Tarlac State University

College of Architecture and Fine Arts

REACTION PAPER - 1
Title of Material: Tympanum of the Last Judgement and Pentecost
Name: JUSTO, LORAINE P. Section: 2A
Student Number: 2021300012 Date: OCT 15, 2022
Instructor: Ar. Paolo Andrew Canlas-Hasegawa, uap, rmp

The video discussion of Pentecost and Mission to the Apostles Tympanum, at

Vézelay and the Last Judgment Tympanum, in Cathedral of St. Lazare at Autun was
created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker. The first and the second video discussed the
same topic which is the tympanum and the story behind the sculptures at the tympanum. In
Romanesque architecture, The tympanum is a semicircular area covered by the arch above
the doorway's lintel.
On the first video, they were talking about the church of La Madelene, wherein the
doorways have a set of tympana that was sculptured in late medieval period. The
tympanum was related to the crusade, wherein it is a series of religious wars between
Christians and Muslims. Relics Mary Magdalene became an important figure in religious
art during this period. The church of La Madeleine tympanum’s reference is the New
Testament, wherein the center of the relief sculpture is the figure of Jesus Christ and his six
apostles, and it is surrounded by the peoples of the earth.
On the second video, it talks about the Cathedral of St. Lazare at Autun. The
tympanum above the doorway of the cathedral is the first monumental sculpture that was
made in the medieval period. It represents the most terrifying image of the last judgment,
wherein the center feature of the composition is a giant figure of Christ, who is frequently
enclosed with a mandorla. the four evangelists are depicted or shown with animal symbols
to his right and left. Smaller angels and devils, ranked along the bottom and lowest part of
the tympanum, just above the lintel, weigh the sins of the resurrected dead. In this period of
medieval, they have this extremely beliefs that the relics of St. Lazaro provided a closer
relationship to the holy that can heal people.
In conclusion, during the 11th and 12th centuries, tympana over church doorways
in Europe were ornamented with sophisticated and complex relief sculpture, which is the
tympanum that used to depict religious scenes, particularly Last Judgment scenarios, over
doorways. They were typically done in an early Christian style that was more symbolic
than realistic. It can help people who could not read that could learn from the relief
sculpture that tells a biblical story.
 Tarlac State University
College of Architecture and Fine Arts