The Tympanum of the South Portal at St. Hilarian de Perse

Early 12th century
Sandstone
Church of St. Hilarian de Perse, Espalion, France

The lower register is a rather busy image of the Last Judgment: at left are Satan enthroned in Hell and the Hell mouth (see detail), the psychostasy or weighing of souls (see detail), and Christ enthroned in a mandorla and surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists (see detail).

The two registers above represent the Pentecost event. In the middle register, Mary stands in the middle of the apostles (see detail). (Curiously, there are only ten.) Above her is a representation of the dove and the tongues of fire (see detail). The medallions with the sun (see detail) and moon (see detail) are unusual for a Pentecost image; we see them Read more aboutten in Crucifixion scenes, to represent the eclipse that followed the death of Jesus.

View the entire south portal.
Read more about the Last Judgment and Pentecost.

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