Capital, marble, depicting Daniel between the Lions, South-west France, ca. 1140

Marble capital depicting Daniel between the lions. On one face of the capital, Daniel bearded and moustached, wearing a diadem, is seated with his hands touching and held above his lap: on either side, a lion places a paw on Daniel's knee. The bodies of the lions occupy two sides of the capital; behind the lion on Daniel's left is a figure, probably Habakkuk, and the wing of an angel now missing. Behind the lion on Daniel's right is a bearded figure, probably the Persian king . On the fourth side is a standing figure of Habahhuh, identified by the urn of boiled pottage in the crook of his right arm.
The capital is badly damaged and the abacus is missing.

From the abbey church of Saint-Pons-de-Thomiéres, Hérault. South Eastern France (Languedoc).
Bought from K.J. Hewett in London, 1956, for £175.

The Benedictine abbey of Saint-Pons-de-Thomiéres was pillaged in 1170 by Roger Trenceval, viscount of Beziers. Although rebuilt partially after 1171, repeated sackings of the abbey during the Religious Wars and the Revolution finally obliterated all traces of the cloister. More than thirty capitals from the cloister survive today at : Saint-Pons, in the Louvre, at Toulouseand Montpellier, in the Metroploitan Museum New York. in the Pitcairn collection Bryn Athyn, Toledo, Richmond and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Cambridge, Massachussetes. Joseph Sahuc assembled most of the group for the first time in the late nineteenth century, when they were scattered around the immediate vicinity of the church (L'art roman à Saint-Pons-de-Thomiéres, Montpellier, 1908).

There appear to be four styles, ranging in date from the early twelfth to the thirteenth centuries: the present capital belongs to the second group, which should probably be dated to around 1140: of this workshop, only the capitals in the Louvre (Showing the entombment) and the fogg Museum (the Emmaus story) still survive. This second group has points of contact with contemporary work in Narbonne and Toulouse, moving away from the relationship with Rousillon sculpture, such as at Cuxa and Serrabone, seen in the first group.

The scene of Daniel in the lion's den was especially popular on capitals in the Romanesque period, examples being found throughout France, northern Spain and northern Italy. The Old Testament figure was considered to prefigure the Judging Christ. The type of composition seen on the present capital, with both Habakkuk and the Angel in attendance, was popular in Provence and northern Italy in the second half of the twelfth century: particularly close examples may be seen at Arles, (Saint Trophime), Modena (capital on the pontile in the cathedral), Fidenza, and in the Baptistry at Parma.
Half a capital in the Museum at Narbonne shows the same scene as the present capital which Jaques Bousquet considers to be "sans doute par le même artiste que nous proposons d'appeler le "maître de Saint Paul".

The Persian king Darius, placed his kingdom under the control of a hundred and twenty princes, under three presidents. Daniel was initially one of the three, however the king considered elevating him above the others. At this, the princes and presidents sought to compass his ruin by convicting him of disloyalty to the Crown. They secured from the king a decree forbidding anyone, under penalty of being cast into the lions' den, to ask any petition of either god or man, except the monarch, for thirty days. As they had anticipated, Daniel nevertheless prayed, three times a day, at his open window, towards Jerusalem. This they reported to the king, and they forced him to apply the threatened punishment to the violator of the decree. Daniel was sealed in the lion's den, but was saved by the intervention of an angel which bound the beasts mouths. Following Daniel's miraculous preservation in the lions' den, Darius published a decree that all in his realm should honour and revere the God of Daniel, proclaiming that He is "the living and eternal God". And so Daniel continued to prosper through the rest of the reign of Darius, and in that of his successor, Cyrus.

This capital is from the abbey church of Saint-Pons-de-Thomières, Hérault, South Eastern France (Languedoc). The monastery was pillaged in 1170 by Roger Trencavel, vicomte de Beziers. Although rebuilt partially in the Gothic style after 1171, repeated sackings of the monastery during the Religious Wars and the Revolution finally obliterated all traces of the cloister. More than thirty pieces of sculpture survive today.

The scene of Daniel in the lion's den was especially popular on capitals in the Romanesque period, examples being found throughout France, northern Spain and northern Italy. The Old Testament figure was considered to prefigure the Judging Christ. The type of composition seen on the present capital, with both Habakkuk and the Angel in attendance, was popular in Provence and northern Italy in the second half of the twelfth century.

A.6-1956