In a compelling book that explores the intermediality of dance and medieval poetry, Seeta Chaganti introduces the term ‘virtuality’ of dance: ‘a trajectory of energy born of body and muscle but also traced outside its material realm’ (Chaganti 2018, 7). What is meant by this word is the lingering after-images of have-been body positions as the performer moves through space, leaving immaterial species of gestures and positions. These kinetic sequences (‘sparkler lights’) are like ‘radiant skins’ or shimmering ghost images left in the air/void; they shape a certain virtual reality of the dance: a force that is both perceptible, yet intangible. Memory stiches these sequences in order to envision the choreography of the dance (Chaganti 2018, 6–13, 20, 118). Changanti’s term ‘virtuality’ draws attention to the ephemeral, ‘sparkler-lights’ effects that make perceptible an invisible energy that underscores movement. This study will explore this virtuality, linking it to the invisible force of the Holy Spirit and the way its presence was marked by the sign of a circle (choros) with a cross inside.

Vis (force) and virtus stand at the root of the neulogism 'virtuality.' In Latin texts, virtus designates the vivifying energy of Pneuma. As vitality stemming from eternity, it imbues matter with life (Cox-Miller 2009; Pentcheva 2010, 2016; Bynum 2011; Hahn 2012). Virtus transforms the corruptible into inviolate (Baschet, Bonne, and Dittmar 2012, 77–90). And unlike the modern equation of the material with the real, the medieval Christian ‘real’ is truth, and truth is virtus: the energy of life ensuring eternity and salvation. Virtus inspirits matter (Pentcheva 2016). Hugh of St. Victor wrote to this end:

In its [the Holy Spirit’s] revolutions we can detect its revered hidden force of life, which nourishes the universe invisibly and makes it grow and singularly brings everything to its certain, legitimate end. Indeed, this is the Spirit, whose hidden nature illuminates all.

[Et in circulos suos reverentem ocultam naturae vim accipere possumus, quae universa invisibiliter nutrit et vegetat, et unumquodque ad certum finem legitimumque terminum perducit. Hic ergo spiritus, id est, occulta naturae vis omnia lustrat.] (Hugh of St. Victor, In Salomonis Ecclesiasten, Homily II, in PL 175: col. 137A; trans. mine; see Baschet, Bonne, and Dittmar 2012, 43–97, esp. 84; Bonne 2012)

The Spirit brings vitality and exhibits a circular motility. Its energy––virtus––resurrects. The saints perform miracles and heal by connecting to virtus and becoming its conduits. They resurrect through the vivifying breath of the Spirit: vitales aures (exhalations filled with life force) (See examples in the Book of Miracles of Sainte Foy (Liber Miraculorum, henceforth LM); Robertini 1994, 100, 194, 210, 219, 227, LM I.7; III.8; III.20; IV.1; IV.4; Pentcheva 2023d). Access to virtus can be designated visually by the sign ⊗ and by the chiastic step. Salvation is about re-formare, returning to the original uncorruptible and inspirited body; being signed by the cross; and being propelled into a circular motility (choros).

This analysis does not approach dance literally as a choreography of moving bodies in space but uncovers how the circular motility and the in-spiriting by the cross (and blessing gesture) are forms through which resurrection and salvation are envisioned and desired. Several case studies are brought together: the crown on the gold-revetted statue of Sainte Foy as an example of the sign ⊗; a variation of it appears in the diagram of the gradual for the Abbey of Saint-Michel at Gaillac near Albi, France (BnF MS Lat. 776, fol. 1v) It envisions the ideal ceaseless celestial liturgy in the revolving choros of the celestial music, reflected imperfectly on earth in human chant. The diagram shows a circle enclosing two rotated crosses. The cross and the X marking Christ’s suffering are then explored in the cross-step at the sculptures and the Beatus manuscript at the cloister of Santo Domingo de Silos.

While at first glance, Conques, Gaillac, and Silos do not seem to have a connection, there are linkages between them. A chant from the newly designed liturgy of Sainte Foy––the prosa Candida tu quia ––copied on the fol. 3r of BnF MS Lat. 776 attests to the direct channel of communication between Conques and the monastery of Saint-Michel at Gaillac (Pentcheva, 2021, 339–42). Conques was also invested in the Christian expansion into the Iberian Peninsula in the last two decades of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries, contemporary with the carving of the chiastic figures at Santo Domingo de Silos. The monastery of Sainte Foy was one of the foundations that exported monks for important positions, for instance, Pierre d’Andouque who became the bishop of Pamplona (1083–1115) (Giunta 2017, 224–25, 228, 233, 235, 249–50, 255). Artists from Conques also left their mark on Romanesque architecture and relief sculpture at Santiago. Some of the reliefs of the South portal were carved by the same artist who did historiated capitals in the interior and the West façade at Conques (Bousquet 1973; Durliat 1990; Williams 2008; Castiñeiras 2010; Le Deschault de Mondredon 2015; Walker 2016, 315–16, 320; Pentcheva 2023b). Similarly, while Silos does not have a direct connection to Conques, the hybridity of its art betrays the traces of the liturgy and art north of the Pyrenees intermixed with the local Mozarabic tradition.Footnote 1 The very element—the cross-step—is a feature of Occitania’s Romanesque wave that swept through Hispania; and this chiastic step is in the Silos Beatus (BL Add. MS 11695, fol. 2r, dated to 1109; see Schapiro [1939a] 1993; Williams 2002).

