medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>> A difficulty here is the absence of reported context for
this sculpture. Does your friend say where it is in the cathedral
(e.g., in a family chapel) or whether it is part of, or placed over,
a funerary monument? <<
yes a good point. he only says:
"While in the Bremen cathedral, I was showing her the ancient
wooden choir stalls ... Then we noticed a sculpture which had
us both baffled, although we speculated it probably originated
in the lore of the crusades."
his description, which i cited, followed. i will ask him about its
context, where it was situated.
>> Assuming that the sculpture _is_ medieval, it could relate
in some way to the exploits of Alexander the Great ... <<
yes an excellent hypothesis given the sparce data provided.
mata
___ .
mata kimasitayo
kimasita(at)bloomington.in.us
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-- b. spinoza
(tractatus politicus, cap. I, par. 4)
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----- Original Message -----
From: John Dillon
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2004 1:03 AM
Subject: Re: [M-R] RE [M-R] wood sculpture in bremen cathedral
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Mon, 15 Mar 2004 00:09:00 -0500
mata kimasitayo <[log in to unmask]> wrote, thanking Nancy Spies:
>yes, thanks nancy. and if an elephant (scil. somewhat
>fabulous to the carver) then why an elephant? why
>should such an object be in a cathedral? could it
>depict a biblical event/episode?
>
A difficulty here is the absence of reported context for this sculpture. Does your friend say where it is in the cathedral (e.g., in a family chapel) or whether it is part of, or placed over, a funerary monument? If the latter, its subject might have more to do with interests of a patron than with the church's function as a place of religious teaching and worship.
Assuming that the sculpture _is_ medieval, it could relate in some way to the exploits of Alexander the Great, popular in the central and later Middle Ages as a type of knightly (and kingly) heroic virtue. But without more information about this particular artifact, that's just speculation.
Best,
John Dillon
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