La représentation de la bataille d'Antioche (1098) sur les peintures murales de Poncé-sur-le-Loir

This article offers an analysis of the iconography of the programme of mural paintings of the church of Poncé-sur-le-Loir (Sarthe), executed in the third quarter of the 12th century. It focuses particularly on the cycle of three images on the western wall of the church, which represents the Battle of Antioch, one of the crucial military encounters of the First Crusade. First, the article attempts to reconstruct the meaning of crusading for the inhabitants of the region at the time of the execution of the paintings. Second, it strives to establish a middle path between two traditional approaches of crusading iconography: as propaganda for the crusades in the Holy Land and as an allegorical representation of spiritual warfare.