medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: Diana Wright <[log in to unmask]>
> Terrific observation, John. I cannot think of any image I have seen from
classical Greece that anyone has suggested was touched, the way the foot
of St. P has been rubbed down. ...You might rub a little home statue of D or
P, but there is no reason you would do so at the temple.
the low-hanging fruit of ancient cult statues which were easily accesible for
tactile adulation have all been picked and eaten by Time, i should imagine, so
physical evidence of suchlike practices en ces temps la is lacking (though
there may be literary evidence?).
however, (some) one is reminded of the lovely scene in one of Zoe Oldenbourg's
novels ("The World is Not Enough"?), where the old, now blind, crusading
knight is led to the portal of a church, where he touches the foot of a statue
of St. Peter.
Oldenbourg was certainly not a Great Writer, but her novels are full of all
sorts of details which she took (i assume) from contemporary (in this case
12th c.) literary and documentary sources, and there's nothing inherently
unreasonable in her imaginative reconstruction of such an event/practice.
i've seen plenty of examples of "touching" on the lower parts of 12th c.
portal sculpture, and have even engaged in the practice myself on occasion
--though my own reverential feelings were directed at the image's creator
rather than its archetype.
c
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