Pairs of confronted birds

Two birds in profile are symmetrically arranged on each side of the capital. Their heads and tails nestle against each other in the corners. Their bodies are curved; their (destroyed) claws are clamped together over the annulet. Their rear wings meet in the middle axis under the console block. Their heads lean on a tendril shoot (or they peck it). Stylistically this motif stems directly from the Basilica of Saint-Sernin in Toulouse, as also does the sculptural treatment of the birds (including the distinctive groove on their heads): very similar examples of birds are found in the crown of the reinforcing arch projecting from the apse. In the abbey church of Toulouse, as also in numerous other churches, these eagles are placed perpendicularly over the altar and possess a powerfully symbolic connotation. In Moissac, too, more is to be seen in them than a merely zoomorphic ornament, not least on the grounds of the repeated inscription AV/ ES, which is found in all four corners of the abacus. Unusually, such inscriptions appear in representations of the Genesis cycle, as Adam names the animals. Therefore, it is presumable the ornamental character of this zoomorphic motif was not only ornamental in character but served for the completion of the Creation alluded to in the adjacent capital.
As pendants to the confronted birds on the calathos of the capital, two lions are placed back to back on each side of the bevelled impost frieze. In this case, however, there is no duplication: in each of the corners one head (now destroyed) belongs to two bodies. Even though no inscriptions are present, it can perhaps be assumed that the sculptor, or the patron, had in mind the idea of complementing the lions – land animals – with birds – animals of the air.

Toulouse lion inscription Genesis Adam Saint-Sernin eagle