the tympanum of the last judgment

At the western gate, deep barrel vaulting shelters the tympanum of the Last Judgment, one of the masterpieces of Romanesque sculpture from the first half of the 12^th century, noticeable by its artistic quality and originality, as well as its dimensions. It was probably made under the governance of Abbot Boniface, head of the monastery between 1107 and 1125, and by a sculptor who had already worked on the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

With dimensions of 6.70m wide on 3.60m high, it shelters at least one hundred and twenty four figures, in a relatively good state of conservation.

For the visitor reaching the church square, the tympanum set at 3.50m high remains readable, despite the crowding of figures and the diversity of the represented scenes. In fact, all is set around the central figure of Christ, out-of proportion with the others, so as to attract all the attention. On his left, "hell seems the image of Paradise in negative (set on his right), an anti-heaven. In this case, all is order, limpidity and peace, contemplation and love, when in the other it's violence, compulsive agitation and fright." (Marcel Durliat).

The general composition is simple. The wide half-circle shaped tympanum contains three levels, separated with banners holding engraved inscriptions. To fill these levels, the sculptor divided them into a suite of compartments, corresponding to each limestone slab, making a total close to twenty. They were first sculpted on the ground then assembled in position, in a somewhat giant puzzle. This division, easy to observe, was a smart arrangement, using joints that never cut a scene or a figure.

The principal inspiration for the Last Judgment came from Saint-Matthew's Gospel. The sculptor incised the dramatic moment when Christ pronounced his final words, incised in the small banners held by two angels on both sides of his head. To the sheep placed on His right, He said: "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world". Turning to His left, He said: "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels" and concluding that the ones on the left "will go away everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life".

Christ is indicating the first words to the elected, lining up towards him, with a welcoming raised right hand. With his left one, lowered, he points out Hell to the cursed. He is the judge giving out the sentence. The contrasting gesture gives Christ's figure the appearance of a conductor, directing a great show, in full progress for more than eight centuries, and is set just above the church square.

Christ sits on the throne, in an almond-shaped glory, sparkled by stars, among five rows of festoons representing the clouds. The elongated face expressing the King-Judge severity is even more striking when seen from its profile. His garments, tunic and coat, are high-cut to reveal the wound caused by the spear and was probably originally painted. He is surrounded by "all His angels". On his left, one holds a finely chased incense-burner, and another the Book of Life, wide open. Two angels, executioners, fully armed with a flaming sword and a lance, fulfill their given mission of containing the tumultuous devilish crowd of the condemned, behind the borders of Hell. At Christ's feet, rising from a cloud, two angels carry a candelabrum, as it said that on Judgment Day: "The sun will become dark, and the moon will no longer shine". From all these creatures, with no doubt the most beautiful are the angels blowing into their trumpets and filling the upper corners. Finally, the huge cross set above Christ and carried by two angels holding the nail and the lance blade, emphasizes the recall of the Passion of Christ.

The elected multitude is in motion towards Christ, under the guidance of Mary, followed by Saint Peter holding the Paradise keys, with behind them, other figures without a halo, as they do not represent holy persons. In fact, the "Master of the Tympanum" was bold enough to insert in this triumphant procession figures issuing from the history of the local monastery: the hermit Dadon, founder of the abbey, followed by an abbot holding his crook (probably Begon), leading by the hand the Emperor Charlemagne, legendary benefactor of the monastery, but who also had many things to repent for. The two monks behind him, one holding a diptych, the other a reliquary resting on a precious cloth, are presenting the exhibits for the defense, proofs of the imperial generosity towards Saint-Foy treasure.

Under Christ's figure, the weighing of the souls takes place, with the archangel Saint Michael being confronted by a mocking devil, with defying looks, each one kneeling by the scales. Despite the cheating attitude of the devil pressing his finger on the weighing scale, the favors seem to go to the good deeds. On the left, the resurrection of the bodies takes place, in stone like it would be in a film sequence. With the helping hand of angels lifting the lids, the dead bodies rise up one after the other from their sarcophagus.

On the left, on the opposite triangle-shaped frame, small archways show Conques church with the chains offered by released prisoners hanging from its beams, like a thanksgiving as was custom and as a reminder of Saint Foy's protection. On the right, she is leaning towards the divine hand and interceding in favor of the deceased.

The lower level is divided into two sections. On the left, Paradise is portrayed by the Celestial Jerusalem, architectural in appearance with its battlement towers, columns and archways. The sculptors of Conques favored familiar and realistic elements of day-to-day life, such as the oil lamps, called calelhs in the Rouergue, hanging from the vaults, like a light for the eternal kingdom. In the center sits Abraham, holding two children in his arms, probably the Holy Innocents. He is framed by pairs of figures under arcades: the Wise Virgins with their lamps, the martyrs with their palm leaves, the prophets with their scrolls of parchment, and lastly, the apostles with their books. The quite monotonous row of the stoically faced elected seems to give the idea that order and serenity rule Paradise. An angel stands by its door, welcoming the elected. Opposite, across a partition, a bushy and spiky-haired devil, armed with a club, is forcing the cursed into Hell's monstrous throat.

