Description
The Last Judgment Tympanum at Conques Abbey, located over the main west doors, is one of the finest collections of Romanesque sculpture in France. It is full of activity, expression and detail, and some of the original colored paint still remains. Many of the figures are contemporary historical persons, including specific abbots, bishops and kings - several of whom appear among the damned.
Christ in Majesty presides over the scene in the center, while the Archangel Michael and a demon weigh the souls of the dead on scales at his feet. A procession of saints and historical figures - including a Conques abbot and Emperor Charlemagne - move in procession on the left. On the right is a group of four angels and some creative punishments of the damned. Above Christ's head, angels hold banners with inscriptions reflecting a passage from Matthew:
Then he will say to the people on his right: come you who are blessed by my father come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you. Then he will say to those on his left : away from me, you that are under God's curse, away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil... and these then will be sent off to eternal punishment, and the righteous will go to eternal life.
On the bottom level, Heaven and Hell are depicted as roofed buildings, each with an entrance door. On the right side of the scene, the damned are forcibly pushed into the Jaws of Hell. The tortures of Hell are shown in great detail and include some characters disliked by the monks: a bishop who governed the area is caught in a net; poachers on abbey property are roasted by the rabbit they had caught.
On the left are the righteous, portrayed less vividly but still in impressive detail. The chosen ones are being welcomed by angels, who lead them gently by the hand to an ornate door. On the other side of the door Heaven is shown as a city, representing the ideas of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Heavenly Jerusalem. In the center is Abraham, who embraces two saved souls. He is flanked by prophets on the right and saints on the left, each represented by pairs of men and women.
Weaving throughout the composition is a Latin inscription, which echoes the visual lessons of the tympanum. It reads:
| SANCTORVM CETVS STAT XPISTO IVDICE LETVS SIC DATVR ELECTIS AD CELI GAVDIA VINCTIS GLORIA PAX REQVIES PERPETVVSQVE DIES CASTI PACIFICI MITES PIETATIS AMICI SIC STANT GAVDENTES SECVRI NIL METVENTES | The assembled saints stand before Christ, full of joy. Thus are given to the chosen who have won the joys of heaven, glory, peace, rest and eternal light. The chaste, the peace-loving, the gentle, the pious, are filled with joy and, secure, have nothing to fear. |
| HOMNES PERVERSI SIC SVNT IN TARTARA MERSI PENIS INIVSTI CRVCIANTVR IN IGNIBVS VSTI DEMONAS ATQVE TREMVNT PERPETVOQVE GEMVNT FVRES MENDACES FALSI CVPIDIQUE RAPACES SIC SVNT DAMPNATI CVNCTI SIMUL ET SCELERATI | The depraved are plunged into purgatory. The wicked suffer the torments of the damned, roasting in the midst of flames and demons, perpetually groaning and trembling. Thieves, liars, deceivers, misers, ravishers, are all condemned with criminals. |
| O PECCATORES TRANSMVTETIS NISI MORES IVDICIVM DVRVM VOBIS SCITOTE FVTVRVM | O sinners, if you do not mend your ways, know that you will suffer a dreadful fate. |
by Holly Hayes