The archivolt above the saints portrays the elders of the Apocalypse. This motif, nearly universal in Romanesque sculpture, illustrates verse 8 of the 5th chapter of the Book of Revelation. In this passage "the twenty-four Elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints". The substitution of rebecs, contemporary string instruments, for harps, is common in Medieval iconography. Interestingly, the reverse substitution is to be found in the Bestiary of the top archivolt (see next image), where the antique fable of the "fiddling ass" is illustrated by a donkey holding not a rebec, but a harp!

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