Generosity vs Avarice, capital depicting the Fight of the Vices against the Virtues, c.1155, from the church of Notre-Dame-du-Port, Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Generosity and Charity piercing two Vices, capital depicting the Fight of the Vices against the Virtues, c.1155, from the church of Notre-Dame-du-Port, Clermont-Ferrand, France.

A larger image of 'Generosity vs Avarice', capital, c.1155, church of Notre-Dame-du-Port, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
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Generosity and Charity piercing two Vices, capital depicting the Fight of the Vices against the Virtues, c.1155, from the church of Notre-Dame-du-Port, Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Cite de l'architecture et du patrimoine (Museum of architecture & heritage), Paris. Copy of a capital of the Notre-Dame-du-Port basilica in Clermont-Ferrand. Fight between virtues and vices. France.
Photo by Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The two left-hand figures are referenced as (A) & (B) on p.119, Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350, Western Europe and the Crusader States by David Nicolle
302A-C ‘Struggle of Vices and Virtues’, carved capitals, County of Auvergne, c.1155
(in situ Notre Dame du Port, Clermont Ferrand, France)
A-B — Generosity fighting Avarice; C — Charity. Almost exactly the same equipment is shown in Notre Dame du Port as in the slightly earlier carvings at St Nectaire. The later date does, however, suit the longer tunics worn beneath mail hauberks. The hauberks themselves might have mid to long sleeves (B and C) and ventails, either drawn across the face (A) or unlaced and hanging beneath the throat. A sword protrudes through a slit at the side (C) as at Mozat, but a large and much broader shield has now appeared. This looks suitable for infantry combat rather than for cavalry and is also seen in the hands of foot-soldiers in a Norman carving of a slightly earlier date. The non-tapering sword (B) is a broad Mediterranean form, as distinct from the tapering and pointed sword current in Northern art. A fluted conical helmet with a nasal and a lower rounded form without a nasal are present, as they are at St Nectaire. One of the latter has, however, become so stylised that one doubts whether the sculptor had ever seen such a helmet.

Generosity and Charity piercing two Vices, capital depicting the Fight of the Vices against the Virtues, c.1155, from the church of Notre-Dame-du-Port, Clermont-Ferrand, France.