The South Tympanum, Church of St. Hilarian de Perse: Detail, the moon

The sun and moon, which often appear at the top of Crucifixion images, here flank the dove in a relief of the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at the church of St. Hilarian de Perse. As in the earliest Crucifixions, the moon is represented by both a crescent shape and a personification – female, because the Latin for "moon" is the feminine luna, making it pair nicely with the sun image, which is masculine. Like the sun, the personified moon holds a torch to signify the light it provides to the earth.

View the entire tympanum.
Read more about Pentecost.

Photographed at the site by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.