The Romanesque Tympanum (Dennis Aubrey)

This post will feature five of the great sculptural tympana in French Romanesque architecture, those in Arles, Conques, Autun, Vezelay, and Saint Gilles. The tympanum is the sculpted semi-circular surface above a portal and achieved ethereal artistry during this era.

The western portal of the Cathédrale Saint-Trophime in Arles is the centerpiece of a magnificent sculpted facade ensemble. Known as the Tympanum of the Last Judgment, the composition features Christ in a mandorla surrounded by four winged creatures representing the Four Evangelists. Matthew, author of the first gospel, is represented by an angel. Mark the Evangelist, author of the second gospel, is symbolized by a winged lion. Luke the Evangelist, author of the third gospel, is symbolized by the winged ox. John the Evangelist, author of the fourth gospel, is represented by an eagle. Below the main composition we can see the row of seated apostles holding books.

Cathédrale Saint-Trophime, Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône) Photo by Dennis Aubrey

The tympanum of Conques is a much more complex work. The subject is also the Last Judgment, but the imagery is much more direct. The the right of the Christ are the saved while to his left are the damned. The images of the saved are comforting and reassuring, but the fiery tortures of the damned are far more interesting. The enormous ensemble was not originally found here on the western facade but most likely was placed inside and moved later, when this portal was constructed. This shot was taken the night of the Festival of Saint Foy as the pilgrims gathered before the church to begin their candlelit parade through the town.

Basilique Sainte Foy, Conques (Aveyron) Photo by Dennis Aubrey

The tympanum of Cathédrale Saint Lazare in Autun is a supreme accomplishment of medieval sculpture and has the additional cache of having what many believe is the artist’s signature, “Gislebertus hoc fecit” directly below the Christ in Mandorla. Others (Linda Seidel, “Legends in Limestone: Lazarus, Gislebertus, and the Cathedral of Autun”) dispute the attribution, probably a reaction against 20th Century art historians who professed to see a whole oeuvre of work throughout France that was created by the same hand as that sculpted this tympanum. Whatever the truth of Gislebertus, there is no doubt as to the genius and inspiration of the creator.

Cathédrale Saint Lazare, Autun (Côte-d’Or) Photo by Dennis Aubrey

The tympanum at Vézelay is unique both in its subject and its location. Instead of the conventional position over an outside portal, this one is in the narthex opening into the great nave of the basilica. The subject is the Pentecost, the Mission of the Apostles. Christ is flanked by his Apostles and he instructs them to go out and evangelize all people of the earth. Below this main part of the sculpture is a line of figures representing all the heathen peoples of the world, including the “Monstrous Races” of distant lands. These last are symbolized by legendary giant-eared Panotii of India.

The symbolism of the tympanum is also unique. Vézelay was always closely associated with the Crusades. Pope Urban II originally planned to call for the first crusade at the Basilique Sainte Madeleine but later changed the location to Clermont-Ferrand. On the 31st of March, 1146 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux preached the Second Crusade here before a giant crowd of nobles and gentry. In 1189 Richard the Lion-Hearted and King Phillipe-Augustus of France met here to begin the Third Crusade. The tympanum (completed in the years between the First and Second Crusades) represents a spiritual defense of the Crusades, providing a Christian allegory for the Crusader mission.

Basilique Sainte Madeleine, Vézelay (Yonne) Photo by Dennis Aubrey

Back to the south of France we find the magnificent remains of the Abbey Church of Saint Gilles du Gard. This was once one of the greatest pilgrimage churches, but the religious wars of the 16th Century resulted in the destruction of the apse and caused damage to the sculptures. But what remains is extraordinary (and served as the inspiration for Henry Hobson Richardson‘s Trinity Church in Boston, the birthplace of the American Romanesque Revival architecture). The entire western face with its wide frontage is covered with sculpture. This tympanum depicts the Last Judgment in the same way as that of Saint Trophime; Christ is surrounded by his symbolic Four Evangelists.

Abbaye de Saint-Gilles, Saint-Gilles-du-Gard (Bouches-du-Rhône) Photo by Dennis Aubrey

There are a wealth of these tympana throughout France and they are part of the Romanesque treasure that provides so much richness to that country. They are monuments to the faith that raised them, the hands that carved them, and the religion that guided them. (By the way, PJ has just added a post showing the details from the Conques tympanum.)