Choros and cross

Dance and chant are related. From antiquity, they form two conjoined activates: human action (song and dance) and divine reaction (the pouring of grace). It is in the human action of circumambulating the altar with song and dance that divinity acquires a presence, reflected in the mirror of human performance (Lonsdale 1994–1995; Calame 1997; Kurke 2007; Miller 1986; Isar 2006, 2011; Pentcheva 2017, 45–56, 155–82; Dickason 2021). The Greek word choros captures this meaning and identifies simultaneously all three aspects: dance, chant, and the performance space. The pagan understanding of choros translates successfully into a Christian idiom as the stage of liturgical action (the ambo–a raised platform for recitation and chant–set in the nave). This is, for instance, the space underneath the dome in Hagia Sophia, named kallichoros (the beautiful stage) and the ambo–a raised platform for recitation and chant–set on the ground floor under the Eastern edge of the cupola. Choros is also the chant sonified from the ambo that pulls humanity to ascend and to unite albeit temporally with the divine in the course of the liturgical ritual (Descriptio S. Sophiae, ll. 546, 902, in Paul the Silentiary sixth century a, Friedländer 1969; Descriptio ambonis, ll. 26–32, in Paul the Silentiary sixth century b, Friedländer 1969; Pentcheva 2017, 18–44, 146–47). In the course of the development of the Christian ritual, the dance aspect was strongly opposed, while choral chant was smoothly integrated into the new religion (Dickason 2021). But the vision of the harmonious rhythmical dance of the stars and Creation singing praise to the Lord continued to inspire visions of Salvation as a ceaseless round dance (choros). Pseudo-Dionysius describes the round dance and song performed around the majesty of the Lord in the centre (De coelesti hierarchia 7:4, in Pseudo-Dionysius, 1987; Pentcheva 2017, 39–44, 85–93; Pentcheva 2022).

The spiritual ascent and fusion with the divine engendered by circumambulation and chant are distilled in a sign: ⊗, a circle enclosing an X. This is the symbol of inspiriting. It is frequently imprinted on the Eucharist bread; it marked the apex of the sixth-century dome set over the kallichoros in Hagia Sophia (fig. 1) (Pentcheva 2010; Pentcheva 2017, 39–44, 85–93; Pentcheva 2022). The ⊗ also found its way into Western medieval art as well. It is lurking in the quincunx compositions of mosaic floor design; in the crossing of the basilica, and in the shape of the crown worn by many saints (Pentcheva 2020a, 2016). The late ninth-century corona on the golden statue of Sainte Foy offers an example (See Pentcheva 2023a, 2023b; Taralon 1978, 17–18; Taralon and Taralon-Carlini 1997, 59–73). Its circular base supports two arches that rise and intersect to form the apex (fig. 2). The ⊗ is then repeated in numerous ways in the decorative design on the diadem: in the quincunx arrangement of the gems in the rim; in the enamel roundels that enclose white and red flowers, whose petals form crosses (fig. 3) (Robertini 1994, 81, LM I.1; Pentcheva 2023d). The corona traces in space the blessing gesture and thus it creates sacred space (locus). Locus (or topos in Greek) is understood as matter which channels spirit (Méhu 2007; Della Dora 2016; Pentcheva 2016, 216–25, 232–36).

