Abbot Durandus

The figure on the east side is the Abbot and former Cluniac monk Durand de Bredons (1048-1072).
He stands under a round arch with the inscription: S[AN]C(TV)S DVRANNVS EP[ISCOPV]S TOLO+SANVS ET ABB[A]S MOYSIACO (Saint Durandus Bishop of Toulouse and Abbot of Moissac). Like the nine figures of Apostles on the other marble-panelled pillars, he is haloed and stands under an arch.
Durandus is described first as Bishop and only secondarily as Abbot. This pillar, moreover, is placed exactly opposite the Colophon-Pillar of the west gallery, which names the Abbot who commissioned the erection of the cloister in 1100, namely Abbot Ansquitil (1085-1115). Ansquitil thus claims to be the heir of the Bishop, who in conformity with the “apostolic tradition” is alone empowered to interpret the meaning of the divine message to be unveiled in Holy Scripture (which is symbolized by the water on the middle pillar in the north gallery). Precisely this meaning was revealed to Bishop Durandus through the Apostles on the other pillars, they had come into close contact with Christ himself.
So the shared iconography of the pillars expresses the legitimate sureties (auctoritates) who guarantee the validity of the exegesis in the form of the capitals.

The north and south sides are decorated with fish-scale patterns.

apostolic-Tradition Bishop abbot Cluny auctoriates Durand-de-Bredons Durandus exegesis inscription S(AN)C(TV)S DURANNVS EP(ISCOPV)S TOLO+SANVS ET ABB(A)S MOYSIACO