The Atlants of Semur-en-Brionnais: Romanesque Transformations of Antique Motifs and the Battle against Heresy

The lintel of the west portal of the church of Saint-Hilaire in Semur-en-Brionnais presents a rare depiction of Saint Hilary of Poitiers and his battle against the heretic Pope Leo. Adjacent to the lintel are sculpted two images of atlants, presenting a unique combination of motifs associating them with the vice of luxuria. The article contends that the images of the Semur atlants play a meaningful role in the program of the portal and in its preoccupation with the struggle of the Church against heresy. The Semur atlants are thus studied as an example of the strategies of visual polemics against heretics practiced by the church. These strategies are compared to contemporary textual polemics, in order to discern both similarities and divergences. Furthermore, the article claims that these images reveal a profound understanding of the antique traditions and divergent meanings of the motif of the atlant. They thus exemplify the transformations of the atlant in medieval art and serve here to study the diverse ways in which classical motifs were adapted into the art of the Middle Ages.