Also Henry Kraus (Living Theatre of Medieval Art) mentions a carving on
a church near Avignon of a woman coupling with a goat. Seems almost
anything went if a "depiction of sin" theme could be spun.
KWildgen
Francine Nicholson wrote:
>
> > From: [log in to unmask] [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> >
> > Perhaps you've been peeking at my pictures ! Actually, your description
> > isn't exact, as they clerics have no hood - a skullcap or strange tonsure,
> >
> > perhaps.
> >
> Well, I really didn't think they would be exactly the same. Your
> mentioning a "strange tonsure" recalls that the early Irish clerics were
> derided for their "nonstandard" tonsures.
>
> > But the remaining garment looks like a hospital gown, put on
> > backward and fully "flared out". The clerics are part of a capital and,
> > it
> > appears, there were originally intended to be five of them - one on the
> > corner, two one either side. The stone mason perhaps got bored - or
> > over-excited - as the cleric on one end has relinquished his position to a
> >
> > non-descript carved stone ball of sorts. Hard to explain.
> >
> Maybe there was a dispute about payment. ;)
>
> > As I said, I'll have to start checking the photos. One thing I have
> > noticed about the few
> > remaining sheelas, however, is that they don't often occur in highly
> > decorated churchess....probably more a function of the earlier period in
> > which they were carved and anything else.
> >
> One school of thought--as represented by Anderson and Harbison--is
> that sheelas originated in France in the late medieval period. The other
> school of thought is that sheelas were a holdover from pre-Christian Celtic
> or even early Indo-European iconography. Either way, they were sometimes
> saved from older buildings (ruins?) and incorporated in newer structures.
> There's a figure in the wall of St. Michael's church in Copgrove, North
> Yorkshire which may be a sheela; the figure is dated to the Romano-British
> period by some, but the church was much later. Here's a link to a picture:
>
> http://www.alkelda.f9.co.uk/copgrove.htm
>
> Francine Nicholson
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|