandscape should be borne in mind, as it would advocate a mu

more flexible interpretation of the phenomenon38

.


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4. Noli, San Paragorio.

35 SUREDA , 2009, 461. However, the author shares the clich of the Lombardmasons as introducers of the new techniques. Significantly, nobody claims theLombard presence in Burgundy: J. HENRIET, Saint-Philibert de Tournus.Loeuvre du second matre: la galile et la nef,Bulletin Monumental , 150(1992/II), 108-111.36 It seems very appealing to consider the adoption of stone vaulting inRomanesque buildings as a result of aesthetics and representative aims of thepatrons, as pointed in B. BRENK , Originalit e innovazione nellarte medievale ,in Arti e storia nel Medioevo, I, Tempi, spazi e istituzioni , E. Castelnuovo e G.Sergi, eds., Torino 2003, 32-53. On the first experiences in stone vaulting inBurgundy: C. S APIN, La pierre et le votement, innovation dans les techniques de

construction des glises en Bourgogne au XI e

sicle , in Linnovation technique au

Moyen Age , P. Beck, ed., Paris 1998, 179-185.37 An example of the transmission of architectonic knowledge by benedicmonks in A. A ZKARATE- L. S NCHEZ, Aportaciones al conocimiento de lastcnicas constructivas altomedievales en lava, Guipzcoa y Vizca Arqueologa de la arquitectura , 4 (2005), 208-209.38In this sense: J. P. C AILLET, Larchitecture religieuse dans lOccident de lAn mrupture ou continuit? , in Anne mille. An Mil , C. Carozzi and H. TavianiCarozzi, eds., Aix-en-Provence 2002, 71-104. The author denies, for examthe north-Italian origin of the wall surface decoration: il faudrait alors envisune mergence simultane de ce type de dcor en Italie du Nord, en Catalogen Bourgogne, sans doute aussi en Croatie, et peut-tre meme encore da

lEmpire (p. 85).


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With regard to the issue of the artists itinerancy,historiographys insistence on this issue has been thoroughly excessive for many years, linked, I imagine, to the modernsuccess of the roads of pilgrimage, as well as to the rise of a highly globalised perception of the Romanesque world, perhapsas a reaction to the closed, ruralist vision of the olden days. Xavier Barral has insisted on this recently, dampening theenthusiasm and advocating a more local vision of theRomanesque. From this vantage point, it is important to bear inmind the legacy of previous artistic models, which are manifestly shared by extensive areas of Europe. That does not mean thatartists did not circulate; however, the exception (which, precisely because it was exceptional, was so emphatically documented)should not be made into the rule, the conserved documentationshould not be overinterpreted39.

The circulation of models, technical treatises or artistic ideasgenerically around different geographic regions cannot bedisputed either40. However, this circulation should be attributednot to the movement of artists but rather to the movement of intellectuals, almost always clergymen, who were much more usedto travelling long distances and moving to places far from theirhome country, and who had the economic resources to do socomfortably. I would like to stress that I do not deny, obviously,that artists circulated; I only claim that these movements must becircumscribed to rather exceptional cases, which only cease to beexceptional as the Late Middle Ages dawned. In around AD 1000,on the other hand, these cases were indeed occasional, and only the mass migration of Lombard masters which is what I amtrying to refute would be evidence to the contrary 41.

First of all, it should be remembered that not a singleLombard master has been documented, despite everything thathas been said to the contrary. Under no circumstances can thedocuments and information conserved be interpreted in this way,and if there are some (a few) stonecutters documented in the 11thcentury, they unquestionably seem to be local builders42.

There is no direct mention of a single Lombard master.contrast, the arrival of northern Italian builders to the Catacounties has been confirmed by a very particular circumstathe extensive presence in the documentary records of the tlombard used as an anthroponym. Indeed, Lombard, initithe Latin version of the word Longobardus, and later used inform derived from Romance, was part of the anthroponymstock in the Catalan-speaking lands long before the 9th century,as has been amply studied43. It was initially used as a singlename, before the anthroponymic revolution that swept throuEurope starting in the mid-11th century 44. From the late 11thcentury, it remained in use almost exclusively as a patronycomplementary designation (cognomenor surname).

The frequency of the name leads one to initially believe thcame from a (peculiar) process of migration of northern Italto Catalan lands, in that the anthroponymic use of a term whis obviously rooted in a demonym enables us to identify everwith that name as a foreigner45. Doubt has been cast on this idea for years now, and it is logically accepted that the formdemonym simply came to be one of the names commonly uin the High Middle Ages in Catalonia 46. What we cannot know iswhether the conversion of the term lombard (or longobardinto an anthroponym was due to a migration of Italians to recently conquered by the Carolingian troops Catalonia maybe there were Italians in the invading troops themselveswhether the anthroponym had already passed into thCarolingian anthroponymic stock after they had also previoconquered the Longobardic dominions in the Italian penins

Catalan philologist Esperana Piquer favours the first op

in an article published inRivista Italiana di Onomastica in 2007,devoted exclusively to the name Longobardus and its evoluin the different European regions where Romance languawere spoken47. However, this 9th century Lombard migrationwould have been a single event, and as this author herself cl(thus, in agreement with the doubts expressed above),


