La Traditio legis de Berzé-la-Ville : Entre tradition et innovation

The iconographic theme Traditio legis et clavium, of early Christian origin has been reused and transformed during the Romanesque period according to the historical context of the end of 11^th and the first half of 12^th century. Wall painting in the apse of the chapel of Berzé-la-Ville, showing the Traditio legis et clavium, reflects Cluniac ecclesiology, probably in the relation with the Investiture conflict. In this article the author gives a synthesis of early Christian and Carolingian models, which were readapted according to the preoccupation of the time and the place. The French examples (Arles, Nevers, Andlau, Saint-Gilles de Montoire) as well as the Italian ones (Rome, Milano, Pavia, Civate, Farfa, Castel S. Elia, Tivoli) are all found in places touched by the reform of the church.