TYMPANUM

plural Tympana, in architecture, an area, triangular or semicircular in shape, that is within an arch above a lintel. In Europe during the 11th and 12th centuries, tympana over church portals were decorated with intricate and stylized relief sculpture. A particularly popular subject for tympanum decoration was the Last Judgment. Typically, the figure of Christ appears in the centre of the composition, dominant in size and usually enclosed in a mandorla (an oval, nimbus-like form). At his right and left are the four Evangelists, sometimes represented or accompanied by their animal symbols. To the sides, smaller figures of angels and demons weigh sins of the resurrected dead, who are ranked along the lowest and smallest section of the tympanum, directly above the lintel. Fine examples of Romanesque tympana may be seen at the abbey church of Saint-Pierre at Moissac, Fr., and at the cathedral of Saint-Lazare at Autun.