The counterfeit and the authentic in the Conques tympanum

The Conques tympanum is replete with inscriptions that complement its visual imagery, from leonine hexameters conveying the finality of the Last Judgment to liturgical and biblical quotations. Among these are a handful of little-studied tautologies, understood as the juxtaposition of an inscribed noun and a carved representation of the same object. A painted cvnevs accompanied a die held by a minter, tortured in hell. The remaining tautologies are located in the central cross and reference instruments of the Passion: the cross, lance, and nails. Accounting for this attention, I suggest in part, can be linked to contemporary discourse surrounding passion relics, which had particular importance at Conques. At about the same time the tympanum was constructed, the monastery received from the pope Passion relics. In contrast, contemporary uncertainties circulating around the authenticity of relics found fitting figuration in a minter, who had the means to counterfeit value.