Figure 1
figure 1

Rotation of crosses enclosed in a circle, mosaic in the apex of the groin vaults of Hagia Sophia, sixth century (Photograph: Bissera V. Pentcheva)

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Figure 2
figure 2

Crown of the Golden Image of Sainte-Foy (late ninth or early tenth century). Gold, enamel, pearls, and gemstones. Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy at Conques, France (Photograph: Miguel Novelo)

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Figure 3
figure 3

Detail showing the ⊗ in enamel flowers/stars on the Crown of the Golden Image of Sainte-Foy (late ninth or early tenth century). Gold, enamel, pearls, and gemstones. Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy at Conques, France (Photograph: Miguel Novelo)

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The crown simultaneously sanctifies and gathers. What it brings together is the presence of Spirit and of Christ. The ⊗ marks this ascent to and partaking in the divine. This is why the glorified saints acquire the crown. This diadem, a celestial gift, celebrates their fusion with Christ. There is only one corona and it is Christ. All saints wear it, meaning they are Christo-mimetic in their martyrdom and sacrifice. They partake in the celestial round dance at their glorification; the circular motility of their choros is repeated in the round shape of the crown. Every once in a while, the word corona gets an orthography of chorona in the manuscript transmitting the Office (BnF MS Nouv. Acq. Lat. 443); this further signals the connection between the diadem and the dance (choros) (Pentcheva 2023a,  2023c, 2023d; Dickason 2021, 19–20). Written as chorona, the initial ch[χ]- elicits the first letter of Christ (Χ of Χριστός) and thus sonically and orthographically draws the allusion between crown, choros and Christo-mimesis.

The saints’ faces reflect Christ and their relics transmit the energy/virtus of the Spirit. The corona is a synecdoche for the glorified body––corpus spiritale (I Corinthians 15:45); the saints receive it at their beatification. In the Office of Sainte Foy there is a purposeful ascent pursued in the melodies to which the word c[h]orona is set: at the beginning of the Office it starts low at E but by the end, the notes to which this word is sung raise an octave above to e (Pentcheva 2023a, 64–67). And similarly, the crown is linked to the choros. Already the first responsory for vespers at Conques celebrates the ascent of Sainte Foy to heaven and the angelic choirs, which swirl around her in a chorea and greet her with ‘Alleluia’ (Pentcheva 2023b):

1a Brighter than the lily,

1b o nourisher and holy mistress, Fides,

2a glittering in your purple dress among the gathering of the martyrs,

2b you shine like a star, rising from the Titans’ eastern wave.

3a New, in the choir of virgins, [you] sing melodiously in the heavens,

3b as the bride of the immaculate lamb, who rules in the celestial courts.

4 In whom the choirs of virgins exult with their concordant praise ‘Alleluia.’ (BnF MS Nouv. Acq. Lat. 443, fol. 1v and MS Lat. 776, fol. 2r; trans. mine.)

Sainte Foy appears in resplendent light, brighter than the lily and radiant in her purple tunic. She is celebrated as she rises like a star to heaven. Here the celestial choirs gather around her to welcome her with the praise: ‘Alleluia’ (Pentcheva 2023d, 136–48; Pentcheva 2023c). The angelic choreia defines both the song and the circular choreography of the angelic motility. And this heavenly reception of song and dance is then visually linked to the crown (corona, chorona) that will be placed on the head of Sainte Foy. The word chorona is introduced immediately after the prosa in the antiphon to the Magnificat and then again in the invitatory for the first nocturn (BnF MS Lat. 443, fols 1v, 2r; Pentcheva 2023a).

The significance of the crown as the synecdoche of the glorified body and a marker of Christo-mimesis is confirmed in medieval texts. The vision of a Cistercian monk, Christian of Aumone (d. 1147), describes this close identification of the crown with the saint, who through his/her martyrdom has become one with Christ (LeClercque 1953, 46; Constable 2009; Pentcheva 2016, 2020b):

He saw the Holy Spirit descend on the sanctuary and fill the whole church with the most charismatic splendour. . . He asked silently: ‘God Lord, tell me, is it true that all the souls are crowned like the king?’ At which point he heard a voice talking to him: ‘Indeed all the souls of the elect are crowned like the king, and all are one King and one God’ (Vita Christiani Monachi, ch. 32, 21–52, 46; trans. mine).

All saints are crowned with the same diadem, all are one King and one Lord. Christo-mimesis produces this complete transformation of the multiplicity of saints into the imago Dei. The Spirit of the Lord flows through these numerous charismatic bodies. And it is the formula ⊕ that identifies this descent of Pneuma in the body of the saint.

