Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: relief

Karja's St. Catherine's Church is located in the area of the neighbouring village of Linnaka. Around 1254, there was already a wooden church on the site. It was destroyed in 1343. The present church was built in the Gothic style between 1340 and 1350, probably by a French-influenced master from the Swedish island of Gotland. The hall church built by him has a single nave. The church has been preserved almost unchanged in its original form. It is claimed, that this church is one of the country churches with the most sculptures carved in stone in the whole of northern Europe. This "Calvary" relief used to be above the portal. It can now be found on the southern wall of the church. Christ in the centre, the Virgin Mary on the left and St. John on the right. To the left of the Virgin Mary is a crucified criminal who has repented of his sins. His soul leaves his body in the form of a small child, who is conceived by an angel who takes him to heaven. Christ's head is turned towards him. The second criminal has not repented of his sin. His soul is grabbed by a ridiculous horned devil who takes the soul to hell.

This museum holds a large collection of the works of art. Here are the originals, many of which are meanwhile replaced with replicas all around he Piazza dei Miracoli, as many of them crumbled and weathered. The museum is well worth a visit, but was closed (for a year?) in autumn 2014. This relief was once part of a frieze, running on the cathedral´s facade. A man, holding the cross, flanked by beasts from hell. It is now replaced by a more durable and less fragile copy.

The parish church of the small village Rots was a dependency of the abbey Abbaye Saint-Ouen de Rouen, founded by the merovingian nobility in the 7th century, in medieval times. The nave dates back to the 12th century, while the Gothic transept and the choir are younger. The structure of church, situated in the center of the graveyard, suffered severely by a "reconstruction" of the late 19th century, when large parts were just rebuilt, and the devastation during the Battle of Normandy (1944), when the church was hit by shells. The sides of the Romanesque is flanked by blind arches, what is pretty unique and has many carvings. Here is one of them. On the right side is a bishop (or abbot) in a blessing (or greeting) gesture. To the left were two persons once. One with a long braid (?) is still complete, while only the feet and an arm holding a hammer are left from the second. The scene may be connected to the martyrdom of Saint Quentin.