L'influence antique dans l'art roman : le tympan de Saint-Ursin de Bourges

Continuing studies previously published in this journal, the article underscores the influence of Late Antique sarcophagi, specifically those with hunting episodes, on Romanesque sculpture and analyzes the Medieval tympanum of the Church of Saint Ursinus (end llth, beginning 12th century) at Bourges, which is related to an antique sarcophagus used to bury Saint Ludre at Deols, located near Bourges. There is an even greater similarity to the hunt sarcophagus from Trinquetaille at Arles, and an example like that must have existed at Bourges, inspiring the artist. The fact that the scene copies a 4th-century sarcophagus removes all immediacy from this image of "contemporary life", but a correspondence of ideals and life style linked the two periods.