The curieux (the curious ones) on the tympanum arch of the abbey church of Sainte-Foy, Conques, Aveyron, France
The curieux
Unnamed 12th-century sculptors · small figures peeping over the band of the arch above the Last Judgment tympanum, fourteen of them according to several descriptions · west portal of the abbey church of Sainte-Foy, Conques, Aveyron
Photo: Thérèse Gaigé, Wikimedia Commons, 1 November 2011, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Last Judgment over the west door of Sainte-Foy in Conques is one of the great Romanesque carvings, with more than a hundred figures. Most visitors look at Christ in the middle. A few look up at the band of the arch above, where small figures hook their fingers over the stone and peer down at the scene, eyes just showing. In French they are the curieux, the curious ones. Descriptions count fourteen. Who they are is disputed: one reading calls them angels waiting to hear the verdict, another just an observer. The tympanum dates from the first half of the 12th century, and the newest dated photo we found of the portal was taken on 8 June 2025.
5 things to know
- Fourteen of themPierre Séguret’s description of the tympanum: “On the tympanum archivolt, fourteen ‘curious’ angels are carved.” Mary Ann Sullivan’s photo study counts the same peeping figure, which “is depicted fourteen times on the arch.” A 2011 Commons photo is captioned “L’un des quatorze curieux de l’archivolte du tympan” (“One of the fourteen curious ones on the tympanum’s archivolt”). Séguret · Bluffton University · Commons
- Angels, or just onlookers?Séguret reads them as angels who “are curious about the verdict of the final trial, which they still ignore.” Sullivan writes that “Commentators are baffled by this curious figure.” A 2010 Commons caption guesses pilgrims. Séguret · Bluffton University · Commons
- Kilroy, 800 years earlyWikipedia: “Particularly interesting are carvings of the ‘curieux’ (the curious ones), forerunners of the World War II-era cartoon image known as Kilroy, who peek over the edges of the tympanum.” Wikipedia
- Part of a crowded JudgmentThe Conques tourist office: the tympanum “shelters at least one hundred and twenty four figures,” on a field 6.70 m wide and 3.60 m high, and it once carried bright colours, with blue for Paradise and red for Hell. Conques tourist office
- On the road to SantiagoThe abbey church was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998 as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France, and has been a classified historic monument since 1840. Wikipedia · Conques tourist office press kit
Check-in guide
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- On the arch above the west portal of the abbey church of Sainte-Foy, in the centre of the village of Conques, Aveyron. The tympanum sits about 3.50 m above the church square (Conques tourist office).
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- The figures are small and high up. Look at the outermost band of the arch, just above the carved Judgment (Kenyon College photo, Commons photo). Binoculars or a zoom lens help.
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- The tourist office runs evening events at the abbey, the Nocturnes, when the tympanum’s colours are shown in light (press kit).
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- The Maps button searches for the abbey church of Sainte-Foy in Conques.
Sightings
- 201012 Mar
Commons photo: Les Curieux
- 20111 Nov
Commons close-up
- 20258 Jun
Commons photo of the portal
Every stamp links to a dated photo on Wikimedia Commons. Two are close-ups of the curieux: Daniel Villafruela’s photo of 12 March 2010 and Thérèse Gaigé’s of 1 November 2011 (the photo at the top of this page). The newest, taken on 8 June 2025 by Renhour48, shows the whole west portal with the tympanum and its arch in place; the small figures are too small to make out in it. The portal has stood since the 12th century, and we found no report of damage to the arch.
On the record
The tympanum
“one of the masterpieces of Romanesque sculpture from the first half of the 12th century”
The official page dates the tympanum and says it was probably made under Abbot Boniface, head of the monastery between 1107 and 1125. It has a heading for “the ‘curious’ little ones”.
Description of Conques tympanum, chapter 1
“On the tympanum archivolt, fourteen ‘curious’ angels are carved.”
A local reading of the tympanum, put online by Ambroise Séguret.
