medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I've picked up on this one rather late and haven't tracked back for the full discussion - I've seen a number of carvings with hand wear (there's an effigy said to be of the founder St Teilo in Llandaff Cathedral which was traditionally used as a place for making legal agreements) and they tend to have a greasy look. I would have thought the result from use for grinding would be very different.
Maddy
Dr Madeleine Gray
Reader in History
School of Education/Ysgol Addysg
University of Wales, Newport/Prifysgol Cymru, Casnewydd
Caerleon Campus/Campws Caerllion,
Newport/Casnewydd NP18 3QT Tel: +44 (0)1633.432675
'Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness' (Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms)
________________________________________
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Genevra Kornbluth [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 18 December 2010 05:46
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] photo archive additions
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
The sculpture that I have seen that has been worn down by touching tends
to have protrusions worn off, rather than flat places made concave. (The
effigy of Marie Antoinette at Saint-Denis, for example, has dramatically
smoothed breasts [presumably not paraliturgical!].) As for the multiple
concavities all over Gudea in different places, I had thought of them as
the result of many different people using the stone, probably over
centuries, as its position shifted in the ground. Whenever one concavity
got inconveniently deep, someone might have started grinding in a
different place. The feet could have been inaccessible, or simply too
deeply cut to be convenient. Your idea is interesting, though. I shall
have to be on the look-out for other ground down examples.
Best,
Genevra
On 12/17/2010 1:15 PM, Dr Jim Bugslag wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Thanks Genevra and Christopher, But...
> I seem to recall reading about a different broken image of Gudea
> having been worn smooth, presumably by numerous hands touching it. In
> other words, a paraliturgical ritual. It strikes me that a similar
> explanation concerning this work is just as likely (if not more) as a
> suggestion that the concavities were the result of grinding grain. In
> fact, given their odd and awkward conjunction, a grain grinder would
> have had to have been fairly acrobatic to create all of those
> concavities. And wouldn't one have done the trick? Also, the rock
> with the concavities enshrines Gudea's feet, somewhat like a reliquary.
> Cheers,
> Jim
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|