West Tympanum, Cathedral of St. Anastasia
1324
Zadar, Croatia
The figure in women's clothing on the right I assume to be St. Anastasia of Sirmium, mostly because this is her cathedral and there is no other sculpture on the west tympanum that could be of her. There are no attributes, but the clothing resembles that of an Anastasia relief in the Permanent Exhibition of Sacred Art in Zadar's Benedictine convent.
Similarly, it is a guess on my part that the figure on the right is St. Chrysogonus, the patron saint of Dalmatia, the region of which Zadar is the principal city. Images of Anastasia sometimes pair her with Chrysogonus. The wrapped or sheathed sword that he holds point-down could refer to the saint's renouncing his military offices when he became a Christian. A wrapped sword is sometimes an attribute of St. Julian, referring to his adoption of a life of charity after committing a murder. A relief of what may be the same saint appears at the left edge of the door below the tympanum.
The central image is of course a Virgin and Child. In her right hand Mary holds a round fruit, or possibly a ball, a reference to the mappa mundi globe that in images of the Father or of the adult Christ symbolizes their reign over the earth.
View the tympanum in full resolution
Read more about images of the Madonna and Child, St. Anastasia and St. Chrysogonus
All photographs taken at the cathedral by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.