semicircular concave shapes. Another similarity comes from the way the nose and the

upper lip of the figures are united by a straight line, and this is evident in both examples.

A second example that comes from the sumptuary arts is the black oak and gilded silver

Arca Santa of Ovideo dated to the late 11Ith or early 12th century (Fig. 90).224 In One of the

side panels of the Arca, Christ is enthroned in a mandorla that is being held by angels--

which is similar to its counterpart in the Bible ofAvila-and at either side, arranged in

two registers, are the twelve Apostles who are located underneath individual arcades. An

important observation needs to be made, in both examples Christ does not carry the Book

of the Just in His hand. The Arca Santa also presents a number of inscriptions identifying

the scenes and the events that are taking place in the iconography. In terms of style the

similarities are numerous. The drapery is similar in the way it wraps around the figures,

in the patterns of semicircular folds on the front of their garments, and in the way the legs

are very clearly outlined underneath their garments. Christ' s pallium wraps

symmetrically over His shoulders, allowing a view of the tunic underneath. After this

iconographic and stylistic analysis it is possible to conclude that the iconography of the

Second Coming of Christ was well established in the Peninsula from the 10th to 12th

centuries, and even though the examples from the sumptuary arts are not exact, they can

be used as a conceptual source for the type of imagery necessary to depict this theme.

 I will further argue that the architecture present in the Second Coming of Christ in

the Cycle of the Life and Passion of Christ stands for the Church. The head-down

composition of the angels will indicate a descending movement and they are holding the

double mandorla, on which Christ sits, and is coming back "in like manner." Christ is


224 The Art of2~edieval Spain, ad' 500-1200, pp. 259-260.