The Conques Last Judgment Tympanum



Detail: The Bosom of Abraham

Abraham sits in the center of the Heavenly Jerusalem (far right of this photo) with one hand on each of his sons Isaac and Ishmael, who hold sceptres representing (I am guessing) the nations that derive from them.

To Abraham's right (our left) are six saints wearing crowns of identical design. One of them carries a palm branch symbolizing martyrdom. Because there are no martyr kings among the saints we may conclude that the crowns do
refer not to royal status on earth but to the crowns promised in Revelation to the perseverant ("Be thou faithful until death: and I will give thee the crown of life," Rev. 2:10).

Under the arch on the far left two women hold lamps and an open book; the lamps may refer to the eschatological parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 (cached). In the next arch two women hold ointment jars. The third arch has two haloed saints holding a single chalice. One of them also holds a palm branch.  Iconographically, the six probably represent not specific individuals but overlapping categories among the elect, such as martyrs, confessors, virgins, and (with ointments for the deceased) widows.


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Photographed at the site by Richard Stracke