# Decoration of the capitals of the pillars of the main nave

The capitals of the pillars of the main nave are the most imposing due to their dimensions of over one meter on each side. They are made in two superimposed layers, unified by the profusion of sculpted vegetal decoration that was to be harmonized by the medieval polychromy that has disappeared. The vegetal composition is based on the astragal, the molding marking the top of the cylindrical shaft of the column or the cylindrical core of the pillar.

It develops upwards, widening to ensure the transition to the square section marked by the molding of the abacus, which serves as the base for the departure of the arches of the great arcades forming the first level of the elevation of the nave. The leaves are arranged in several rows, with a lateral offset from one row to the next.

For the column capital (PIT 36), it consists of leaves composed of three lobed folioles. The progressive elongation of the leaves from bottom to top avoids monotony, and at regular intervals, the addition of a pearl string on the main vertical rib echoes the larger leaves arranged above the angles of the abacus, whose strong projection designates them as "hooks", a distant memory of the corner volutes of ancient capitals.