Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: horn

The following stones stand on the B9134 (road) from Forfar to Brechin. Aberlemno 3 (also known as the "road cross") has a ring cross on the front. This is the back. Below a large Z-bar is a picture of a hunt. Two men are blowing their horns, a couple of mounted hunters are on the move. Below a centaur holding a tree.

There are no exact construction dates or documents, but it can be assumed that it was built in the second half of the 12th century. The unusually richly decorated façade makes an initial use as a parish church rather unlikely. The building apparently survived the turmoil of the Hundred Years' War and the Huguenot Wars unscathed. The richly designed yet clearly structured gable-free display wall of the west façade stands out. Its elevation is almost square and divided into two levels: The lower zone is divided into three parts - in the centre is an archivolt portal that occupies the entire height. The stones, that were used for carvings all over the Saintongue. were easy to work with because they were very soft. Unfortunately they weather fast. A musical contortionist

Otranto occupies the site of an ancient Greek city. It gained importance in Roman times, as it was the nearest port to the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. After the end of the Roman Empire, it was in the hands of the Byzantine emperors until it surrendered to the Norman troops of Robert Guiscard in 1068. The Normans fortified the city and built the cathedral, that got consecrated in 1088. When Henry VI., son of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, married Constanze of Sicily in 1186 Otranto came under the rule of the Hohenstaufen and later in the hands of Ferdinand I of Aragón, King of Naples. Between 1480 and 1481 the "Ottoman invasion" took place here. Troops of the Ottoman Empire invaded and laid siege to the city and its citadel. Legends tell that more than 800 inhabitants were beheaded after the city was captured. The "Martyrs of Otranto" are still celebrated in Italy, their skulls are on display in the cathedral. A year later the Ottoman garrison surrendered the city following a siege by Christian forces and the intervention of Papal forces. - Otranto had been one of the last Byzantine strongholds in Apulia, but finally Robert Guiscard could take it. It had probably been such a stronghold, as Otranto had hosted an autocephalous bishopric, only dependent of the patriarchal see of Byzantium since 968. So (Roman) Catholicism had to perform something "convincing" for the so long (Byzantine) Orthodox christians. One was to erect a huge church. The Otranto Cathedral was erected, over ruins of a Paleo-christian church from 1080 on and was consecrated in 1088. It is 54 metres long by 25 metres wide and is built on 42 monolithic granite and marble columns. I had come to Otranto, to see the mosaic. I had planned to stay one night in Otranto, I spent three nights - and still had not seen all the details. I was so overwhelmed, that I took hundreds of photos, but the mosaic is "endless". I will upload only a couple. It was created by a monk named Pantaleon and his workshop between 1163 and 1165. Pantaleon lived at the monastery San Nicola di Casole, located a few kilometres south of Otranto. The mosaic covers the nave, both aisles, the apse and the presbytery. This sums up to a total of 1596 m². About 10 000000 (10 million!) "tesserae" were used. There are scholars, who have counted up to 700 different "stories", that are told here. Though, these "stories" are often disputed, as today's interpretations are mostly very "vague". German historian Carl Arnold Willemsen published the most important book about the mosaic in Italian " L'enigma di Otranto", that since the 1970s is translated in many languages. I followed his theories. I could not get the right distance here... A naked man sits sideways on a horse, that moves to the left. He blows a long horn. The horse's tail is artfully plaited with the tail of another horse, that moves to the right. Behind that horse stands a woman in a long golden gown and blows a horn as well.

The "Abbazia di San Leonardo in Lama Volara" (aka "San Leonardo di Siponto") was probably founded at the end of the 11th century. It is dedicated to Saint Leonard of Noblac, a popular "Norman" saint. The monastery initially served as a hospice for pilgrims on their way to the Saint Michael Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo, an important pilgrimage site since the early Middle Ages. Later it also served as a place for travellers on their way to the Holy Land during the Crusades. Since 1127 Augustinian canons worked here, in 1261, the Teutonic Order took over the meanwhile dilapidated hospice and made the monastery to their centre of activities in Apulia. The Teutonic Order left in the second half of the 15th century. Some scholars claim, that the portal is one of the finest in Apulia. It opens to the road, where the pilgrims came along (today SS89). The tympanum depicts Christ in a mandorla, flanked by two angels. The archivolt has the symbols if the evangelists left (Mark and Matthew) and right (Luke and John). Above them two centaurs with harp (left) and horn (right), a deer and a dragon.

