Romanesque Capital

Before we left Clermont-Ferrand this morning, I went back to the Basilica of Notre Dame du Port (12th century) with my 70-200 mm lens to take better pictures of some of the sculptured capitals (mostly at the top of high interior columns) than I'd managed yesterday. They are among the best Romanesques sculptures that I've ever seen.

Here is one of the few capitals for which I'm able to pull the allegorical story from our Michelin guide. It shows Charity, in chain mail, shield to shield with a long-haired chap who represents Avarice: Virtue vs. Depravity. Also visible are a couple of the weird creatures that otherwise populate these images. For my blip of the back of the church, see here.

Afterward we headed south, stopping at two other major Romanesque churches, in Issoire and in Brioude-- the latter especially was every bit as wonderful as Notre Dame du Port. We're spending the night in Le Puy-en-Velay, before starting a week in the Camargue (near Arles) on Saturday.