Moissac - South Side - S04MS04

N E W S

  Moissac
South Side
S04MS04

N E W S
S04MS04S S

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S04MS04W W

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S04MS04N N

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S04MS04E E

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Antithetical birds

On each side of the capital two birds are placed back to back. They nestle their heads together in each of the corners. The curled tips of their outer wings meet at the base of the console block in the middle axis of each side, while the similarly inward-curled tips of their inner wings lie just below their heads. Their outer, talon-like claws clutch the annulet of the capital, while their inner claws grasp a further ring placed just above it. The plumage of the birds shows a very meticulous decorative treatment: triangles mark the point where the wings are joined to the body; the feathers are decorated with a kind of fish-scale pattern; and the tail feathers with long, finely chiselled parallel grooves.
This is a variant of the capitals W04MS60, N14MS52 and, to a lesser degree, N05MS43.
In the middle axis of the bevelled impost frieze animal heads are placed sideways and from each of their mouths two circular tendrils sprout; these are interlaced into a row of knots, and were presumably swallowed in turn by further animal heads placed at the corners, but these have not survived.

bird knot