The church of Notre-Dame la Grande at Poitiers, in the Vienne region, is one of the most famous Romanesque monuments of Poitou-Charentes. Documented as early as the 10th century, it combined the functions of a parish church (for the residents of the parish) and a collegiate church (served by the clergy and the canons). It was rebuilt from 1030 to 1080. Its design and its stone cover are examples of the new religious architecture that developed in the 11th century.

Built above a crypt, the choir was built on an innovative design : it is surrounded by a deambulatory (a half-circular hall) which gives out onto three chapels. This created space for more altars, thereby making additional room for the prayer services of the canons, for whom the space was reserved.


The nave, which welcomed the parishioners, had to be well-structured. While building it, the constructors decided to create a vault. They covered the central nave with a barrel vault arch and side cross-vaults that nearly rise to the same heigth. This type of covering, which became often used in Poitou, created a reciprocal counter-buttressing of the vaults.


The main decor of the 11th century church, the religious message, was then painted. Created in the second half of the century, the paintings subsist in the crypt and on the choir’s vault, representing the Virgin with Child, Christ in Glory, the Lamb and the apostles. The paintings in the nave date back to the 19th century.

Decorative sculptures adorn the capitals of the pillars. They are inspired by Antiquity (Corinthian capitals) in the choir, and evolve into original plant motifs in the nave. Among the rare figurative capitals, a remarkable sculpture depicting the Ascent of Christ is the oldest historiated capital of the Poitou region.


The current facade was created from 1115 to 1130, following the extension of the nave to the west. It displays a remarkable sculpted ensemble, which testifies to the developments in sculpture in the 12th century. The sculpted scenes, which are exceptional due to their great number and quality, are an affirmation of the Christian faith and prominently display religious scenes. The most famous sculpture is a frieze on the ground level that illustrates the story of the Incarnation, from Adam and Eve to the Childhood of Christ.

Attested to as early as the 6th century, the church of Saint-Eutrope at Saintes, in the Charente-Maritime region, was built around the tomb of Saint-Eutropius. According to legend, this saint was the first bishop of Saintes, and the evangelizer of Saintonge. In the late 11th century, the monks from the Abbey of Cluny rebuilt a bigger church on an atypical design : with a long nave, a transept and a deep choir built on a vast crypt that took in the relics of the saint in 1096. This Romanesque church was often rebuilt and mutilated during the following centuries. In the areas that remain today (the crypt, the choir and the transept), remarkable sculpted capitals bear testimony to the developments in Romanesque sculpture in the late 11th and early 12th century.


The capitals in the crypt and the choir were created in the late 11th century. Those in the crypt, numbering 53, are decorated with plant motifs. The Romanesque artists sculpted small palm trees, acanthi and foliage. Foliage often embellishes the corners and spreads out symmetrically over the corbel. These motifs originate from the decorative repertory of Antiquity. Some bring to mind the sculptures of the Roman buildings that were preserved in Saintes. The old choir displays capitals similar to those in the crypt, except for the three capitals decorated with sirens, lions and griffins, whose style is linked to the sculptures of Poitou.


The transept was created a few years after the crypt and the choir was built in the early 12th century. The sculptors were very innovative here, creating new figures that appeared at this time in other art forms, notably in the illuminations of manuscripts. They adorned the capitals with figures of men, animals and plants, mixing them together and juxtaposing them. Two capitals illustrate religious scenes : the Weighing of the Souls and Daniel in the Lions’ Pit. This was a great novelty in Saintonge. The capitals of the transept were the basis of an artistic development - also on display nearby, at the Abbey of the Ladies in Saintes – that spread throughout Saintonge and beyond. It illustrates the important developments that Romanesque sculpture underwent in the early 12th century.

The church of Saint-Pierre at Aulnay, in the Charente-Maritime region, was built in the early 12th century. Along with the church of Notre-Dame-la-Grande in Poitiers and the cathedral of Angoulême, it is one of the monuments of Poitou-Charentes where Romanesque sculpture is the most complete.


The church of Saint-Pierre, commissioned by the monks of the cathedral of Poitiers, displays exceptional qualities : a balanced architecture, sculptures of a great quality, preserved in their near totality, and an ambitious religious program. Using the innovative sculptures from the church of Saint-Eutrope in Saintes, the artists at Aulnay perfected the technique and created a profusion of sculptures all over the monument, inside as well as out. Sculptures can be seen on the facade, the portals, the bays and cornices…These stone images consequently became the primary medium for communicating the religious message.


These rich decorations were created by three teams of sculptors. One of them worked on the apse, in the transept, as well as on the south portal. The four scrolls on this portal are adorned with animals and foliage, with the Old Men of the Apocalypse, with saints and a procession of real and imaginary animals depicted with verve in a lively manner. In the transept, many historiated capitals represent Adam and Eve, Caïn and Abel, Samson and Dalila…


The capitals in the nave are the work of a second team. These capitals are adorned with animals, plant motifs and human masks. The motifs are often organized symmetrically to create a balanced and simplified composition that is easy to decipher.


The decor of the west facade was created by a third team, whose style is characterized by elegant, willowy figures, and large-scale sculptures with pronounced reliefs that follow the curves of the scrolls. The portal’s arch displays illustrations of the Lamb surrounded by angels, the battle between Vice and Virtue, the Wise and the Foolish Virgins and the zodiac. This portal is flanked by two blind arcades with sculpted spandrels. The crucifixion of Saint Peter is depicted on the one on the left.


The extensive influence of the sculpture at Aulnay is particularly visible in Saintonge, as attested by the churches of Chadenac and Fenioux, and in the neighboring areas.

The 11th century church of the old abbey of Saint-Savin, in the Vienne region, is one of the greatest Benedictine monasteries of Poitou. It is decorated with mural paintings that have become famous since their discovery by Prosper Mérimée in the 1830s. Registered on the first list of Historical Monuments in 1840, this major edifice of the Poitou-Charentes region was named the « Sistine Chapel of the Romanesque World » by André Malraux. It has been listed a World Heritage Site since 1983.


This collection of paintings is one of the biggest in Europe, for the Romanesque period. These paintings are the work of a single team of painters, who worked here around 1100AD, soon after the church was completed.


The paintings cover the bell-tower porch, the nave, the choir and the crypt. While they embellish the
« House of God », they mainly served to accompany the monks in prayer and processions.


Scenes from the Apocalypse are depicted on the bell-tower porch, on the ground floor. Above, scenes from the Passion and the Resurrection of Christ are depicted. The legendary lives of Saint Savin and Saint Cyprian are illustrated in the crypt.


The most developed program is seen on the nave, which is more than 17 m high. It unfolds over the entire vault, on a surface area of 460 m². Except for some rare genre paintings and decorative elements (trees), it illustrates the most important stories of Genesis and the Exodus, the first books of the Bible : Adam and Eve, Caïn and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses...


The paintings on the vault are organized into five longitudinal friezes. A decorative central strip is surrounded on both sides by two overlapping, historiated friezes, each 2.5 m wide. So most of the figures are represented as bigger than they actually are.


This program is linked to the liturgy (for some authors, it is linked to the liturgy of Easter). Thus, the order of the scenes does not always follow the Biblical order.