6

39 X. B ARRAL, Contre litinrance des artistes du premier art roman mridional , inLe vie del medioevo, A. C. Quintavalle, ed., Milano 2000, 138-140; X. B ARRAL,Contre lart roman? Essai sur un pass reinvent , Paris 2006, 259-265 (Un artlocal, et non itinrant); X. B ARRAL, Lart romnic catal a debat , Barcelona 2009, 132-133. See also R. R ECHT, La circulation de artistes, des oeuvres, desmodles dans lEurope mdivale,Revue de lArt , 120 (1998/1), 5-10.40Two architectonic motifs are drawn, for example, in the remains of a book of models from the abbey of Saint-Benot-sur-Loire: E. V ERGNOLLE, Uncarnet de modeles de lan mil originaire de Saint-Bnot-sur-Loire, Arte Medievale , 2 (1985), 23-56.41Various examples in E. C ASTELNUOVO, Viaggiavano gli artisti nei lunghi secoli del Medioevo? E perch, e come, e quando? , in Els camins, el viatge, els artistes.Cicle de conferncies del MNAC , Barcelona 2007, 33-45.42 This is the case of the well-known master Fedantius, who signed asarchitectus et magister edorum in a purchase-sale contract from the abbey of Sant Cugat del Valls. Published inCartulario de Sant Cugat del Valls , J. Riusi Serra, ed., Barcelona 1945-1947, II, doc. 428 (the same Fedantius appears indocs. 407 and 448).43 For 9th and 10th Centuries: J. BOLS- J. MORAN, Repertori dAntropnims Catalans , Barcelona 1994, 42-43.44

On the evolution of european anthroponymy: M. BOURIN, Bilan de

lenqute: de la Picardie au Portugal, lapparition du systme anthroponydeux lements et ses nuances rgionales , in Gense mdivale de lanthroponymmoderne , M. Bourin and P. Chareille, eds., Tours 1990, I, 233-246. FoCatalan context: M. ZIMMERMAN, Les dbuts de la rvolutionantroponymique en Catalogne (X e-XIIe siecles), Annales du Midi , CII(1990), 289-308; L. TO I FIGUERAS, Antroponimia de los condados catalane(Barcelona, Girona y Osona, siglos X-XII), in Antroponimia y sociedad. Sistemade identificacin hispano-cristianos en los siglos IX a XIII , P. Martnez Sopena,ed., Valladolid 1995, 371-394.45This interpretation (and some documented examples), appeared alreadthe first great work published on Catalan Romanesque: J. PUIG IC ADAFALCH- A.DE F ALGUERA - J. GODALL, Larquitectura romnica a Catalunya , Barcelona 1909-1918, II, 16-22 and 76-78.46M. ZIMMERMAN, La connaissance du grec en Catalogne du IX e au XI e sicle , inHaut Moyen-Age. Culture, ducation et socit. tudes offertes PierNanterre 1990, 496-515. Besides, the author affirms: lusage consistnommer un individu par sa rsidence ou son pays dorigine napparait q XIIe scle, une fois enracine lanthroponymie dux lements (p. 497).47E. PIQUER , La designacin tnicalangobardus en la antroponimia medievaleuropea: de identidad colectiva a identificacin individual,Rivista Italiana di

Onomastica , XIII (2007/I), 91-136.


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ethnonim, now in the category of anthroponym, swiftly joinedthe list of Catalan given names, as demonstrated by its vastanthroponymic vitality throughout the 9th and 10th centuries48.I have conducted an in-depth analysis of practically all of theearly mediaeval Catalan documents published in which peoplewith the name Longobardus or any of its variants appear. Thereare more than 200 mentions of this name, counting the fact thatsometimes the same person appears in several chronologically consecutive documents49. Confirming the opinion of Piquer andother experts, none of these documents enables us to identify thepeople called Longobardus as northern Italian immigrants or asdescendants of Italian families, and where there is somerevelatory information to this effect, italways claims that theindividual in question is of local provenance. It is also importantto state for the record that in no case, not one, can theseindividuals be identified as builders or architects.

With the anthroponymic revolution of the 11th to 12thcenturies, many of the old given names became complementary,patronymic names. In this context, the old term Longobardusdisappeared almost entirely as a given name, yet it reappeared asa surname. Despite the fact that some of these patronymics arestill documented in their Latin forms (Longobardus), most of them appear in their Catalanised form: Lombard, Lambard,Llombard, Languard, etc. However, it is clear that thisLombard is only the Romance version of the formerLongobardus, not a different anthroponym50.

Despite the evidence in this direction, traditional arthistoriography has deemed that the appearance of thecomplementary name Lombard in 11th century Catalan

anthroponymy revealed the presence ofrealLombards, of individuals who came directly from northern Italy, and moreexactly the celebrated Romanesque builders. This interpretationis highly convenient for justifying the presence of Lombardmasters in the Catalan counties. It joins the other twotraditional arguments in favour of this presence: thearchitectural similarities and the semantic evolution of the very

term Lombard until it became synonymous with build(about which more later).

Based on anthroponymic studies, Esperana Piquer hersuses this art historians tradition to justifya second migratory wave of Italians to Catalonia in the 11th century. Instead of interpreting that there was a natural evolution in the old givnames in the form of patronymics, the occasional appearancepeople with the surname Lombard in Catalonia after AD 10was put down to a second Italian migration for which therenot a shred of testimony anywhere and which, furthermore, wfelicitously made up of builders51. I do not understand this. If we art historians use arguments from the science oanthroponymy, we should at least ensure that these argumendo not derive in turn from our old theories about art historitself in an effort to avoid entering into an absurd spiral circular hypotheses that prove each other52.

In fact, just as with the sources from earlier centuriethroughout the entire 11th century and much of the 12th there isnot a trace of northern Italians in the Catalan documentatiothat we are aware of, or to be more accurate, there is not a traof northern Italianbuilders 53. No individuals have been tracedwith the given name or patronymic complement of any formthe term Lombard, either the Latin or more especially tRomance versions of it, who can be demonstrated to come frnorthern Italy, or who worked in the construction trade. Noeven the Pere Lambard located in the village of ger at the tiwhen the collegiate church of Sant Pere was being built, who been identified as the master builder of this church, can bdemonstrated to be Italian or even an architect. Althoug

naturally the documents do not explicitly tell us thatthese people were not Lombard masters , based on their interpretation andcontext we can conclude that they were neither54.

