“Merovingian and Early Carolingian Art”: The Crypt of the Abbey of Saint Paul, Part 1: The Sarcophagus of Agilbert

The mausoleum, and now crypt, of the Abbey of Saint Paul in Jouarre permits a plotting of three points along the transition from Merovingian to Carolingian art. 

The construction of the chamber itself offers compelling material for a discussion of reuse and imitation.  It has spoliated and original capitals and displays a sort of opus reticulatum on one wall.  But I focused in this class on the tombs.

We began with the sarcophagus of Agilbert.  Agilbert, bishop of Wessex and then of Paris, offers a point of communication between the Anglo-Saxons and the Merovingians, like the Merovingian coins in the Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, and thereby demonstrates the interconnectedness of various regions and the potential for cross-cultural exchange.  

The death of Agilbert in the 680s establishes his sarcophagus as a product of the late seventh century.  The main, long side displays a Last Judgment.  Simply discerning the detail, such as the scroll in Christ’s left hand or the angels on either end, requires some time. 

We also read together the New Testament sources for the imagining of the Last Judgment, especially Matthew 25.

The short side displays a Christ in Majesty. We re-read here the visions of Ezekiel (1.10) and John (Revelation 4.7); reviewed the Evangelist symbols that we had already encountered in class- in the Chapel of San Venanzio, the Codex Amiatinus, and the Book of Durrow; and then examined the Ascension in the Rabbula Gospels.  With this tour, I wanted to make the point that context and function determine the meaning of these four beasts.  In a Gospel book, they signify the harmony of the four Gospels.  In a depiction of the Ascension, they refer to the Second Coming of Christ, through the words of the two men in white in the Book of Acts:  ”Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come as you have seen him going into heaven” (1.11).  On the sarcophagus of Agilbert, adjacent to the Last Judgment and in a funerary context, the four beasts actually show Christ in Majesty at his Second Coming. 

The site of the Jouarre Office of Tourism has a promotional video with some nice footage of the crypt.  The website of the Abbey presents an account of its history.  For good images, however, one must turn to publications, and Europe of the Invasions offers the most complete set.