CAPITAL DEPICTING SCENES FROM THE ANNUNCIATION

For many centuries, the Catholic Church told its religious stories through images. Church entrances, pediments and capitals were historiated. This made the religious texts intelligible to those who couldn’t read Latin.
The portal of Saint-Privat church in Saint-Béat is framed by four columns. One of them bears a capital depicting scenes from both the Annunciation and the Visitation of the Virgin Mary. Built in the Romanesque period (12th-14th centuries), it is listed as a Historic Monument. The Annunciation scene depicts the Archangel Gabriel speaking to Mary to announce her divine maternity.