The
Conques Last Judgment Tympanum
Detail:
The middle register right of the mandorla
Two angels stand in .
The angel above left holds open a book with SIGNATUR ("it is sealed")
on the left-hand page. On the right-hand page the letters appear to
spell something like LIBERATE (same meaning in English) or possibly two
words LIBER ("book") and something with TE.
Below the book another
angel holds a thurible, standing in what might be
a stylized sea suggestive of the "sea of glass" before the
throne in Revelation 4:6. Like the angel directly above
him, he faces toward the procession of saints and
welcomes them to Heaven.
On the other hand, the two on the right face toward the damned and
wield force to keep them away. The angel
above carries a flaming sword and a shield with the inscription EXIBUNT
ANGELI ET SEPARAB, the beginning of a phrase in Matthew 13:49, exibunt angeli et separabunt malos de
medio iustorum ("The angels shall go out, and they shall
separate the
wicked from among the just"). The one below carries a lance with a
battle standard. Despite their warlike task, they have the same placid
mien as the other angels.
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Photographed at the
site by Richard Stracke