ABSTRACT

The Zodiaque collection of books, journals, and other material is, by any measure, the largest body of published images of Romanesque architecture and sculpture ever produced. The main series is organised on a regional basis. The quality of the photographs and their presentation is recognized but can be seen as creating a false impression of transregional unity. Given the power of images to exert a (largely subconscious) influence on our perception, we need to understand what inspired the vision and how it is conveyed. It had its genesis at a very particular moment in the political and religious history of France and reflected the ideas of the Benedictine monk who was the driving force behind the collection and of the main photographer, Dom Angelico Surchamp.