a stone version of the fool ?

Bernice

I have snippet-memory, bits of this and bits of that, and one such snippet is that the children of france had two 'main' festivals. One being Christmas, the other being Easter.

Now I have no idea when or where the 'easter bunny/hare' came into being, but if this little bunny-man is carrying a nail from the Cross, then it relates to the Death of Christ & Easter. And this would be a notable event in a church calendar.


Bee :)
 

kwaw

It could be a nail, chalice and host - others show workers of various kinds, perhaps he is a carver and carved the trefoil on the flat of the 'bowl' shape - it sort of reminds me of the potato print blocks we made at infant school...

This shows a few other carvings:
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/poitiers-ste-radegonde-photos/

A large collection here from a variety of sources, click on the menu on the left to go through the galleries:
http://homepage.mac.com/joel.jalladeau/modillons/index.html

I rather like the bloke beating a serpent with a magic mushroom of the amanita variety _ yeah yeah, I suppose it might just be one of those mace club like things:p

Here is a carving of Aquarius :
 

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ncharge

I think it clearly shows a 4-leaf clover, not a 3-leaf clover. According to: http://www.fourleafclover.com/vshop/facts_about_4-leaf_clovers.html, "In Irish tradition the Shamrock or 3-leaf Clover represents the Holy Trinity: one leaf for the Father, one for the Son and one for the Holy Spirit. When a Shamrock is found with the fourth leaf, it represents God's Grace."
So, this isn't the holy trinity, this is more than that. It is God's Grace. Or, it could be faith, hope, love, and luck - the more secular version. There is a lot of imagery on these old churches and catherdrals that reflect early pagan beliefs rather than our modern religious archetypes.
 

firemaiden

Hi kwaw -- beware that some will think the word "roman" means having to do with Rome, but "roman" here is the French word, the English word is "romanesque" - which of course refers vaguely to 11th - 12th-ish century european architecture and sculpture, preceding (and sort of overlapping) the so-called gothic period.

Also beware of image web-searches that show you everything but the kitchen sink because there is a vague key-word in common. Not all of those posted are modillons, and not all are from Sainte Radegonde. A modillon specifically is a figure holding up a cornice.

Actually, I have photographed all the hundred some odd modillons of the interior of Sainte Radegone (and dozens of other French churches). In Sainte Radegonde, there are some delightfully salacious ones ... (dogs licking their .. ahem ... nun displaying her .. ahem, etc.) (but I won't post those here ...) (however, perhaps on my blog, or whatever).

So I don't think the aquarius from Issoire is really a modillon. There are figures from the whole zodiac all around the outside of the church. But funny you should mention Issoire, I have just come back from Issoire, in Auvergne, which is one of the very most interesting we have seen so far, from the point of view of the amazingly well-preserved (and beautifully painted and restored) capitals (chapiteaux) inside the church. - we (my husband and I) have become rabid fans of romanesque sculpture. Everywhere we go we find a few other people taking photographs who are equally fanatical about the subject. Very dangerous territority for those already with a tendancy to collect things like .... TAROT CARDS. (joke)
 

kwaw

firemaiden said:
In Sainte Radegonde, there are some delightfully salacious ones ... (dogs licking their .. ahem ... nun displaying her .. ahem, etc.) (but I won't post those here ...) (however, perhaps on my blog, or whatever).

Great little collection of them here:

http://www.beyond-the-pale.org.uk/satan1.htm
 

firemaiden

Bernice said:
I have snippet-memory, bits of this and bits of that, and one such snippet is that the children of france had two 'main' festivals. One being Christmas, the other being Easter.

Now I have no idea when or where the 'easter bunny/hare' came into being, but if this little bunny-man is carrying a nail from the Cross, then it relates to the Death of Christ & Easter. And this would be a notable event in a church calendar.


Bee :)

Well if it is indeed supposed to be a nail (and I'm not convinced at all) then it would have, as you show, an interesting potential of christic symbolism ...

It seems there's quite a bit of disagreement in the art history world as far as we can tell about what level of seriousness and symbolism to take these kind of figures. As you can see from the salacious bits kwaw linked to, there is a larged amount of fun being had by the sculptors ... almost all of them have something of a joke about them. This bunny man or fou, has a deliciously ironic expression on his face, which takes me back to the original subject of the post -- being the similarities of this critter to our familar fou of the tarot, with his baton, and his jester hat (sometimes) and sometimes a spoon, or beggar's bowl, and the general mysterious holiness of being a beggar / outcast / trixter / traveler etc...
 

firemaiden

kwaw said:
It could be a nail, chalice and host - others show workers of various kinds, perhaps he is a carver and carved the trefoil on the flat of the 'bowl' shape - it sort of reminds me of the potato print blocks we made at infant school...

Yes ! It reminds me of the potato print blocks too. Among the other figures I photographed in Saint Radegonde, there is a guy with an axe, and a guy with something I can't identify that looks like a ink blotter ....
 

kwaw

ncharge said:
I think it clearly shows a 4-leaf clover, not a 3-leaf clover. According to: http://www.fourleafclover.com/vshop/facts_about_4-leaf_clovers.html, "In Irish tradition the Shamrock or 3-leaf Clover represents the Holy Trinity: one leaf for the Father, one for the Son and one for the Holy Spirit. When a Shamrock is found with the fourth leaf, it represents God's Grace."

And the four arms of the cross, as on a host.
 

kwaw

firemaiden said:
I think the stick is much too big to be a nail, and the way he is holding it and leaning on it,

I think with its rounded end and the pointed (with the illusion of a face, I think it is just coming to a point) could well represent a nail - some of these figures are way out of proportion, I don't think scale of figure to pointed stick negates the possibility of it being a nail... perhaps its not a big nail, but a little devil:)

Sometimes (dis) proportion was used to highlight significance, the nail is big because it is the nail that is important.
 

Rosanne

Well given the reason the Church was named, I would expect little grotesques and the like, to carry things like axes, purses, whips, walking sticks etc to convey the search for relics and in particular bits of the cross and nails in a humerous way. Like little ewoks and gnomes that run off and hide the things that are important. There might be a small imp-like fool with a missal or a scroll to indicate he has made off with the sermon or a chalice in some cases. Thank the heavens there was some humour for those long drawn out rituals. I have seen little carved people hiding above the confessional listening in. It does make you giggle.

~Rosanne