Columnar Figure of an Apostle, Châlons-sur-Marne, c.1180 (limestone)

This figure of an apostle, probably Saint John the Evangelist, attached to its supporting column, came originally from the cloister of the Church of Notre-Dame-en-Vaux at Châlons-sur-Marne. A cloister was a covered walkway usually around all four sides of a square area of grass (the "cloister garth"). The seclusion of the cloister was the exclusive domain of the monks or clergy and off-limits to others. Here, the monks were able to pray, study, meditate, and exercise in privacy and solitude. This figure illustrates the transition in style from Romanesque to Gothic taking place in ecclesiastical buildings across northern France during the late 1100s.