The
Conques Last Judgment Tympanum
Detail:
The damned in the middle register
In the upper left of
this detail an abbot (tonsured and still holding his crozier, which
lies on the ground) prostrates himself before a grotesque, while
another demon bites into his back. Behind him two other monks (with
tonsures) stand caught in the demon's net.
To the right of the great grotesque are two heretics holding the books
of their writings. One stands in the background. The other lies on the
ground while one demon stomps on his chest and another grabs his head
and starts to devour it while at the same time stabbing him in the back.
Below on the left a demon kneels in mock reverence as he attacks an
unjust king. The artist has put this king in parallel with the just
king Charlemagne on the other side of the tympanum: their beards and
crowns are similar, and both are being led by the hand.
To the right, another demon attacks a second figure who is wearing
perhaps a papal tiara. Then, moving right again, we see a third demon
attacking what may be a feudal lord.
Not shown: in the far right, a glutton and a counterfeiter.
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Photographed at the
site by Richard Stracke