Alós de Isil, Lleida

Alós de Isil, Lleida (Catalonia)
church of Sant Lliser

According to EL ROMÀNIC DE LA VALL D’ÀNEU
published by the Institut d'Estudis Catalans in Barcelona. 2005,

« The ARNAL inscription of the male figure could perhaps be a variant of Arnaldus,
and the name or word RIhER, which accompanies his partner, a mutation of Riquilda, Richila or Ricarda.

The presence of a (spiked) cross presiding over the scene would underline the Christianity of the figures.
In the right-hand corner of the portal, another rectangular plaque is attached to the façade,
slightly larger than the one we have previously described.
Unfortunately, a re-engraving in the relief of the central part of the piece does not allow
the lower part of the bodies of the two figures represented to be analysed.

The sculptural style of the figures does not differ from others preserved in the Aran Valley (Val d'Aran)
and across the border in southern France, especially those from the dioceses of Comminges and Couserans...»

The plaque on the other side of the doorway was, apparently, vandalised by "a puritan zealot"
in the late 1980s.

Note the Chi-Rho or Chrism, top right.
Compare this sculpture with the sheela at Ballinderry Castle, county Galway.

To me, these plaques look like later inserts of the 15th -16th centuries,
unless they were carved in the 12th century by some non-sculptor specially chosen,
as seems to be the case with many sheela-na-gigs.

Compare Betren, also in the Val d'Aran.

A fragment showing a megaphallic male (in the round) also came from the church.