# A Highly Sophisticated Design

The rich ornamentation and meticulous detailing of the cloister’s sculptures leave no doubt that the building was commissioned with an ostentatious purpose.

However, this pillar is an exception: in the preserved elements, refinement is usually focused on figures and capital details. Here, the very architecture of the pillar is adorned with elaborate textures and forms.

This uniqueness raises questions: Could its location in the cloister, perhaps near a doorway, explain this distinctiveness? Or was it part of an initial project, influenced by the new architectural refinements emerging in Gothic cathedrals, but later abandoned?
There is no definitive answer.

However, we can observe that the architecture of the Châlons cloister moves away from the abundance of inhabited decoration typical of the Romanesque period.
Instead, it embraces classical references, a modern approach for the 1170s–1180s.