Images: Wikimedia Commons
Clavis number: ECMA 165
Other descriptors: none
Location: Bleds Portal of la Collégiale Notre-Dame, Semur-en-Auxois
Category: tympana
Related literature: Acts of Thomas, Miracles of Thomas, Passion of Thomas
Featured characters and locations: Abban, Gad (brother of king Gundaphorus), Gundaphorus, India, Thomas (apostle).
1. DESCRIPTION
Material: stone
Size: not provided
Date: the church was constructed in the thirteenth century
Images: middle row (left to right): 1) Thomas puts his finger in the wound of Christ; 2) Christ, in center, places Thomas in the service of Abban; 3) Thomas, Abban, and two others on a boat. Bottom row (right to left): 1) Thomas (right) at the wedding banquet with (left to right) the king, the wedding couple, and a cupbearer; in front: an entertainer (?) and a lion or dog; 2) Abban hands Thomas over to Gundaphorus; 3) Thomas receives money from Gundaphorus, while an attendant holds his stool (or Thomas is distributing money to the poor); 5) Thomas and the heavenly palace, or Thomas in prison (?); 4) Thomas (arm raised) and a bowing, headless figure (Gad? Gundaphorus?).
2. RELATION TO APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE
In the Acts of Thomas (and its adaptations), the apostle is sold as a slave to Abban, who takes Thomas to India (act 1). Along the way they stop at Andrapolis and attend a wedding. Thomas is struck by a cupbearer, who perished from a lion attack (act 2). Thomas reaches India and is commanded by King Gundaphorus to construct for him a palace. While the king is away, Thomas distributes the funds for the palace to the poor. Gundaphorus discovers the subterfuge, but before he can punish Thomas, his brother Gad dies. Thomas raises Gad back to life and Gad tells of seeing a great palace for Gundaphorus in heaven (act 3).
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arfeux, Germain. Notre–Dame de Semur. Lucenay le Duc: La Douix,
Bouillot, Alexandra, and Mathieu Chartier. “Le portail des Bleds de la Collégiale de Semur-en-Auxois: La vie de Saint Thomas sculptée sur un tympan pour enseigner le christianisme aux populations de Semur à l’époque médiévale.” Unpublished presentation, 2011.
Mâle, Émile. L’Art religieux du XIIIe siècle en France. Paris: A. Colin, 1931 (pp. 354–55) (English translation: Religious Art in France, The Thirteenth Century: A Study of Medieval Iconography and Its Sources. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984 [pp. 300–302]).
4. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
“Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois.” Wikipedia.
“Semur-en-Auxois.” Bourgogne médiévale.
“Thomas à la collégiale
de Semur-en-Auxois, Côtes-d’Or.” Un apôtre du nom de Thomas. Des temps romans à l’âge gothique.
Entry created by Tony Burke, York University, 21 May 2024.