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The figure of Isaiah prophesying the advent of the Virgin occupies one of the jambs of the portal devoted to the legend of the Deacon Theophilus that was erected about 1130-1140. While the figure is still gripped to the plane of the block, its fragile attenuated forms nevertheless express a characteristically Romanesque febrility. Legs crossed in a violent twist, limbs and drapery tensed in conflicting motion, face haggard, beard and hair flying in the wind, Isaiah seems caught up in prophetic ecstasy. In the fleeting, ruffling draperies the Romanesque artist gives free rein to an extraordinary play of linear patterns and exuberant decorative and rhythmic details. The sculpture at Souillac issues logically from that at Moissac.
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