The Architecture and Sculpture of the Donjon Atelier

Alici Remini
Department of Art
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

My PhD dissertation will address the sculpturally-embellished architectural features of a number of early twelfth-century churches on either side of the lower Loire in the eastern Allier and Saône-et-Loire department of Burgundy. These monuments are linked by their decorative carving which was completed by the Donjon Atelier ― the name deriving from the workshop's major extant monument, the village church of Neuilly-en-Donjon.

While my interest lies primarily in the monuments located in the Allier, the workshop's Burgundian production is important due to its chronological precedence, thus inferring that the sculptor/builders were trained in Burgundy and were later summoned to the Allier. Herein lies the motivating factor for my study:

WHY was this atelier brought to eastern Allier to work on numerous monuments at this time? Until the twelfth century, the region possessed only primitive architectural structures and no sculpture. What conditions prompted or promoted this growth in “monumentalization?” An important goal of my research is to provide an answer to this puzzling question. Therefore, in addition to traditional art historical methodologies, I will utilize the anthropology-based methodology of “landscape history” whose goal is to study the “human use of space” in a specifically delineated area over time. This approach seeks to de-emphasize the importance given to political and, particularly, economic analyses, which often ignore cultural and geographical factors in the human condition. Instead, anthropologists seek a more balanced view of life in the past and view the natural environment as a dynamic and equal partner in its relationship with human populations and their constructed environments. I will employ this approach in my analysis of the conditions of life and the state of architecture in the Allier before the arrival of the Donjon Atelier in the early twelfth century.

My study will also include both an investigation of the architectural achievements of the atelier as well as an analysis of the sculpture in its architectural setting. Moreover, in addition to a stylistic, compositional, and iconographic analysis of the carving, I will present some thoughts on the contribution of the atelier to the growing emphasis on narration in Romanesque sculpture. In my concluding remarks, I shall address the workshop's place in art history.

Sites in Burgundy and Allier: Vezelay and Autun, Anzy-le-Duc, Neuilly-en-Donjon, Maringny, Semur-en-Brionnais, Paray-le-Monial.

Map of Alliers

Romanesque and Gothic France -- Presentation of representative churches, image bank of structural and decorative motifs, glossary of essential terms.

Glossary of Medieval Art and Architecture
Images of Medieval Art and Architecture in France