France (Autun, Burgundy)

Centaur and Monster / Griffin Historiated Capital from the Cathedral of Saint-Lazare

2211

High Romanesque (12th Century), c. 1120–1135 CE

A Romanesque historiated capital by Gislebertus (c. 1120–1135 CE) depicting a centaur drawing a bow toward a winged scaled monster or griffin, with a secondary figure entwined in serpentine coils below — a didactic moral emblem of the cosmic struggle between spiritual forces and the defense of faith against demonic entities.