121 Romanesque and the Past (2013), 121–141 © British Archaeological Association 2013 THE PORTAL AT RIPOLL REVISITED: AN HONORARY ARCH FOR THE ANCESTORS Manuel Castiñeiras Triumphal arches add to the glory of illustrious men only when the writing upon them informs in whose honour they have been reared, and why. It is the inscription that tells the spectator that the triumphal arch is that of our own Constantine, liberator of his country and promoter of peace. Indeed no one has ever gained permanent fame except as the result of what he has written or of what others have written of him. The memory of fool or emperor is, after a brief lapse of time, the same unless it be prolonged by courtesy of writers. 1 The term triumphal arch has been a topos when referring to the Ripoll portal, since the 19th century. Both Jacint Verdaguer (1886) and J. M. Pellicer (1888) used this expression: Yves Christe would extend the artistic dimension of the term in 1972 by comparing the portal with the triumphant Early Christian tradition and, specifically, with what is known of the now-destroyed Arch of Einhard (9th century). 2 In my opinion, given its structural and program- matic similarity, the Ripoll portal (Fig. 1) is undoubt- edly related to certain Roman monuments which were still visible in the 12th century, in particular to the Porta Nigra in Besançon (Franche Comté) (2nd century AD) (Fig. 2) and the Triumphal Arch of Orange (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) (1st century AD). 3 In the first example we find the same placement of columns in the corners, the same decorative variety in the column shafts, the same inset of a calendar (or cycle of Gods) in the door jambs, and the use of bands with figurative reliefs of a number of battle scenes. In the case of Orange, the formulas used to repre- sent warfare are very similar to those at Ripoll. It is striking that at both monuments we find the same clas- sical motifs, such as the nude corpse of the defeated man lying on the ground (Figs 3 and 4) and the equestrian pursuit of a defenceless enemy, which is also represented at Besançon. 4 There are many other comparable details between Ripoll and these and other ancient monuments, like the so-called Syrian entabla- ture at the top of the portal to provide protection to the Pantocrator (at Orange this Serlian motif is also at the top of both lateral façades framing the bust of the Sun in the East), the iconography of the months (comparing May and September at Ripoll to ‘August’ at Besançon) or the various cosmological images on the trumpet-shaped door jambs at Ripoll which symbolize the Earth (Minotaur, Atlas), the Ocean (the Mask of Abyssus) and the Heaven (Constellations of Aquarius). 5 This repertoire used to be in Roman triumphal arches to underline the universal power of the Emperor as it can be seen at Besançon where Minotaur and Telamoni have been depicted as well. We should not forget that this fluent dialogue between Ripoll and triumphal (or honorary) arches might have been aided by the striking and vivid pres- ence of some of them in the monumental landscape of the 12th century, as is the case for the arches at Orange and Besançon. The former became a donjon known as Chateau de l’Arc, while the latter was an entrance tower to the cathedral complex at Besançon. The structural additions to these re-used monuments made them more similar to a church façade and thus more easily imitated. 6 However, as John of Salisbury (1120–80) noted in his Policraticus (c. 1159), what typifies Roman honor- ary arches is their intention to celebrate the glory of illustrious men through the use of inscriptions, which show for whom they were erected, and what event they commemorate. 7 This is where we come up against an issue that is very difficult to resolve at Ripoll: while three intriguing figures are depicted in the lower right band of the portal (Fig. 5), the lack of a com- memorative inscription relating to them makes their identification entirely speculative.