Scope and Content of Collection
Photographs and related research material documenting Romanesque sculpture and architecture
in southern France and northern Spain comprise this collection. Frances Terpak photographed
the majority of the images and compiled the other materials in the course of research for
her dissertation, "The Romanesque Architecture and Sculpture of Saint Caprais in Agen" (Yale
University, 1982), and for subsequent scholarly articles. Over 150 rolls of 35mm negatives
shot by Terpak and over 2000 images printed from these negatives form the bulk of the
collection. Also included are a small number of photographs acquired from institutional and
commercial sources, including Bildarchiv Foto Marburg, Guntram Koch, Photo Zodiaque and
Archivo Moreno. Related research materials, such as notes, keyed architectural plans, and
shot lists, complement the photographs.
The importance of this collection lies in the choice of sites documented. While some major
monuments such as the cloister at Moissac are represented, the majority of the images depict
Romanesque sites that are not well-known or published. Even for famous sites, however, this
collection includes aspects of monuments that are not otherwise well-published, such as all
the sculptural surfaces of the altar table at Saint Sernin, Toulouse. Many of the images are
also keyed to plans of the structure locating the capital or other sculptural detail.
The bulk of the photographic prints in the collection are black-and-white in a 5 x 7 inch
format and were printed from negatives made by Terpak. These prints, however, represent only
a portion of Terpak's photographic documentation. French sites represented in the negatives,
but not in the prints include: Angoulême, Arces-sur-Gironde, Beurlay, Blasimon,
Bouglon-Vieux, Bouloc, Cahors, Cambes, Cessac, Colombiers, Doulezon, Espalion, Frespech,
Gourvillette, Goutz, Guîtres, Hautefage, Lacour, Lavaur, Lavergne, Le Dorat, Limoges,
Listrac, Macqueville, Marcilhac, Marcoux, Monsempron-Libos, Montbron, Moulidars, Mourens,
Oradour-Fanais, Pérignac, Pujols, Romestaing, Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Saint-Benoît-sur Loire,
Saint-Émilion, Saint-Jean-de Côle, Saint-Lizier, Saint-Martin-Curton,
Saint-Martin-de-Beauville, Sainte-Colombe-en-Bruilhois, Sainte-Radegonde, Salabes,
Sauveterre, Tarbes, and Villemartin. For Spain, negatives for the following sites are not
printed: Frómista, Pineda de la Sierra, Rebolledo de la Torre, Santillana del Mar, Santa
Cruz de la Séros, Silos, Colombres, the Archaeological Museum in Madrid and the Ctatlan
Museum in Barcelona.
Terpak photographed the majority of the sites in France in 1977 and 1978. The photographs
of sites in Spain were taken in 1988, with the exception of the site of Loarre, which was
shot in 1977.
Arrangement
Arranged by type of material.
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