Front page of the Judgment of Tudela Cathedral
Gentleman
This voussoir on the side of hell, which represents a knight dressed as a medieval warrior (chain mail, shield, helmet and lance or pennant in his hand), accompanied by another character on his back and with some animals at the horse's feet, has been interpreted in different ways. For some authors, it is a representation of the 4th Horseman of the Apocalypse or Death, according to the text of the Apocalypse (6, 7-8): "... and behold an olive green horse, and he that sat on him was called Death, and Hades was behind him, and power was given him over the fourth part of the earth to kill with scimitar and with famine and with pestilence and with the wild beasts of the earth ...". E. Aragonés and Lance, however, believe that it is a representation of the sin of pride, where a proud knight is led to hell by the devil who accompanies him on his rump, and where the animals that accompany him are a symbol of his possessions on earth. Near this voussoir we see in another voussoir the punishment, in which the knight, still wearing his helmet and shield, is burnt in a cauldron.
Photo: Carlos Martínez Álava
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MELERO MONEO, M.L., "Recherches sur l'iconographie des métiers à Tudela", Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale, nº 30, (1987), pp. 71-76.
