medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
A statue of St. Margaret in the Chrysler Museum of Art (Norfolk, Virginia, USA) shows her standing with one foot on the beast, who is a bit worse for wear and therefore looks more like a lap dog than a dragon.
//Tom
Thomas L. Long, Ph.D.
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-----Original Message-----
From: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cormack, Margaret Jean
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2004 4:48 AM
To: Long, Thomas
Subject: Re: dragons
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
And I have seen St. Margaret portrayed with her dragon on an elegant leash with (I think) a jewelled collar. Hagiography society members who were at the Budapest conference will remember this! Meg
________________________________
From: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture on behalf of John Dillon
Sent: mán. 1.11.2004 21:21
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] saints of the day 1. November
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Maddy Gray wrote:
> St Armel does the same. In English iconography he is depicted with a
> diminutive dragon on a string, looking for all the world as though he
> is saying 'Walkies ...' .
Of course, not all dragons on a string represent a saintly subduing. Years ago my wife and I were pleased to observe in the Jardin de la Fontaine at Nimes a flattish red metal sculpture of a reptile of some sort with open toothy jaws, tied by a chain to a tree some distance away. Our first thought, that this was someone's jeu d'esprit involving a dragon chained up as though a pet dog, was of course quite wrong (as those familiar with Nimes and its history as Roman Nemausus may have already guessed). Rather, it was a modern version of the crocodile chained to a palm tree, locally famous from a coin of Octavian honoring the city's ex-legionary colonists, shown here in the original: http://www.thall.net/augustus%20ric%20159.htm
and here from another copy (a reproduction?): http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~ekondrat/Augustus/Col_Nem.jpg
Another modern version (from a divers' club) is here: http://nemausus.plongee.free.fr/fichindex/entree.htm
Iconography can be so treacherous when one lacks the proper context.
Best,
John Dillon
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