This analysis is extremely relevant because it debunks documentary argument in favour of the Lombard presence, abecause furthermore it can be placed parallel to other classihypotheses of the documented presence of Lombards elsewh


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48 PIQUER , 2007, 99.49 Some of the most relevant examples are detailed in DURAN-PORTA , 2008,257-258.50 Anthroponyms variability (latin-romance) is quite usual, even when referring to the same person as in the case of a Guifredus Longuardus mentioned in1025, then named Guifred Languard in 1033 (Cartulario de Sant Cugat,1945-1947, II, docs. 496 and 527).51 Piquer apparently believes that these builders were not truly Lombards,but members of group of population from the Tuscan region of Grossetocalled lombardi because of their Lombard ancestors. She also states thatcurrent Catalan scholars consider First Romanesque as imported inCatalonia by Tuscan builders, basing her opinion on a text of Joan-Albert Adell that, actually, only suggests a certain use of some typically Tuscansconstructive elements in a pair of churches of the diocese of Girona (A DELL,1998, 79-82).52To make things worse, a cautious statement by the illustrious historian PierreBonnassie regarding this second Lombard migration (based, precisely, on artisticand antroponymic reasons) has also been used to feed back the itinerant buildershypothesis. See P. BONNASSIE, La Catalogne du milieu du X e sicle la fin du XI e

sicle, Croissance et mutation dune socit , Toulouse 1975-1976, I, 336.

53 There are indeed some Lombards exceptionnally mentioned in Catalsources; none of them is a builder. In the cathedral of Vic, for example, this a grammarian named Guibertus who is mentioned in the cathedral obituaas Loddicensis civitatis oriundi (I owe this information to Anna Orriols). Guibertus may have come with the Bishop-Abbot Oliba, who is known having travelled to Lodi, from where he took several relics to Catalonia. SeS. GROS, Els textos densenyament en lescola catedralcia de Vic al segl, inSymposium Internacional sobre els orgens de Catalunya (Segles VIII-XI), Barcelona 1992, II, 23. Another interesting example is that of the a turinese judge (Wiudice longobardus taurinensis) reported in 1071 as a witness of an agreembetween San Michele della Chiusa and a Catalan noble for the possessionsome lands next to the priory of Santa Maria de Cervi own by the piedmontabbey. The document is published in L. TO I FIGUERAS, El monestir de Santa Maria de Cervi i la pagesia: una anlisi local del canvi feudal: diplomatasegles X-XII , Barcelona 1991, doc. 23.54 We only know that this Pere Lambard from ger had a property next to tlands of the magnate Arnau Mir de Tost (FIT, 1999, 225). Besides, there arethree more individuals mentioned in 11th century sources named after the samepatronymic: Joan Lambard (1031), Esteve Lambard (1067) and Bereng

Lambard (1089). See DURAN-PORTA , 2008, 258.


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8

around Europe, where Italian builders have been more specifically and occasionally identified, and where this observation has alsobeen quite successfully refuted.

For example, it was traditionally assumed that William of Volpiano had taken Piedmontese builders with him to Saint-Benigne in Dijon; they are credited with the purportedItalianism of the design. There is no documentary foundationfor this idea, because neither theVita Sancti Guillelmi Divionensis Abbatis written by Rodulfus Glaber nor the(subsequent) anonymousChronica Sancti Benigni Venerandorum Abbatumever refer to the geographical origin of the churchbuilders. However, the (purportedly) Italian root of the building must indeed be attributed to Williams intellectual supervisionof the construction55.

The reference to Lombard labour is much more explicit inthe abbey of Montecassino, because when discussing theconstruction of the Desiderian basilica Leone MarsicanosChronica Cassinensis explicitly claims that craftsmen tam Amalfitanis quam et Lambardis participated in it56. It has beenamply demonstrated that the phrase is not part of the originaltext, but is one of the insertions made by the continuer andreviser of the chronicle, Peter the Deacon. Therefore, thepresence of Lombard masters in central Italy during the 11thcentury cannot concluded from this document and similarly seems to have nothing to do with the now-vanished Desiderianbuilding that belied the presence of northern Italian models57.

Outside of Catalonia, there are no further documents thatmention 11th century builders of Lombard descent so explicitly.Only the celebrated reference in the Abbey of Rolducs Annals ,

in Dutch Limburg, written in the second half of the 12th

century (or perhaps in the mid-13th century), might lead us to assumesome kind of Italian participation in the construction of theabbey church, because it is said to have been built according toa scemate longobardino. The concept seems to refer to a certain structure in the body of naves; however, though theorigin of the format may have been Italian, as the texts claim, itsspread through the German Empire in no way proves the

specific presence of Italian builders. In any case, we couldclaim that they were the same First Romanesque Lombmasters because the church in Rolduc (and other Dutbuildings that follow similar forms) dates from the 1thcentury 58.

Based on everything that has been said until now, tconclusion is that there is no documentary evidence of famous Lombard masters in either Catalonia or any othEuropean region (apart from Italy itself, obviously). Therefnothing would support the old idea of a migration of Lombbuilders, and the issue could be put to rest forever were it for the most powerful of the arguments in favour of thhypothesis, which I mentioned at the beginning: the semanevolution of the term Lombard in Catalonia, which ultimabecame synonymous for builder.

