The inscriptions
on the base of the tympanum, next to the lions and around the Chrismon,
instruct the faithful about the mysteries of their religion; giving recommendations
on how to achieve salvation, and, circling the Chrismon, explaining the
essence of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. It
is this last element which, from Jaca onwards, resulted in Chrismons of
this kind being denominated Trinitarian.
The daisies which are studded
around the Chrismon can be seen also in the interior of the cathedral (on
one of the big unfinished capitals), and on a corbel of the apse of San
Adrián de Sásabe (predates Jaca).
As a result of a debate
which arose in the forum of the association ‘Amigos del Románico’
(autumn 2008), I went back to Jaca to reconsider the Chrismon and its inscriptions.
As on other occasions, I put everything I thought I knew about this subject
out of my head and put my questions directly to the stones.
Then I selected the best photos in my collection
and, with great care, traced over the Chrismon, the inscriptions and ornamentation,
and produced a copy which can be seen both at the top of the page and just
below.
The first thing that surprised me is that
the three verses that compose the inscription occupy practically the same
space, dividing the circle in three equal segments: ‘Three parts forming
One whole’ – the first formal allusion to the Trinity.
Also, on checking the meaning
of the phrases, the importance of the punctuation marks becomes obvious.
Below I have taken the inscription out of the circle in order to make scrutiny
easier –it is an exact copy of the original from which it was traced.
There are two types of punctuation, or three
if we take into consideration the cross at the top indicating the beginning
of the text. Separating the three phrases are two punctuation marks composed
of two successive dots with a diacritic mark underneath them. In the, descriptive
and instructive, middle phrase there are four more dots: one after the P,
one on each side of the A and one more situated between Genitvs and Duplex,
separating both words.
Observe also the rhyme:
the three phrases that make up the inscription are three hexameters adapted
to a leonine rhyme (also known as an internal or interior rhyme as the same
line contains a rhyming couplet) so that each phrase can be read in two
‘bursts’. In the first phrase Scvlptura
rhymes with Cvra, in the second Genitvs
with Almvs and in the third Qvidem
with Idem.
In the first phrase the reader is called on to pay attention to what is
about to be explained. The second transmits the message which updates the
meaning given to the Chrismon up to now, and the third, recurrent phrase
emphasises the mystery of the Trinity.
"In
this sculpture, reader, you should understand the following"
"P is the Father, A is the Son,
the double (consonant) is the Holy Spirit"
"The Three are truly one and
the same, the Lord"
The major difference between
the Chrismon in Jaca and earlier versions to be found since the time of
Constantine the Great is that it highlights the mystery of the Trinity.
Not only did it draw attention to the Trinity, but it is also explained
it in the carefully executed inscription which frames the Chrismon.
‘P’
is the Father, ‘A’ is the Son, ‘X’
is the Holy Spirit.
Why did this necessity to use a text to
explain the Trinity arise? The answer seems to lie in the existence of heresies
at the time which questioned the mystery of the Trinity and the divine nature
of Christ. The Kingdom of Aragon stepped forward in defence of the Trinity.
By means of the Chrismon carved in stone and explained to the faithful in
Jaca the word spread over the whole kingdom and beyond, to places where
Aragon had influence or connections: Catalonia, the south of France, Navarra,
Castile…
Although the message regarding
the Trinity is clear and there is agreement among investigators on this
point, there is no such consensus on another point which is essential when
transcribing this epigraph. The source of this controversy is the word ‘DVPLEX’.
It should be pointed out that there is a punctuation mark just before the
word which means that it belongs in the phrase ‘DVPLEX EST SPS ALMVS’.
The present tendency is to consider that
‘DVPLEX’ refers to the double letter, and that it is neither
the ‘S’ nor the ‘Omega’, but the ‘X’;
given that, up until the time of Augustus, this symbol only possessed a
numeral value (10) and the sound X was represented by the two consonants
CS, namely, the double letter.
This idea is consistent
with another way of reading some chrismons that have an added ‘A’
to highlight the message ‘PAX’.
PAX, as a symbol, is the
equivalent of a Trinitarian Chrismon: P (father), A (son), X (Holy Spirit).
This symbol (PAX) is engraved on one of the gold rings which were rescued
from the royal tombs in San Juan de la Peña. The symbol was adopted
by the kings and queens of Aragon and was even used as a royal seal (engraved
on the outside of the ring band and written inversely so that it can be
used as a seal).
The ‘S’ which
is on the lower part of the vertical bar of the symbol rho is in fact the
last letter in the Greek word ‘CRISTÓS’. It appeared
at the beginning of many documents of the time, even before the appearance
of the stone Chrismon.
Therefore, the symbol XPS
– translated as ‘XTVS’ (Christós) – which
is also present in the Chrismon at Jaca with the accent on the ‘P’
in the phrase "PARCERE STERNENTI LEO SCIT XTVSQVE
PETENTI" (inscription next to the lion on our left), is in
itself a true Chrismon given that it represents the name of Christ.
(If you look carefully at the sentence next to the lion in the photos on
this page you can discern the accent on the ‘P’, something like
this P)
(Click
to enlarge image)