Aulnay capitals - collection of monsters
The capitals topping the columns of the nave present a fantasmagory of human and beastly shapes which for the most part defies commentary. The symbolism of such shapes mystified even the great Bernard of Clairvaux. While Bernard deplored the proliferation of such carving in churches of his day, we on the other hand may delight in the immense variety of monsters and in the vivid imagination of Romanesque carvers.