Lambard as a synonym of builder in late medievalCatalan sources

As I said above, this use of the term Lambard as a synonymason or master builder is a piece of irrefutable documenevidence. Therefore, let us state from the outset that it is nname that spread very much; rather its presence was limiteat least ten conserved documents which do encompass a notextensive period of time, precisely between 1175 and 1381The most celebrated of the cases, and the one that has beenfocal point of the most attention in not only Catalonia but aItaly, is naturally the case of Raimon, or Ramon, Lambard,

master builder hired in 1175 to complete the last phase of cathedral of La Seu dUrgell59. With regarded to the much-debated issue of his geographical provenance, it shouldstated that back in the old article by Josep Gudiol, RaimoItalian origins were denied, although it is true that maopinions have been voiced in favour of this provenance, erecently 60. However, the latest documentary contributionfrom the Chapterhouse Archive of Urgell have resolved

55 The assumption of Lombard masons working at Dijon probably becamepopular after Merzarios studies (MERZARIO, 1893, I, 93-94), as we can see forexample in Conant: William of Volpiano brought craftsmen from his nativeLombardy, and it is believed that they worked on his abbey chruch in Dijon(K. J. CONANT, Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture 800 to 1200 ,Middlesex 1959, 58). However, in theChronica Sancti Benigni Venerandorum Abbatumwe can only read that William of Volpiano arrived in Dijon withdiversorum operum magisterio docti, surely an allusion to intellectualmonks, not to lay builders (ed. MIGNE, Patrologia Latina , 162, col. 819A). Seealso C. TOSCO, Architetti e committenti nel romanico lombardo, Roma 1997,102-103.56 LEONIS M ARSICANIChronica Monasterii Casinensis , H. Hoffman, ed., Monumenta Germania Historica. Scriptores , XXXIV, Hannover 1980, III, 26.57 On Peter the Deacon interpolation: LEONE M ARSICANO, Cronaca di Montecassino, F. Aceto - V. Lucherini, eds., Milano 2002, 31-33. The abbey church of Montecassino was undoubtely inspired by Roman basilican models,while its connection to the plan of the Milanese SantAmbrogio seems less

significant to me. However, this has been occasionally remarked, as in M.

DONOFRIO, Artifices lambardi nella Campania medievale , in Medioevo: arte lombarda , 2004, 526-535.58 P. R OLLAND, Scemate Longobardino. Basse Meuse - Bas Rhin,Les Cahiers Techniques de lArt , 3 (1954-1956), 21-42: Par systme lombard, nouentendons donc essentiellement celui qui paule une grande trave carrnef par deux petites traves carres de collateraux moindres de moitipremire tant couverte dune vote dartes simples ou renforces de brectangulaires, et les dernires tant normalment votes dartes (p. 34the diffusion of this model, see also J. M. TIMMERS, Influssi lombardi sulle chiese di Maastricht e di Rolduc , inIl Romanico. Atti del Seminario, 1995, 249-261;and J. R ASPISERRA , Lapicidi lombardi ed emiliani del XII secolo a Maastriin Olanda,Commentari , 21 (1970), 27-43.59 A detailed commentary about this master in J. DURAN-PORTA , Sobre lorigende Raimon lambard, obrer de la catedral dUrgell,Locus Amoenus , 8 (2005-2006),19-28. The contract has been published in many occasions, first in J. V ILLANUEVA ,Viaje literario a las iglesias de Espaa , Madrid 1803-1852, IX, 298-300.60C ASTELNUOVO, 2007, 43. See also M. DURLIAT, Les chantiers de construction

des glises romanes,Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa , XXVI (1995), 20.


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question, I believe forever. This is because in anotherdocument conserved from 1187, the same Raymond appearssigning with the name Raimon de Narg lambard, in whichapparently de Narg is naturally the surname with a patrimonial or geographic origin (Narg, today Coll de Narg,a town near La Seu dUrgell), while the quality of lambardrefers, in fact, to his profession61. The presence of a powerful

canon in the Chapterhouse of La Seu dUrgell, documented asPetrus de Nargo capellani or Petrus de Nargo prepositus,confirms not just the usual triple name system (given name +surname + profession/position) but also the fact that theunique hiring of Raimon, who acted as both a cathedraloperariusand the master builder, was quite likely due to thefact that a relative of his, the aforementioned Pere, was one of the canons at La Seu62.

The issue at La Seu dUrgell is that the cathedral building unequivocally displays contact with the northern Italian worldof architecture, as we shall analyse in further detail below. Thiscontact, however,cannot be attributed to the work of master

builder Raimon, who was quite explicitly hired to finish thecathedral: claudas nobis ecclesiam totam et leves coclearia sivecampanilia unum filum super omnes voltas et facias ipsumcugul. Since it is unlikely that Raimon had worked earlier as a master builder, the unequivocal Lombard influences that thecathedral displays seem to have been the result of the work of a previous architect.

Before proceeding further in this direction, let us briefly examine the other documents in which Catalan builders arecalledlambards . Gudiol published four of the references in thearticle that I cite here repeatedly: an anonymous lambard whoacted as an appraiser in an arbitration related to the value of the

reform work that had to be done on houses in Barcelona owned

by the Bishop of Vic (1202); a certain Guillem de Rierlambard is documented in the city of Vic in 1232; homonymous father and son are documented in Vic as webetween 1273 and 1324, identified as Pere de Morlambard63. A fifth, similar mention, this time reported byFrancesc Carreras Candi, is regarding a certain Guillem Verdaguer lambart who hired an apprentice, also in Vic,

learn the trade64

. Later on, in the 14th

century, there is mentionof the participation of a team of lombards in the construction the new Gothic cathedral in Barcelona under the orders master Jaume Fabre. The last mention of lombards might be tmost significant of all, because it is included in the foundiprivilege of theconfraria (brotherhood) of the building professionals in Barcelona, that is, the lambarts o maestrescases de la ciutat de Barchinona65. The privilege is an official