The sculptor knew how to strongly contrast the celestial peace with the violent chaos and confusion of Hell. Set on the center of the right lintel, mimicking Abraham's position, Satan presides over the extraordinary torturing, with his feet resting on the belly of a condemned lying in the flames, apparently the sloth. On each side, a hideous crowd of devils obviously enjoys the virulent punishments inflicted on the authors of Mortal Sins.

Wearing chain-mail like a knight, the first mortal sin, Hubris is thrown down by the stroke of a pitch fork. The adulteress, her chest bare, her neck tied with a rope, stands still with her lover behind her, as if waiting for Satan's terrible verdict. The miser is hanged high, his purse around his neck, a toad under his feet. Then a devil is dragging out the tongue of a small figure, to show Calumny or Slander. Anger must be found elsewhere, in the triangular space, on the left, above the mouth of Hell. There, a devil is eating the brains of the condemned, who commits suicide by pushing a knife into his throat. Beside him, a hunched-back devil grabs the harp of another soul, while tearing off his tongue with a hook. This poor musician and singer probably represent the minstrel, the public entertainer, as a symbol of vanity for the pleasures of the world. Opposite, the triangular frame on the right holds a surprising scene, filled with irony. A man is barbecued above open flames, by two devilish creatures, one with a hare like head. Could it be interpreted as the torture of the poacher? Or, should we simply see a representation of Hell, the inverted world, where the hunter becomes the victim of his own prey?

Above this lintel, on the second level, Hell fills two spaces. Here, the sculptor didn't have to treat precise themes and could freely use his inspiration. In an indescribable mingle of heads and bodies, the infernal and bony creatures, a grin on their face, are enjoying themselves and are competing in punishments inflicted on the damned, in a dedicated manner.

On the left panel, a devil is biting off the crown of a king represented naked, as if to mock him. The bad sovereign points his finger towards the group of the elected and towards Charlemagne, as if to record his dissent for not being on the good side. Just above him, devils with rough and frightening looks raise their battle axes, clubs and even a cross-bow, a weapon rarely represented in this early part of the 12th century. This package might be illustrating the horrors of war.

The next right hand panel is dedicated to a terrifying punishment. A seated condemned, caught in the grip of a vixen-looking devil is flayed alive, while another she-devil devours his skin with great delight. Beside them, the drunkard hanging by his feet is throwing up the wine he drank to excess during his past life. In 1940, a molding of the tympanum made for the Parisian Musée des Monuments Français, now the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, allowed us to identify the counterfeiter. He is located inside the smallest triangular frame, just above the drunkard. It was possible to identify him, because of his tools, the anvil, a begging bowl full of money, but most of all the mint, some sort of cylinder held in his hand. The most surprising evidence is the inscription the sculptor took time to engrave on its small top surface, totally unreadable from down below, a coin matrix with the inscription cunei (coin).

On the same level, on the left, the bad monks also have their place in Hell, as have the bad kings. An abbot falls to the ground holding his crook. A hunched-back and bellied devil is capturing three monks in a fishing net, among whom another abbot holds an inverted crook.

In this representation of Hell, all is arranged in order to frighten the illiterate, the big majority of the population in these times, as is revealed by the quotation engraved on the lintel base:

O PECCATORES TRANSMUTETIS NISI MORES
JUDICIUM DURUM VOBIS SCITOTE FUTURUM

"O sinners, change your morals
for you might face a cruel judgment".

As if to strike the mind, vivid colors highlighted the sculptures. Some important remains are still visible, with a dominating blue for Paradise and red for Hell. Was the Last Judgment first conceived as a high relief fresco?

The pictures of the text, mainly taken here from Saint Matthew's Gospel, never excluded realistic and anecdotal elements. Without falling systematically into fatalism, the Last Judgment, on Saint-Foy church, can apply to all and be understood through its rich iconography and its narrative and educational style. One can easily imagine the pilgrims standing on the church square, trying to decipher the scenes, one by one. As a matter of fact, church art was the only art available to be contemplated by the multitude. Conques' tympanum, in comparison to the tympanum at Toulouse or Moissac, spoke more directly to the people's mind.

the tympanum of conques in high resolution

For a detailled view of the Tympanum of the Last Judgment, click here (views from M. Andrew Tallon, Department of Art, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY, USA).