AVIGNON

. The Roman city of Avenio seemed destined to mediocrity before the arrival in France of the papal court in the early 14th century. Thereafter, however, it grew to be the leading city of the Vaucluse and one of the richest of France. Its prosperity in the late Middle Ages is attested even today by its impressive, well-preserved ramparts (over two miles long), its many churches and chapels, but espe

Avignon (Vaucluse), Papal Palace. Photograph courtesy of Karen Gould.

Cially by the enormous papal palace. The bridge of Saint-Benezet, celebrated in song, was constructed between 1177 and 1185, rebuilt in the 13th century, but later largely destroyed by flooding. Only four spans of the original twenty-two remain.

The Palais des Papes is actually two palaces around a large courtyard. With its high walls with arcades, its turreted entrance, and its large rectangular towers at either end (the eight-storied Tour de Trouillas and Tour des Anges), the palace is more a fortress than a residence. It is indeed an excellent example of 14th-century military architecture. The large but austere Palais Vieux was begun in 1335 by Pierre Poisson for Pope Benedict XII. Centered on its cloister, the first floor includes the butlery, the consistory, garderobe, treasury, library, and several chapels. Of particular interest are the superposed chapels of Saint-Jean and Saint-Martial, which were decorated with frescoes of court life by Matteo di Giovanetti da Viterbo for Clement VI. Other frescoes by Giovanetti are preserved in the Chambre du Cerf and Salle de la Grande Audience in the Palais Neuf. The upper floor of the Palais Vieux includes the major reception rooms as well as the private apartments of the popes.

The sumptuous L-shaped Palais Neuf, begun in 1345 by Jean de Loubiere for Pope Clement VI, communicates directly with the Palais Vieux. It includes large reception rooms as well as apartments for visiting dignitaries. The elegant Chapelle Clementine, reached by the Grand Staircase, was reserved for special ceremonies. Its nave is 50 feet wide, but its vaults reach only 621/2 feet, because it was constructed over the Salle de la Grande Audience and its roof could not extend beyond that of the other build-ings in the complex. After the departure of the papacy in the late 14th century, the palace fell into disrepair and was eventually used as a prison—a use that saved it from destruction in the Revolution.

Churches in Avignon include Saint-Agricol (14th-16th c.), with a Flamboyant portal whose tympanum depicts the Incarnation; Saint-Didier (1325), with a magnificent altar frontal by Frangois Laurana (15th c.) depicting Christ carrying the Cross; Saint-Pierre, rebuilt after 1358; the late 14th-century convent of the Celestines; and the chapel of Saint-Nicolas. But the most important medieval church is the Romanesque Notre-Dame-des-Doms. It consists of a nave of five aisleless bays with four western ones vaulted by pointed barrel vaults strengthened by double transverse arches and the eastern bay capped by a cupola supported by eight relieving arches. The east end consisted originally of a semicircular apse but was altered by the addition of one bay plus a polygonal apse in the 17th century. The eastern cupola is enclosed in an octagonal lantern.

The west end of Notre-Dame-des-Doms consists of a low chamber with a squarish higher room above, which is crowned by a cupola on squinches. This whole narthex has a four-storied bell tower rising above the cupola. A porch with engaged half-columns supporting a classical entablature was added to the narthex. This last element can be found on numerous Provengal churches. However, the narthex with bell tower is not typically Provengal.

The nave displays wide bays, partially obstructed by additions to the piers to support a 17th-century balcony. From this balcony, one can clearly see the colonnettes, capitals, and impost blocks that animate the outer responds and visually support the floral cornice, which runs the length of the nave. The ornament of the nave and the exterior of the lantern are strongly related to that of Roman monuments. According to Alan Borg, Notre-Dame-des-Doms was constructed in the late 11th century.

Besides the ornamental sculpture of Notre-Dame-des-Doms, there is the Episcopal Throne in the nave and fine marble capitals from the destroyed cloister, both historiated and floral, which are now in the Musee des Beaux Arts in Avignon, as well as in museums in Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Lyon, Cambridge, New York, and Philadelphia. Like Arles, this cloister has ornamented capitals on the garden side and mostly historiated ones on the gallery side. The cloister was created in the late 1150s.

Whitney S. Stoddard

[See also: AVIGNON PAPACY; CLEMENT VI]

Borg, Alan. Architectural Sculpture in Romanesque Provence. Oxford: Clarendon, 1972.

Labande, Leon-Honore. “L’eglise Notre-Dame-des-Doms d’Avignon.” Bulletin archeologique du Comite des TravauxHistoriques et Scientifiques (1906):282-365.

--. “Guide archeologique du congres d’Avignon.” Congres archeologique (1909).