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61 Pere Beseran argues that the term Lombard has to be understood morea surname than as a professional epithet, or at least including both possibilitogether; see P. BESERAN, Originalitat i tradici en lescultura monumental dela catedral de la Seu dUrgell,Lambard. Estudis dart medieval , IX (1996), 49-73 (especially 54-55). In my opinion, since de Narg is a well-establisfamily name, there is no reason to consider lambard as a surname. The absof the family name in Raimons contract must be simply related to the practof the Chapter chanons, whose members often signed only with their first nafollowed by their position/occupation in the Chapter; this also could explaby the way, the reiteration of the apellative lambard in the contractual tex62 This conclusion is based on the analysis of the Chapter documents; sDURAN-PORTA , 2005-2006.63 GUDIOL, 1910, 330-332.64 F. C ARRERASC ANDI, Notes dotzecentistes dAusona,Boletn de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona , V(1909-1910), 262.65 M. DE BOFARULL Y DES ARTORIO, Gremios y Cofradas de la antigua Coronade AragnBarcelona 1876, 235-241,Coleccin de documentos inditos del Archiv

General de la Corona de Aragn, tomo XL.

5. La Seu dUrgell, cathedral of Santa Maria.


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document granted in 1381 by King Peter III the Ceremonious,and it unequivocally proves the continuity of the use of the termlambard as a synonym of builder until the late 14th century. Afterthat, however, the name does not reappear any further in thedocumentation of which we are aware.

These, then, are all of the documented mentions of Lambards. It should be borne in mind that in a series of othercases, much more frequently, the word Lambard serves as a simple personal surname, without any trace of Italian origins forthe individuals so named66. What we see, then, is that the term

Lombard/Lambard appears in documents either as a simpleanthroponymic complement or as a professional name. In thislatter case, it should be noted that the wordusually accompaniesa previous surname (Raimonde Nargo, lambard), despite thefact that obvious it does not always (Raimon, lambard).

The question posed here is the reason why a term like lambardis used for buildersstarting in the last quarter of the 12 thcentury andfor 200 more years, and why this happened exclusively inCatalonia, and furthermore in a single region within the country,because all mentions of it come from the dioceses of Urgell, Osona and Barcelona. If the origin of this semantic transformation shouldbe removed, as I suggest, from links to an influx of northern Italian

builderswhich never happened,where we can find the origin of this

evolution is the prime question we must ask ourselves. Answthis question should enable us to permanently close mdownward reinterpretation of the Lombard phenomenonCatalonia without leaving any loose ends.

The 12th century cathedral of La Seu dUrgell:the Italian argument

The cathedral of Santa Maria in La Seu dUrgell (fig. 5), lithe core of the interpretation that I suggest, and the indisputaItalianism of some of its architectonic elements, as we shalwill lead us to a suitable solution to the problem. We have seen Raimon de Narg, the lambard, taking charge of the phase in the construction of this church. He served as tsupervisor of the architecture, but also, as becomes clear incontract, as theoperarius or financial supervisor of theopera , thechapterhouse institution charged (among many other affawith all the remodelling and building projects.

As is known, the position ofoperarius was one of the mostimportant ones within the chapterhouse hierarchy, as controlled much of the communitys income. Two people alwheld this position in tandem for a seven-year period, jusRaimon shared the job67. This explains the length of thecontract, which does not derive from a painstaking examinaof the cathedrals construction needs, nor, in fact, does it hanything to do with the building work at all. This was simthe period during which a person could serve asoperarius . WhatRaimon is hired for in the contract, therefore, is nothing ot

than the conclusion of the cathedral within the period in whhe served as cathedraloperarius , during which he fully assumedthe hierarchical category and consideration of a canon, withbeing one (he was a layman). The construction was tocompleted within the timeframe, because Raimons successooperarius were, again, simple canons.

It has always been assumed, and it is indeed a plausiassumption, that the peculiar hiring of Raimon, exceptionaits terms, came after a period in which work on the cathedhad been halted. In fact, the process of building the cathedraLa Seu is far from being well known, despite the documentathat refers to it throughout the middle years of the 12th century.

The large building was designed to replace the old cathedrtemple built in the first half of the 11th century under thepatronage of the Bishop Ermengol (1010-1035), which m


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66 I have already mentioned the few cases in 11th century. In the 12th century Lombard is a common surname in Catalonia and in other European countas pointed by PIQUER , 2007, 118-120.67Two otheroperari named Guillem and Bernat are mentioned consecutivelbetween 1117 and 1182, in the documents from the Chapter Archive of Urthey shared their position with Raimon: C. B ARAUT, Els documents, dels anys1151-1190, de lArxiu Capitular de la Seu dUrgell,Urgellia , X (1990-1991),7-349 (docs. 1733, 1740). On this question, see also V IDAL-V ILASECA , El romnic de Biscarb , Ramon Lambard i altres beneficiaris laics del cib

canonicale, Barcelona 1998, 118-119.

6. La Seu dUrgell, Sant Pere (today Sant Miquel).


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7. La Seu dUrgell, cathedral of Santa Maria, plan. 8. La Seu dUrgell, cathedral of Santa Maria, chevet.

well have made use of the body of naves from a prior, pre-Romanesque building 68. The 11th century cathedral was part of a group of a large Episcopal group, of which one of the churchesstill remains. This was originally devoted to Saint Peter and builtin accordance with the technical developments associated withthe First Romanesque (fig. 6), which must have also beenapplied to the cathedral itself 69.

