Aosta · Italy
Sant'Orso Cloister
Forty capitals, and a story upon each. This Romanesque cloister is a carved library: the Bible on one side, the life of Saint Orso on the other, and between them monsters, animals, scenes of labour and the faces of ordinary people. In the twelfth century almost nobody could read, and stone performed the office of the book. The canons proceeded round and round here, one capital after another, and every circuit was a revision. Observe closely: the carvers enjoyed themselves. Among the saints are hidden musicians, acrobats and beasts that never existed.
Go deeper
Why the capitals?
Because they sit at the eye level of someone walking. A capital is the part of a cloister you look at without raising your head: the ideal place for a story told in instalments.
Are they all original?
No. The cloister was reworked over the centuries and some capitals are later or remade. The Romanesque core is still clearly recognisable by style and material.
What should I look for first?
The faces. Before the sacred scenes, look for the faces: medieval carvers gave precise expressions, and it is at once evident who is speaking, who is listening and who is bored.
Where it is
More stories in Aosta
- Adret and envers
- When the railway arrived
- Arch of Augustus
- Regional Archaeological Museum
- The villages the city swallowed
- The Battle of the Queens
- Aosta Cathedral
- Church of Santo Stefano