Note 274 — Chapter IX · The Gothic Art of Burgundy[267]

The church of Notre Dame built in Cluny by St. Hugues was burned in 1233, and immediately reconstructed as Burgundian Gothic; the lower walls and some of the capitals are of St. Hugues’ time. Consoles, sculptured with heads, such as those under the lantern, are frequent in the province, but a central tower is exceptional. In the XVIII century the narthex was destroyed. St. Marcel’s church was rebuilt after a fire in 1159 by the abbot of Cluny, who was a great-nephew of William the Conqueror. The octagonal tower, capped by a XIII-century spire, is of exceptionally lovely proportions. Congrès Archéologique, 1913, p. 68. St. Hugues also founded the Charité-sur-Loire, whose church was dedicated by his pupil. Paschal II, in 1107, at which ceremony assisted Suger, then a monk at St. Denis. Only the transept and absidioles are of that time, for the choir, nave, and tower are Burgundian Romanesque of the second half of the XII century; the Lady chapel rose two centuries later. Once the abbatial was four hundred feet long, but a fire, in 1559, damaged it and only four bays of the nave remain. Congrès Archéologique, 1913, p. 374, Louis Serbat; André Philippe, “Charité-sur-Loire,” in Bulletin Monumental, 1905, vol. 69, p. 469.