The diagram in MS lat. 776

The shape of the crown ⊕ on the golden effigy of Sainte Foy at Conques presents a visual design that has cosmic significance (fig. 2). And despite the extensive recent research on diagrams, the importance of the figure of the circle enclosing a cross as a chiastic sign has not been recognised (Hamburger 2020, 1–48, 213–64; Pentcheva 2022). To enter the worldview invested in the tiny sign ⊕, this analysis turns to the preface diagram in the gradual from Saint-Michel’s Abbey at Gaillac in Albi (BnF MS Lat. 776, fol. 1v; Albarosa, 2001). As mentioned earlier, this manuscript has a close link with Conques as it includes on fol. 3r the only other recorded instance of the prosa Candida tu quia, originally composed for the eleventh-century Office of Sainte Foy (Pentcheva 2021). This gradual opens with the diagram of the circle enclosing two intersecting crosses (fig. 4). This composition communicates the entwining of human and divine: the circular choros with the stauros [cross]. Four poems unfold along the frame of the four geometric shapes: the circle (O1), its radii (O2), the cross (T3), and the rhombus (T4). They narrate how the Lord has created the cosmos and now these celestial bodies join in a polyphony conducted by the divine (O1). The circular motility (choros) of this heavenly music is then repeated in revolving seasons, day and night, the ocean surrounding the earth, and the cycle of Christ’s life (O2). The poems on the square shapes introduce the earthly and imperfect liturgy chanted by the faithful, which emulates the ceaseless perfection of the celestial music and aspires to return to the divine (Pentcheva 2023b, 2023c).

O. 1 (fig. 4 starting point marked in blue)

The Father of all living creatures from the throne,

foreseeing everything in heaven,

tunes with extraordinary precision

everything set down by his work.

He binds and rules with his command

the musical instruments that he himself creates,

guiding with a good prognostic sign,

the Father thunders in the splendid universe.

O. 2 (fig. 4 starting point marked in green)

The All-Powerful residing in the luminous temple above the skies

places the stars in such a varied order in heaven.

He determines the sunset for Phoebus as a stable track,

because he replicates its cycle in the grand succession of seasons,

and because he fills the sea with his own so great eddying.

God may ask everything of the Son and the Holy Spirit

after Christ has overcome the obstacle and vanquished death’s arrogance,

may the Lord offer to the servant a father with a merciful heart.

T. 3 (fig. 4 starting point marked in pink)

Before you, o King-Christ, the earth shakes and bursts to affix praise,

all the seas tremble before you, and Hades bends his knees.

The pious abbot venerates you, may he sing you gifts,

worshipping daily, may he have vigour as he gets enriched by your loyal favour.

T. 4 (fig. 4 starting point marked in lavender)

Behold, the Son returns, enduring suffering, he renews your good tidings.

May the Creator supply all to you and whatever kindness desires!

May the condemner’s name be ruined, may piety’s bridal chamber open!

As your daily acclaim resounds, may your glory and praise increase!

[O.1

Omnigenum pater a soliO

Omnia providus ethereO

Ordine temperat eximiO

Opere condita quaeque suO

Obligat regit imperiO

Organa quae dedit ipse suO

Omine quo moderante bonO

Orbe tonans pater amplificO

O.2

Omnipotens niTido super exTans ethera fanO

Ordine tam vario disponiT sidera caelO

Occasum cerTo praefigit limiTe ph[o]ebO.

Orbita quod tanto replicaT per tempora gyrO

Occupat aTque suo mare quod Tam gurgite vastO

Omnia quae nato rogiTet cum pneumate sacrO

Obice disrupTo mentisque Tumore fugatO

Offerat his servo paTrem cum corde serenO

T. 3

Te rex terra tremiTibi laudes pangere glisciT

Te freta cuncta pavenTibi tartara genua curvanT

Te pius abba coliTua psallere munera possiT

Te recolens vigeaTua quam pia gratia ditaT

T. 4

Tua filius ecce refugiTolerans mala qui bona noviT

Tibi conditor omnia subdaTua quaeque benignitas optaT

Titulus reprobabtis labescaThalamus pietatis adhiscaT

Tibi formula laudis resultaTua gloria lausque crebescaT.]

Figure 4
figure 4

The Music of the Spheres, from MS Lat. 776 (1050–1075). A Gradual (musical MS containing the chants for Mass) from the monastery of St. Gerald at Gaillac in Albi, France, Paris. BnF MS Lat. 776, fol. 1v (Photograph: BnF). Coloring: Jessica Chen Lee

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The reading sequence proposed here differs from the two established versions: one by Gabriel Silagi and the other by the joint efforts of Clyde Brockett and Flavio Nuvolone (Silagi 1979 666–67; Brockett 1995; Nuvolone 2002; Poulle 2005). Brockett and Nuvolone wanted this poem to record a gift of an organ by Gerbert of Aurillac (ca. 945–1003) to emperor Otto II (955–983) and for this reason, they arranged the order as O1 T3 T4 O2 in order to form OTTO, the emperor’s name. But this breaks the logic of the sequence of poems (O1 O2 T3 T4). That logic starts with the celestial realm and moves down to the terrestrial in order to finish with the plea of humanity (expressed in the prayer of the abbot) to ascend and be admitted in the courts of heaven at the end of time (Pentcheva 2023c).

