France (Autun, Burgundy)

The Flight of Alexander the Great Historiated Capital by Gislebertus from the Cathedral of Saint-Lazare

2206

High Romanesque (12th Century), c. 1120–1135 CE

A Romanesque historiated capital by Gislebertus (c. 1120–1135 CE) depicting the Flight of Alexander the Great — Alexander enthroned in a harnessed apparatus drawn by mythical griffins toward the heavens, with a mischievous monkey holding fruit in the upper zone — a moralized emblem of hubris and the dangers of transcending mortal boundaries.