Let the good times Roll..

The other day in class we created our own tympanums. My partner, Gracie, and I brainstormed many ideas: jungle, United States, anti-religion, apple computers…etc. But finally we decided to depict a rock band. We first divided our arch into three registers: crowd, stage, and backstage. In the center of our tympanum we drew a singer with spiked hair, skinny jeans, and chains. Around him is an almond-like shape, similar to a mandorla that would have surrounded Christ in the Romanesque period. He is depicted as the leader of the band, with his co-rockers on either side of him. The drummer and guitarist sit on his right, while the shaggy pianist plays away on his left. In the lower right hand corner above the lintel are speakers, sending the music towards the audience. Screaming silhouetted figures crowd the bottom register above the lintel. At either end of the audience, buff body guards stand watch to protect the rock band above.
Similar to the tympanum of the center portal of the narthex of La Madeleine, our voussoirs have images inside of them. Yet, while La Madeleine has images depicting people of different cultures from around the world, we drew images meant to symbolize different rock bands. From right to left, the bands depicted are: ACDC, the beatles, guns n’ roses, the rolling stones, the eagles, the police, red hot chili peppers, and earth wind and fire. Each voussoir, separated by bands of design, has a stage light protruding from the bottom shining towards the central figure. This is similar to the South Portal of St. Pierre, where all figures face Christ. Throughout the entire background of our tympanum, interlacing designs swarm, disguising various musical signs. Patterns such as this bring back the interlacing style of the warrior lords from the medieval period. Except in the case of our tympanum, music notes take the spot of animal figures amongst the interlacing designs. The central image above the lintel is a Latin phrase, translating as ‘let the good times roll:’ a summation of our tympanum.