The four carmina figurata reveal how the imperfect musica humana aspires to imitate the perfect musica mundana of the celestial spheres. The diagram presents two figures––a circle and a square––anchored in two letters: an O and a T (Tau). Brought together, they combine the infinite with the finite, the divine with human, the eternal with the transient. The enormous circle––the O marking the choros––forms the outer frame; it is a figure of perfection, where the beginning and the end flow into each other: an ouroboros. Inside, two crosses appear staggered in their rotations. The other letter—the Tau—composes these crosses; it introduces the suffering Christ and the human engagement with the divine (Chazelle 2001; Kitzinger 2019). The Tau punctuates the poems on the two square shapes; it is at the beginning, middle, and end of each line. The T becomes the structure that channels Christ’s Crucifixion, his victory over Death, and the human prayer-chant sung in praise and in imploration of the divine. The T (Tau) thus combines suffering with praise. Both the marker of the Cross and the sign of elect, this letter graces the foreheads of the elect at the end of time (Revelation 7:3; Ezekiel 9:4–6) (Elfving 1962, 94; Fassler 2011, 55).

The diagram’s configuration––an outer circle enclosing the two rotated crosses (spokes of the wheel) (fig. 4)––reproduces the typical representation of the stars (⊗, ⊕ or the combination of both crosses inside the choros) as, for instance, the astral-flowers on the corona of Sainte Foy (fig. 3). The latter, in turn, are metaphors for the resurrected, inviolate bodies: corpora spiritalia (Pentcheva 2023b,  2023d). The saints are identified with the stars. And their astral round dance, the choros, expresses both the ceaseless celestial praise––the musica mundana––exhaled in praise of the divine as well as the dance of salvation and of return (reditus from redeo) to Christ (Prado-Vilar 2021, Pentcheva 2020a).

From the sign ⊕ to chiastic step in the reliefs at Santo Domingo de Silos

The structural overlap between the sign ⊗, the crown, the star, and the flower communicates how glorification is an act of inspiriting, of joyful singing and dance, of blossoming, and of ceaseless rotation (choros) (figs. 1–4). The corona is the outward sign that identifies the beatification and magnification of the saint. But the same concept of transformation of the martyr into an inviolate corpus spiritale can also be signalled by a chiastic step (the cross inside the choros). A miniature shows this step in the triumphant Fides (Faith) trampling over her defeated enemy: idolatry. Holy Faith illustrates the first battle in the poem Psychomachia, written by Prudentius (b. 348–d. after 405) (Burgerbibliothek MS Lat. 264, fol. 268v, ninth century) (fig. 5) (Homburger 1962; Fricke 2015). Fides has transformed from a muscular manly presence of the previous two miniatures into a dancing maiden, dressed in a resplendent tunic. Her hands and feet are crossed in a chiastic shape. This X-formed arrangement signals a body transformed, made impregnable by the Holy Spirit. Filled with virtus, Fides now has the capacity to transmit this energy and thus perform miracles. She is haloed and holds a victory palm branch in one hand and a wreath in the other.

Figure 5
figure 5

Fides victorious over cultura veterum deorum (idolatry) extending a triumphal wreath to Christian saints, Bern, Burgerbibliothek, MS Lat. 264, fol. 68v, ninth century. (Photograph: Burgerbibliothek)

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The chiastic shape reappears powerfully in Romanesque art: at Moissac, Souillac, Toulouse, Cahors, St. Loup-de-Naud, and Silos among others (Porter 1923; Schapiro [ 1939a]1993, 30–33, 42–43, 51–58; Schapiro [1939b]1993; Schapiro [1931] 1993, 249–52; Dale 2019). Its origin is sought in the figure of the dancing nymph (Didi-Humberman 2003, 2017; Michaud 2004; Agamben 2013; Weigel 2013; Prado-Vilar 2017). The sculptures in the twelfth-century cloister of Santo Domingo de Silos abound with figures embodying the chiastic step. In addition to sculptures, the pirouetting step appears also in the Silos Beatus (BL Add. MS 11695, fol. 2r) dated to 1109 (fig. 6) (Schapiro[1939a]1993, 30–33, 42–43, 51–58). The Silos miniature envisions the Archangel Michael making the pirouette, and his X-shape guards and protects against the evil actions of the devils. The angel is outside the quatrefoil, which appears like a prison holding the devils in check. Inside at the centre of this prison, Dives (riches) receives just punishment. Another sin, adultery, is shown as two lovers caught in bed and tortured. One of the chief devils, Barrabas, breaks through the perimeter and hooks his greedy, elongated finger on the pan of the balance. With this meddlesome gesture, he hopes to destroy the balance and fair judgement. But the angel is alert and guards all passages. His chiastic step prevents and stops the onslaught of evil. The X is then repeated in the inscription lining the quatrefoil: ‘a calore nimio transibunt as aquas nivium et ad aquas nivium transibunt ad calore nimium’ (Schapiro [1939a]1993, 41–42; Yarza 1979). In English translation, the chiastic phrase reads: ‘they [the faithful] would pass from the red heat to the [cool] snow waters, while [the sinful] from the [cool] snow waters [Baptism] to the red heat [fires of Hell].’ These words, which originate as a paraphrase of Job (24:19), structurally form a chiasm,

