The interior of the Romance cathedrals was multicoloured, both because of the polychrome sculptures and the frescos painted on the ceiling and the walls. This decoration had an essential teaching function for the illiterate faithful. The wear of time and changes of style have caused the disappearance of the major part of Romance paintings but in Tournai, the large fresco of the legend of St Marguerite has remained. Dating from the first quarter of the 13th century, therefore contemporary with Philippe-Auguste and Jean-sans-Terre, it recounts, in the manner of a comic strip, the trial and tribulations of the Christian woman, Marguerite d'Antioche (city of today’s Turkey) vis-a-vis Olibrius, an evil Roman governor, with a dragon and the devil…

The style of these giant paintings is no different from that which was used by the illustrators of manuscripts at that time: uniform background, highly stylised characters and scenery, and bright colours.

This fresco constitutes the largest series of Romance paintings preserved in Belgium.