The temple of Saint Ermengol threatened ruin in the early 12th century, and another active and very famous bishop of Urgell,Bishop Ot, or Otto (1095-1122), embarked on the project of erecting a replacement cathedral, now following the technologicalcriteria of the High Romanesque. That is: replacing the petit appareil with powerful, carved ashlars, in this case using localgranite-based material in greyish ochre tones. Bishop Ot musthave had the support of the Counts of Urgell, which by then hadmoved the capital of the county further south to Balaguer, leaving La Seu dUrgell solely as the hub of Episcopal power.

The refurbishment enterprise must have begun during thelater years of Ots bishopric, as reported in a fascinating documentconserved, a kind of letter to the faithful or decree of indulgenceswhich, though it bears no date, is believed to have been written in

around 1116. This letter mentions the poor condition of the oldcathedral ( pene fracta videbatur ), and the bishop asks the faithfulfor contributions to defray the cost of building a new church inexchange for dispensations and the pardoning of sins70. Theplentifulad opera donations in the ensuing years confirm that thebishops petition was satisfactorily received.

In any event, thesead opera donations did not ensure that theconstruction on the new church would begin during Otslifetime71. Perhaps the start of construction was delayed. Whatseems to be undeniable is that the lengthy construction process wasconducted while the old cathedral was still operating, as wascommon in Middle Ages. An analysis of the existing structures

reveals that the work began on the southern wing of the transept

and on the apse, while the faade was built at a later date aindependently 72.

We are unaware of the degree of continuity between thbuilding campaigns, although bequests to the cathedraconstruction abound starting in 1130. On the other hand, thedocumentation reveals that for much of the 12th century,economic activity in the cathedral was particularly intensenatural development in a period of notable economic vigour the chapterhouse. In fact, the political and economic actionsthe bishopric at that time were quite ambitious, almosaggressive, in defence of the ecclesiastic primacy over interests of the neighbouring feudal nobility, with which disputed control of the northern lands of the county of Urge

68 Bishop Ermengol was one of the main personalities of the time in Catalcounties. He was famous as a builder, and he was sanctified shortly afterdeath (apparently after falling down from a bridge he was constructing). M. DELCOR , Ermengol, vque dUrgell et son oeuvre (1010-1035), dlHistorie lHagiographie,Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa , XX (1989),161-190; and C. B ARAUT, Les fonts documentals i hagiogrfiques medievalde la vida i miracles de sant Ermengol, bisbe dUrgell (1010-1035),Urgellia ,14 (1998-2000), 137-165.69 Since the 14th century the church of Sant Pere is devoted to saint Michaelit is leant to the Southern gallery of the 12th Century cloister. On the episcopalgroup of churches see E. C ARRERO, La Seu dUrgell, el ltimo conjunto deiglesias, Anuario de Estudios Medievales , in course of publication. I am in debtto the author for letting me read his study before published; it was really usto arrange a speech about La Seu dUrgell I gave in the university couCatedrales romnicas hispans I , in Jaca on July 2009.70 Edition of the letter in C. B ARAUT, Els documents, dels anys 1101-1150,de lArxiu Capitular de la Seu dUrgell,Urgellia , IX (1988-1989), doc. 1345.71 These legacies do seem directly related to the constructive campaigalthough this kind of donationsad opera are known not to be always linked toarchitectonic works. See R. BRANNER , Fabrica,opusand the dating of medievalmonuments,Gesta , 15 (1976/1-2), 27-30.72 On this process: J. A. A DELLet al., La catedral de la Seu dUrgell , Manresa

2000, 67-68.


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The tension between the religious and secular factions gradually rose and ultimately led to veritable open warfare that lasted many years, between the end of the 12th and the first half of the 13thcenturies. Plus, the issue of the Cathar heresy was mixed in, withwhom the main lords of the land had (at least) good relations73.

It is possible that involvement in the earliest serious clasheswith the nobility might have been behind a halt in constructionon the cathedral in 1150-1160, even though work was already quite advanced. The documents do not enable us to confirm thisimpression; however, the peculiarities of Raimon Lambardssubsequent contract in 1175 point in this direction: the urgency to finish the construction, the financial responsibilities assignedto the master builder. In fact, the work commissioned to Raimoncentred on the upper part of the building and was necessary toensure the defensive solidity of the cathedral in the event of a foreseeable attack on the city by the nobility, which wasincreasingly active in its efforts against the Churchs interests74.

Regardless, the fact is that Raimon Lambard can in no way be the initial author of the design of the new cathedral in La Seu, nor can he be the master builder in charge of the bulk of itsconstruction. Nor do we actually know whether constructionwas continued during all the middle years of the 12th century, orwhether it was conducted in fits and starts. Calculating between1120 and 1160, there are 40 years of work, a reasonable periodfor a structure the size of the Urgell cathedral and a normaltimeframe for the period we are examining. Likewise, we do notknow how many heads of construction there were (from thearchitectural standpoint) prior to Raimon Lambard.

In any event, the Urgell cathedral is quite probably the mostimportant and monumental building constructedex novoinCatalonia during the entire 12th century. It may not boast themost innovative design, nor does it have the most outstanding ornamentation, but it is clear that due to its size andmonumental ambition it is the most sweeping project within theHigh Romanesque in Catalonia. The ambition of Bishop Otand his successors is indisputable, and in no way can we see theUrgell cathedral as a discreet, forgettable building; rather, it is

the polar opposite. Nor should we forget that at that time the

county of Urgell was the second most important and politicpowerful county in Catalonia, even though it trailed far behthe county of Barcelona. Until the conquest of Lleida (114precisely by troops from Urgell and Barcelona, the Urgbishopric was the largest and most powerful one in inlaCatalonia, and the one with the most contact with thdominions of the Kingdom of Aragon, which had been underorbit of Barcelonas Count Ramon Berenguer IV since the 1130s. Therefore, it is logical that the remodelling of an anccathedral and the execution of an imposing, majestic buildinnew symbol of the Churchs power in perfect harmony withReform airs coming from Rome), is fitting in this context.