a calore nimio transibunt ad aquas nivium

ad aquas nivium transibunt ad calore nimium

The resulting phrase is a binding spell that ensures that the blessed will go to heaven and the wicked will be sent to hell. The word configuration forms the X. The archangel’s pirouetting step is a figural repetition of the binding spell of the text, protecting the passage and ensuring that the blessed will ascend and the sinful will descend.

The appearance of the chiastic step in the art of Silos coincides with the period of dramatic changes at the monastery: the re-dedication of the monastery to Santo Domingo de Silos in 1088, the carving of the sculptures in the lower cloister, and the gradual introduction of the Gregorian rite and imagery that interacts with and slowly displaces the earlier Mozarabic tradition (Schapiro [1939a] 1993, 30–33, 57–66; Walker 1998; Valdez del Álamo 2019). The focus of analysis here falls on the narrative reliefs from the Deposition to Pentecost carved ca. 1100 that feature the motif of the cross-step; all displayed in the cloister courtyard at Silos (fig. 7) (Boto 2009; Valdez del Álamo 2019, 119). The chiastic step here marks the inspirited bodies that will ascend to heaven. The relief ‘On The Road to Emmaus’ is situated on the north-western corner of the cloister. Christ’s feet have taken the X-shape: one foot turns out and crosses over the standing leg (fig. 8). This chiastic step is then echoed in his arms. The entire figure thus embodies the X, which is the chi (Χ) the initial of his name Χριστός. The X marks the union of the human and the divine (Pentcheva 2010, 45–56, 155–82; Pentcheva 2017,18–44, 85–93).

Figure 6
figure 6

The Archangel Michael in chiastic step guarding the balance and preventing the devil from cheating. Inside the four-loved field four devils torture the rich and the adulterers. Beatus of Silos, dated to 1109. London, BL, Add. MS 11695, fol. 2r (Photograph: British Library)

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Figure 7
figure 7

Plan of the cloister of Santo Domingo de Silos from Elizabeth Valdez del Álamo, Palace of the Mind: The Cloister of Silos and Spanish Sculpture of the Twelfth Century.Turnhout: Brepols, 2012

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Figure 8
figure 8

High-relief showing Christ on the Road to Emmaus, Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, late eleventh century (Photograph: Bissera V. Pentcheva)

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The same cross step appears on most of the large narrative reliefs that mark the four corners of the peristyle. 'The Road to Emmaus', for instance, is paired with the 'Doubting Thomas' (figs. 8, 9). Here the two brothers—the apostles Peter and Andrew—make the pirouetting step. Their bodies are inspirited, mirroring Christ’s from the Road to Emmaus (Valdez del Álamo 2012, 119).

Figure 9
figure 9

High-relief showing the Doubting Thomas, Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, late eleventh century (Photograph: Bissera V. Pentcheva)

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In the next pair of steles on the north-eastern corner, St. John the Evangelist dances out the chiasm lightly over an abstract pattern of waves (fig. 10) (Valdez del Álamo 2012, 100). His feet thus touch a metaphorical sea of tears; the outpour of grief has taken over the terra firma, submerging it in mourning. The lament is amplified in the inscription with three verbs: plorat (‘weep,’ for Mary), dolet (‘mourns,’ for John) and orat (‘prays,’ for Adam) (Valdez del Álamo 2012, 97). Adam is shown lifting the lid and rising from the tomb. The word obit (‘dies’ for Christ) is the first verb, with which the inscription starts, and it is the force that engenders all subsequent speech acts. Obit is the watershed of transformation. Christ’s death resurrects Adam and gives him back his voice to pray. But Christ’s death also unleashes the torrent of grief in Mary and in his beloved John. The Evangelist in his cross-step over the sea of tears communicates the sublimation of grief into beauty and vitality that stems from union with the divine. As the beloved disciple, John channels Christ’s energy/virtus. Grief is manifested in the liquefaction of matter, and so the abstract pattern of waves captures this transformation that ultimately leads to the salvation of the sinful. Mary’s and John’s tears of grief become a model for the tears of the repentant Adam that can ultimately wash sin away and open the way to Salvation.

