The Silent Orgy


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FROM ROMAN TO ROMANESQUE
by Julianna Lees


Not all the influences on Romanesque come from the art and artefacts of the Roman Empire.
The cultures of the Middle East up to and including the introduction of Islam, India and the Far East also contributed.
Nevertheless, this article seeks to explore some possible specific influences of Græco-Roman origin.

NB - This article contains many illustrations and may take some time to download.


 


DANIEL IN THE 'DEN' OF LIONS
by Tina Negus

Early Mediæval Carvings and their Origins.

"Your God himself, whom you have served so faithfully, will have to save you"
(Book of Daniel, chapter 6, verse 16 - Jerusalem Bible).

These words, allegedly spoken by King Darius the Mede as he had the prophet Daniel thrown into the lion-pit for the crime of refusing to worship him, have echoed down the centuries. Daniel's God did indeed (allegedly) save him, and ever since he has been taken as an example of faith and righteousness, together with Jonah and the three young men in the fiery furnace. His trust in his unique deity and his innocence are seen as a protection against evil. It is not surprising therefore, that images of Daniel are found from the earliest years of Christianity; indeed Daniel may be taken as a prefiguration of Jesus.


 


THE GREEN MAN IN THE CHURCHES OF FRANCE AND BRITAIN
by Tina Negus

Tina Negus is a splendid artist and photographer with a great knowledge and love of the natural world.
Her work has been exhibited and published in a wide variety of venues and publications.
Her articles on aspects of the 'Green Man' have been published in Folklore magazine, where Lady Raglan first described and named the genre in 1937.


 


CELTIC RELIGION
by Julianna Lees

'While researching my article on possible Roman and Gallo-Roman iconography for some French Romanesque images, I became aware of the importance of Celtic religion in the evolution of many works of art of ancient France. Here is an article I wrote on the subject, originally for a Study Group of the Aquitaine Historical Society, which foreshadows many of my later observations.

The organic growth of iconography, layer upon layer, can be compared to the evolution of a forest from archaic origins, with all the damage both natural and human that occurs. Landscapes change - sometimes unrecognisably - with many things once held dear obscured and forgotten; but tendrils creep back, images recur and echoes may awaken memories of a past that is sometimes still present.'


 


ANIMAL SYMBOLISM IN ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE
by Professor E P Evans

We are always hoping to get closer to the mind-set of Romanesque sculptors, the better to understand some of their images. Bestiaries may be helpful, so it's useful to know that most of them are derived from a work of the 4th century known as the Physiologus.
The late Professor E. P. Evans of the Universities of Michigan and Munich wrote this article in 1896, but it is still relevant and full of useful information.


A tendentious broadcast on ARTE television proposing that many
grotesque and 'licentious' motifs in Romanesque sculpture are direct attacks on Islam,
carved to justify the Crusades.
The proposer of this thesis has but the most superficial acquaintance with Romanesque sculpture,
and his examples are few and unconvincing.

L'ennemi à nu, de Claudio LANGE.
L'auteur interprète les représentations obscènes trouvées dans les églises romanes
comme une forme de propagande anti-islamique développée par l'Eglise catholique pour justifier les croisades.

Thèse stimulante s'il en est ; cependant, ne convient-il pas, comme le disent les médiévistes,
de voir, encore et souvent, dans certaines images quelque peu licencieuses une forme de dénonciation du Mal
ou de différentes formes de péché au regard de l'Eglise institutionnalisée ?
En d'autres termes, ne s'agissait-il pas à l'époque médiévale d'aider les chrétiens à combattre leurs démons intérieurs
comme les tentations extérieures ?


 

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