The pre-eminence of the new cathedral in Urgell within framework of Catalan High Romanesque should not come surprise if we examine the evolution of construction in Catal As has been so often repeated, the fact is that the majority of religious buildings had been erected during the 11th century building frenzy, as had the majority of cathedrals and lamonasteries. To clarify, with the imposition of the formulas oHigh Romanesque starting in the third quarter of the 11thcentury, there were few prominent institutions that did not ha first-rate, relatively new building. For this reason, with a hanof exceptions (Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Sant Pere in BeSant Pere de Galligans in Girona), the most noteworthy 1thcentury structures in Catalonia are refurbishments of pre-exibuildings, often aimed at providing sculptural decorationchurches that did not have any (or did not have enough) becaof their structural characteristics. The large portals (Ripoll, Pere de Rodes, Vic) and monumental cloisters (Cuix, Rip

Girona, Sant Cugat) are a testimony to the interests of the dOnce the counts embarked on conquering the outlying territoto the south, which had been Andalusian until then, the backbof the new territories (the Catalunya Nova) and the needcreate a new monumental network of religious buildings wrevive the Catalan architectural drive with new forms that now be regarded as characteristic of the Late Romanesque.

In La Seu dUrgell, the building enterprise did not actuaentail a renewal of the countrys architectural vernacular. design of the cathedral was in no way innovative; quitecontrary, it fit in perfectly with the forms established duringinfluential 11th century, with the natural evolution brought

about by time (fig. 7). However, it did feature the extraordinaddition of two elements that were utterly foreign to the Cattradition.


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73C. G ASCN, Crisis social, espiritualidad y hereja en la dicesis de Urgel (s XII-XIII). Los orgenes y la difusin de la hereja ctara en la antigua dicUrgel,Espacio, Tiempo y Forma. Serie III. Historia medieval , 16 (2003) 73-106.74 Indeed, the city was assaulted in 1196. The nobles army laid siege tocathedral, and when the canons finally gave up, all the furniture andornamenta were completely spoiled by the assaultants. Since the nobles were commaccused of connivance with the cathar heresy, all these events are reporwith a certain truculence by the cronicler Pierre de Vaux de Cernay; see ETRIDE V ALLIUMCERNAIIHistoria Albigensium, cap. XLVI, in MIGNE, Patrologia

Latina , 213, coll. 543-711.

9. La Seu dUrgell, cathedral of Santa Maria, relieve and corbels in northern wall.


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113

10. La Seu dUrgell, cathedral of Santa Maria, apse gallery. 11. Pavia, San Michele, apse gallery.

The cathedral is a three-naved church, the central onecovered with a barrel vault articulated with transverse arches,and narrower adjacent naves whose bays were surmounted by groined vaults. The roof was held up on thick cruciform pillarswith angular semi-columns and curious, rounded pearl drop-likedecorations on the groins. The transept is extremely commanding, covered with a barrel vault at the ends and a domeat thecroise with quadrangular lines and an octagonal cupola above it. The chevet is particularly interesting, with a deepcentral apse that culminates in a semicircular niche with noouter protrusion and four small apsidioles that open directly onto the transept. Just like the niche in the apse, these apsidioles

are embedded in the thick eastern wall (fig. 8). The outerappearance of the building is harshly orthogonal, which may beexplained by its defensive needs. Two towers surmount eitherend of the transept, although they were only raised superficially (this was one of the things Raimon Lambard was charged with),as the entire vertical design was never fully completed.

The decorative stonework is quite notable, although it doesnot go so far as to depart from the austerity that is socharacteristic of Catalan Romanesque architecture. Capitalswith plant motifs crown the semi-columns of the inner pillars,as well as the internal articulation of the main apse with the wallarranged into a succession of small, blind arcades (a common

system in the local tradition). There are also two small reliefs anda few corbels on the upper part of the central nave, holding upcornice over which the central barrel vault is placed (fig. 9).

All of this can be explained within the standardised cannonsof the world of Catalan construction during the Romanesque,which was deeply rooted in the formulations developed early inthe 11th century, and perhaps even with a certain interest inmaintaining some of the features of the former cathedral of Saint Ermengol, such as the towers75. Nothing makes thebuildings overall structure stand out from the local tradition,meaning that there is a real possibility that its first architect, orthe author of its design, was a builder well versed in the Catalan

models, which would then suggest that he was a local.

However, as mentioned above, this structure does show twelements which are foreign to local building habits and whiin contrast, are intensely recognised within the Italian traditioThese two elements are the gallery running through the centapse and upper floor of the transept, and the extremely imposiwestern faade76.