Figure 10
figure 10

High-relief showing the Descent from the Cross, Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, late eleventh century (Photograph: Bissera V. Pentcheva)

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The relief on the south-east corner show numerous instances of the cross-step (fig. 11). These panels of the Ascension and Pentecost communicate through this pose the inspiriting of the apostles’ bodies as Christ ascends to heaven and the Spirit descends to earth. The virtus pouring into the disciples sculpts chiasm into their figurae. Three of the apostles assume cross-step of the Ascension (fig. 12). But in the Pentecost scene, all are infused with divine doxa-gloria (Greek and Latin words for ‘glory’), and its energy had made them uniformly corpora spiritalia: inviolate bodies swept into the dance to eternity (fig. 13) (Valdez del Álamo 2012, 133; Valdez del Álamo 2015, 73; Prado-Vilar 2017). It will be important to explore in the future the exceptional decision at Santo Domingo de Silos to place the tomb of the knight Muño Sánchez de Finojosa (a member of the benefactor family), in the centre of the monastic courtyard (Boto 2009). The body of this lay person, given enormous privilege in burial, is thus integrated within the realm of multiple corpora spiritalia, marking the perimeter of the cloister.

Figure 11
figure 11

The Ascension and Pentecost panels at the SE corner of the cloister of the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, late eleventh century (Photograph: Bissera V. Pentcheva)

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Figure 12
figure 12

High-relief showing the Ascension of Christ, Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, late eleventh century (Photograph: Bissera V. Pentcheva)

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Figure 13
figure 13

High-relief showing the Pentecost, Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, late eleventh century (Photograph: Bissera V. Pentcheva)

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The chiastic column and the mandatum

A second master took over the sculptural program at Silos in the course of the twelfth century. He was receptive to the images already produced and he succeeded in amplifying the original message invested in the chiastic figure as an inspirited body. This is best exemplified in a historiated capital that the second master carved in the Western peristyle. Each side of the cloister has a series of paired columns. Their line is marked at the centre by a cluster of five columns forming a quincunx (fig. 7). Only on the West side this central counterpoint is composed of four rather than five pillars, and they twist to form an X-shape, and thus, this group visualises an X (fig. 14) (Valdez del Álamo, 212). The historiated capital over this cluster (no. 40 in Valdez del Álamo’s monograph) features the beginning of the Passion cycle: Christ’s Entry in Jerusalem (South, East), Last Supper (North), Washing of the Feet (West). And it is the mandatum (the ritual washing of the feet) that graces the western side of the capital and thus faces the viewer standing in the western peristyle (fig. 15). The Washing becomes the caput (head) of the X-shaped cluster of columns. The composition shows Peter and John at the centre, forming a triangle, below which Christ bends to wash feet. The Son has lowered himself and is holding Peter’s foot over a basin of water. The head of Christ has chipped off; it was clearly deeply undercut and freed from the surface of the stone; this made it fragile. But as the highest relief of the composition, Christ’s head would have constituted the visual climax. The other apostles cluster around on the two sides, their heads tillt slightly towards the centre. This arrangement further focuses the attention on the touch of Christ in the act of washing Peter’s foot. It is this contact between mortal and divine that ensures Salvation. Christ’s salvific touch becomes linked to the X.

Figure 14
figure 14

The twisted column on the western side of the cloister; the historiated capital shows the Mandatum, Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, twelfth century (Photograph: Elizabeth Valdez del Álamo)

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Figure 15
figure 15

Bas-relief of the Mandatum (Washing of the Feet) on the twisted columns, Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, twelfth century (Photograph: Elizabeth Valdez del Álamo)

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Chiasm, charis, c[h]aritas in the poetry and music for the Ad Mandatum

The chiastic shape is an expression of entwining, welcoming in and loving your neighbour through which one can experience the love/charitas for God and through which charitas one can rise to heaven. The chiasm is the binding and transaction: loving the brethren on earth in order to reach heaven. Not surprisingly, some of the antiphons sung for the feast Ad Mandatum (Foot Washing) insist on this lateral love –caritas– through which the faithful can ascend to heaven: caritas est summum bonum (‘Charity is highest good’, Cantus, n.d. chant no. 001772); diligamus nos invicem (‘We delight in each other’, Cantus, n.d. chant no. 002231); in hoc cognoscent omnes (‘In this all will recognize’ Cantus, n.d. chant no. 003239); maneant in nobis spes, fides, charitas (‘May hope, faith, and charity remain in us’ Cantus, n.d. chant no. 003692); ubi caritas et dilectio (‘Where there is charity and love’, Cantus, n.d. chant no. 005259). Charity is chiastic (an X invested in the Greek origins of this word in grace, charis–χάρις–in Greek) and it ties in the faithful like beads in a necklace around Christ. Christ’s legacy, his mandatum, is this love for one’s neighbour.