Ste. Foy: general views of the tympanum
“is depicted fourteen times on the arch”
From the section “The outer border of the arch: the ‘observer’”, about the figure peeping out with nose and eyes.
The facts
- Made by
- Not recorded: none of the sources we found names a sculptor Unconfirmed
- Name
- The curieux (“the curious ones”) (Kenyon College, Wikipedia, Commons) Checked
- Number
- Fourteen (Séguret, Bluffton University, Commons) Checked
- Who they are
- Angels curious about the verdict, according to Pierre Séguret; an unexplained “observer” that baffles commentators, according to Mary Ann Sullivan; possibly pilgrims, according to a 2010 Commons caption (Séguret, Bluffton University, Commons) Conflicting. We do not take a side: the sources are interpretations, and none cites a medieval text naming them.
- Date
- The tympanum is dated to the first half of the 12th century, probably under Abbot Boniface (1107–1125), by the Conques tourist office, and to about 1150 by art historian Don Denny, as cited by Sullivan (Conques tourist office, Bluffton University) Conflicting. Both put it in the 12th century, as does the Kenyon College record (Kenyon College) Checked. We found no source that dates the curieux separately from the tympanum.
- Place
- The arch over the Last Judgment tympanum, west portal of the abbey church of Sainte-Foy, Conques (Conques tourist office, Kenyon College, Wikipedia) Checked
- Material
- Carved stone; the tympanum was once painted, and traces of colour survive (Conques tourist office, Wikipedia) Checked
- Protection
- Classified historic monument since 1840 (Wikipedia) Reported; UNESCO World Heritage since 1998 as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France (Wikipedia, press kit) Checked
- Our photo
- The photo at the top was taken on 1 November 2011 by Thérèse Gaigé and published on Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Checked. Street Art Utopia used a different, smaller close-up whose photographer is not named.
- Status
- Standing: the west portal with its tympanum and arch is in place in a Commons photo with camera date 8 June 2025 (Wikimedia Commons) Checked. The newest dated close-up of the curieux we found is from 1 November 2011 (Wikimedia Commons).
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: I Didn’t Expect That (11 Photos vol. 3) (13 October 2026), where the curieux appear, and Medieval Humor at the Abbey of Sainte Foy, Conques (16 January 2024).
- A close-up of the curieux in a pilgrimage photo archive. Kenyon College
- Pierre Séguret’s full reading of the tympanum, scene by scene. art-roman-conques.fr
All sources (9)
This work
- Kenyon College, Digital Kenyon: “Ste. Foy, Conques, curieux (curious ones), over tympanum arch”, William J. Smither. 12th century; the figure looks out over the world.
- Pierre Séguret: “Description of Conques tympanum, chapter 1”, art-roman-conques.fr. Fourteen “curious” angels on the archivolt.
- Mary Ann Sullivan, Bluffton University: “Ste. Foy: general views of the tympanum”, © 2007. The “observer” depicted fourteen times on the arch; Denny’s date of about 1150.
- Wikipedia: “Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy”. The curieux who peek over the edges of the tympanum; UNESCO 1998; monument historique 1840.
- Conques tourist office: “The tympanum”. First half of the 12th century, Abbot Boniface 1107–1125, at least 124 figures, 6.70 × 3.60 m, colours.
Dated photos
- Wikimedia Commons: “Abbaye Ste Foy à Conques (07) – Les Curieux.jpg”, Daniel Villafruela, 12 March 2010, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Wikimedia Commons: “Curieux du tympan de l’abbatiale Sainte-Foy.JPG”, Thérèse Gaigé, 1 November 2011, CC BY-SA 3.0. The photo at the top of this page.
- Wikimedia Commons: “Abbatiale Sainte-Foy de Conques – Tympan 21.jpg”, Renhour48, camera date 8 June 2025, CC0.
Context
- Conques tourist office press kit (2020). Tympanum of the Last Judgment, 12th century; UNESCO 1998; the Nocturnes.
Artwork File · Last checked 13 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files