A wonderfully inaccurate and idealized miniature in the late fifteenth-century Burgundy Chronicle which shows the entry of Bernard and his companions to Clairvaux on 15 June 1115. Behind a nimbed Bernard carrying a gold crozier and an absurdly large group of monks, all in white tunics and black scapulars with gold borders, is an enormous edifice, reminiscent more of the church that was finally built there, or, with its four huge towers, perhaps even more of the sumptuous church at Cluny, than the modest wooden buildings that would have been there upon their arrival. The church has been identified as having been modelled on that of St Servaas in Maastricht. The text below is the beginning of a brief biography of Bernard recording his Burgundian origin. This is surrounded by flowers, a bird, and a butterfly on a gold background.
|