The ritual expression of this lateral, fraternal love (ad invicem) is the abbot’s washing of the feet of paupers and monks on Holy Thursday (Dinter 1980, 75–79). An antiphon that is traditionally sung towards the end of the Washing of the Feet on Maundy Thursday captures how the touch of Christ as he washes the feet of the apostles entwines human and divine. His mandate for his disciples is to love one another. His touch causes love to appear in the midst of the congregation. Christ is synonymous with this love. The ritual washing of feet enacted on Holy Thursday in the cloister brings about harmony in the community. The chant Ubi caritas et amor (Where there is charity and love) that accompanies the ritual spells out this hope for living in Christ. Love unites all in one and charitas to one’s fellow human being can uplift one to heaven:

Where there is a charity and love, God is there.

The love of Christ unites us all as one;

let us rejoice, let us be happy in it [love/Christ];

let us be filled with fear and love towards the living God;

and let us love each other out of sincere heart

Where there is a charity and love, God is there.

Indeed, when we congregate as one;

let us be on our guard that nothing divides us in mind;

may evil strife stop, may quarrels stop;

so that in our midst Christ appears.

Where there is a charity and love, God is there.

At the end of time may we see together with the saints

your exceedingly resplendent [glorious] face, Christ, the Lord,

[this is] and immense and virtuous joy

for ages and ages, Amen (Liber Usualis 1963, 675–76).

[R. Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.

V. congregavit nos in unim Christ amor;

V. exultemus, et in ipso jucundemur;

V. timeamus et amemus Deum vivum;

V. et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

R. Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est

V. Simul ergo cum in unum congregamur.

V. Ne nos mente dividamur caveamus.

V. Cessent jurgia maligna, cessent lites,

V. et in medio nostril sit Christus Deus.

R. Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est

V. Simul quoque cum beatis videamus

V. glorianter vultum tuum, Christe Deus.

V. Gaudium, quod est immensum, atque probum

V. saecula per infinita saecularum, Amen]

The chant rejoices in the love of Christ and the desire that all discord be suppressed, and harmony binds the faithful together as one in Christ. So, ultimately the congregation in which the love of Christ lives and grows would be raised with the saints to the Lord at the end of time and enjoy eternal bliss. Each of the three stanzas starts with the line ‘where [there] is love, there is Christ.’ The first stanza focuses on love and invites the participants to bind themselves together in this emotion. The second stanza encourages that all strife be left aside and all discord cease. Once love and harmony are invited in, the faithful can see in the third stanza a vision of Salvation at the end of time. They stand with the saints and can look directly at the glorious, resplendent face of Christ. The mandatum becomes the instant in which the joy of eternity could be experienced and lived. Christ, by bending down to wash the feet of the Apostles, uplifts humanity to heaven.

The chant Ubi caritas et amor is written in mode six (F plagal) and uses two melodic phrases (Cantus n.d. chant no. 205043; Liber Usualis 1963, 675–76).Footnote 2 The first is repeated in the singing of the first three verses of each stanza, the second sets the last two verses of each unit. The first melody cadences on G, a note above the final and thus elicits the possibility that humanity can rise lifted by the touch of Christ. The second melody comes back home to the final F: the order is sustained; the cadence returns to the final F like the faithful who will be re-united with the divine. BnF MS Lat. 776, fols. 70r-71r from Gaillac records a similar chant (Congregavit nos in unum . . . ubi karitas et amor ibi Deus est, Cantus, n.d. no. a07356). It takes up the idea of Salvation through participation in and love of Christ. His sacrificial death on the Cross reformavit, re-forms, giving back life and opens the door to paradise.  

Conclusion

The sign ⊗ in the saintly crown of Sainte Foy and in the diagram of MS Lat. 776 from Saint-Michel’s Abbey at Gaillac denote the crossover between human and divine and the possibility of a return to the Lord at the end of time. The same geometric shape ⊕ is echoed in the images of flowers and stars. This formal overlap speaks to a shared identity; the star, the flower, and the corpus spiritale (resurrected body) are all forms imbued with the Spirit, dancing in perfect circular motility around the divine. As the stars orbit, they sonify the musica mundana. The choros of the stars articulates the vision of Salvation. Christ can uplift humanity to this choros, and he does this by imbricating human and divine. His touch at the Mandatum allows the apostles to have a piece of him, to share in the divine and emulate his love by offering caritas to their neighbour. The chiastic step, and the twisted columns in an X are figural expressions of this charitas that spin human and divine into a celestial choros.