VISUAL THEOLOGY

Architectural Frieze, second quarter of 12th century French; Possibly from the abbey church at Cluny,Burgundy Limestone (29.2 x 55.9 x 22.2 cm), The Cloisters Collection, Metropolitan Museun of Art (New YOrk) ■ This elaborate frieze, which combines rosettes and a cityscape, is thought to have decorated the third abbey church at Cluny, the largest ecclesiastic building of its time in western Europe. As rulers of large estates, the Benedictine abbots of Cluny wielded considerable power in medieval France. The target of iconoclasm, the Cluny abbey church was almost entirely destroyed during the French Revolution.