Mural decoration. Orant
MDCS 1
When the Romanesque paintings were removed from the church of Sant Quirze de Pedret, the remains of an earlier decoration were uncovered. These are the two fragments, l’Orant (“The Orant”) and el Cavaller (“The Knight”), which were placed on either side of the window of the central apse under the painting of the twenty-four elders of the Apocalypse.
One of these fragments contains a circle decorated with zigzag lines. Above this circle is a peacock and inside it, a bearded man dressed in a tunic with outstretched arms in an attitude of prayer: l’Orant. Many theories have been put forward to interpret this painting. One of them talks about salvation and resurrection, drawing on the idea that the peacock is a Romanesque symbol of immortality.