With regard to the gallery open to the apse (a columnegallery open to the outside through arcades; fig. 10), this is a vcommon solution in 12th century northern Italian architecture:cathedrals of Modena and Bergamo, San Michele di Pavia (11), San Michele della Chiusa... and it also appears in Germarchitecture, which shares a similar architectural backgrou

(Speyer, Mainz). In La Seu dUrgell, the apse gallery continalong the eastern wall of the transept but replaces the openingthe outside with a closed corridor (fig. 12). This corridor is oconnected to the outside through simple windows, while it leto the inside of the cathedral through a kind of triforium (fig. 1The solution is quite original and has no parallels in Catalon

In my opinion, this element must not have been part of thoriginal design of the chevet of the church. It is true that theis a very close relationship between the upper and lower partthe chevet, and the consistency of the eastern wall (which houthe small embedded apsidioles on the lower part, and thcorridor with the triforium on the upper) does not betray an

change in design. However, there are several elements that poto the contrary, such as the somewhat inorganic appearancethe triforium compared to the cathedrals other internal walwhich are smooth, and the difference between the elaborawindows on the upper part of the eastern end and the simplones on the lower part. A shift seen on the external wall of t

75See Th. W. L YMANLes tours de Saint-Michel de Cuxa,Les Cahiers de Saint- Michel de Cuxa , XI (1980), 276.76 Obviously, the historiography has always recognised these two Italielements: J. PUIG IC ADAFALCH, Santa Maria de la Seu dUrgell , Barcelona 1918,67-71. In fact, this has even determined an excessively Italian perception o

whole building, as pointed by A DELL

et al., 2000, 71-73.


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central apse, just below the windows (fig. 14), seems even significant to me, as it may precisely reveal a time of chanconstruction phase and thus a redesign. As is logicaacknowledge that this shift does not necessarily mean tconstruction was halted, nor does a halt in the constructinecessarily imply that the design was changed77.

The second feature in the cathedral of Urgell that comes froutside the Catalan architectural tradition is the faade (fig. It echoes the tripartite structure of the naves, with three entraportals and the surface articulated by two large overhangs inguise of enormous pilasters. The current arrangement of staggered roofs is the outcome of a restoration from the earlythcentury directed by Puig i Cadafalch, and even though it sefairly faithful there might also have been a single pitched ropossibility mentioned by Puig 78. However, it is clear that both theshape of the faade and its rich decoration follow an Italian mThe faades in San Michele of Pavia, or further south in Nicola of Bari, are always cited as parallels, and they do indisplay similar solutions. The presence of sculpture, and noton the portals (which, in fact, are discreet here), is acharacteristic of Italy, as well as the planned layout of the port(which were ultimately never built), which might be comparto the particular solution of the typical protiroin the great north-Italian cathedrals79.

The presence of the apse gallery and the Italianised faadebuilding so deeply rooted in the Catalan traditional taste sugg


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77 You can even see a subtle difference in the size of the ashlars on the part of the shift, which are larger, and in the upper part, which seem toslightly smaller. The shift does not come from any work in the modrestauration of the cathedral (although there is a modern concrete supporin other places of the wall), because it appears in ancient photos frombeginnings of 20th century. However, I have to admit that only this shift cannoprove a change in the construction project.78 PUIG I C ADAFALCH, 1918, 68, 71. On the other hand, the addition of a structure over the Northern collateral is aimed to reinforcing the supportthe central naves barrel vault. Puig i Cadafalch thought this structure had added in the same 12th century (pp. 62, 69), but nowadays it is considered later addition from 16th or 17th century: A DELLet al., 2000, 84-85.79 Maybe three porches (three protiri)were foreseen, a solution we can find,for example, in the cathedral of Piacenza. On the lombard protiri : F.G ANDOLFO, La faade romane et ses rapports avec le protiro, latriumet lequadriportico,Cahiers de Civilisation Mdivale , XXXIV (1991/3-4), 309-319.

12. La Seu dUrgell, cathedral of Santa Maria, plan at stage.

13. La Seu dUrgell, cathedral of Santa Maria, triforium.

14. La Seu dUrgell, cathedral of Santa Maria, shift in wall on the apse.

15. La Seu dUrgell, cathedral of Santa Maria, faade.


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some kind of foreign intervention in the construction of thecathedral, an intervention which would reformulate some parts of the original design in an extremely intelligent way. It seemsreasonable to link these two unique elements, which lack in eitherprecedents or parallels in Catalonia (and in its neighbouring lands,Occitan or Spanish), to the contribution of an Italian masterbuilder or workshop. In the case of the faade, the fact that it wasbegun independently from the main body of naves and then

connected via the lateral walls reinforces this impression evenfurther. The presence of a certain desire for chromaticcombination in some areas, where rows of reddish ashlars alternatewith the ochre of the usual granite rock, may also verge on Italiantaste80. It is meaningful that the presence of colour is limited tothe western faade (but, rarely, only in its northern side). Thepanel of wall where the red rows suddenly end is clearly visible;the body of naves (built from east to west, as is usual) and thefaade built independently would have been joined there81.

There is a final aspect of relation with the Italian world that Iwould like to stress: the sculpture in the cathedral. Generally speaking, scholars tend to link it with sculpture from Toulouse,

although it also acknowledges contributions from Roussillontradition and more occasional features that connect it withnorthern Italy 82. This preferently Tolosan interpretation revolvesprimarily around the sculpture in the cloister, where 51 originalcapitals remain, although it also takes account of the buildingssculpture located on the portals, on various parts of the westernfaade, in the apse gallery and in some elements of the interior.

I have no intention to refute the connections with Toulouseand Roussillon, although I do think that the first one has beenslightly overstate. However, I wish to underscore the elementswith Italian origins, which tend to be undervalued in theanalyses, perhaps because they are mainly found in the less

visible sculptures. Despite this, the cloister is the home to one

of the sculptural elements most directly related to Italy, as PBeseran has convincingly studied, namely one of the capitalsthe southern gallery, usually classified as number 7 (fig. 16). the corners, this capital shows four nude human figures wtheir backs to the viewers, their heads in profile, wearing lohair that ends in a middle plait; the men have their arms raisand are holding a strange, knotted implement in their handwhich is difficult to interpret. Beseran relates the image with

of the interior capitals in San Zeno of Verona, which has beattributed to Niccol, where similar figures jut out, well-securfrom a ca

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