Capital with fantastic beasts and human figures

The cloister of the Abbey of Saint-Pons-de-Thomières in Languedoc (Hérault) featured at least four different styles among more than thirty capitals that have survived among collections in France and the United States. Grotesque animals’ heads appear at each of the four corners of this capital. A man in a tunic resembling monastic garb (though the man lacks a tonsure) stands between two of the heads. His hand is raised, and he holds what appears to be a club.

Sources:
- Jane Hayward and Walter Cahn, _Radiance and Reflection: Medieval Art from the Raymond Pitcairn Collection_, 1982, 59-61.