Conques is one of the magical places, I cannot pass. Every time I am in the area, I just have to take the detour, stop and see it again. Over centuries Conques was a popular stop for all pilgrims travelling the Via Podiensis and it still is. It is a treat after having crossed the harsh Aubrac. I still remember my feelings, when I reached Conques in 2008 on my hike, that had started weeks before in Geneva. A tiny convent existed here already in the 8th century. This grew into a very successful monastery, after the relics of St. Foy arrived in Conques through theft in 866. The relics were stolen by a monk from Conques, who had posed as a loyal monk in Agen for years. The arrival of the relics of St. Foy caused the pilgrimage route to shift to Conques. As the existing church was too small for all the pilgrims, a new, much larger church had to be constructed. It was completed by the end of the 11th century. As a large pilgrim´s church, it had an ambulatory with five radiating chapels. A century later galleries were added over the aisle and the roof was raised over the transept and choir to allow people to circulate at the gallery level. Different masons and carvers have worked in Conques over the building process, so here are different Romanesque styles. At the former cloister, the icons get more secular. The bricklayer in front puts in the last stone, his colleague on the left signals loudly with his horn that this is the end of the workday.

A settlement has existed here already before Romans and Gauls settled here, the town Belleville was actually founded by the House of Beaujeu. Humbert III de Beaujeu (+ 1194), the 8th Sir de Beaujeu, had a city wall built and founded a commanderie that in 1158 was converted into a Augustinian priory and 6 years later became an abbey. The church, that now serves the parish is the only remaining structure of this abbey. The construction of the large church (63m long) started in 1168. It was completed only 11 years later and was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin in 1179. The nave (and the choir) seem already early Gothic in some parts. The church was the burial site for the House of Beaujeu. Though much of the interior got destroyed durig the Wars of the Religions, there are still nice (and well restored) Romanesque carvings and capitals here. A hornblower

Notre-Dame de Surgères was erected in the center of a large castle in the 12th century. The fortification, founded in the 9th century as a motte, when the area was raided by the Vikings, then guarded the border of the historical province of Aunis once. When the church was built a small town had developed around the defence already. Later a small priory and a "hopital" existed, as this was a halt on the Via Turonensis. The pilgrims had a lot to gape here, the facade is stunning 23 meters wide. Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry II of England in 1152, so the area changed hands and was ruled by the House of Plantagenet. During the Hundred Years' War Surgères experienced a long period of decline. Louis XI´s troops conquered the town in 1472 and the fortifications got destructed. During that time Notre Dame lost the tower and large parts of the nave, but not the facade! There are more than 100 capitals and corbels all over the facade. There seems to be a medieval encyclopedia. The musician seems to dance, the flowing cape gives a kind of rythm.

The church was built over a pre-Romanesque one dating from the 8th/9th century. In 1100 the church and the convent were bestowed by Henry of Burgundy, Count of Portugal, the Cluniac priorate of La Charite-sur-Loire (about 1500kms northeast). French monks moved in, helping the pilgrims heading north to Santiago. The convent gathered impetus in the 12th century with the support of Afonso I of Portugal (aka "Dom Afonso Henriques", as he was Henry of Burgundy´s son). The church São Pedro de Rates is the the only remaining building of the former monastery. It is believed to be one of the oldest existing romanesque churches in Portugal. Armageddon? Are these two of the seven trumpets, that are mentioned in the Revelation 8? If yes, a grave has opened below - and a soul is rising. Listen how Johnny Cash has seen the scene: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9IfHDi-2EA

The architecture of Notre Dame de l'Assomption, the parish church of Rouffach, about 20kms south of Colmar, is a mixture of romanesque and gothique style. The pretty huge building suffered heavy damage during the French Revolution. On the walls of the older parts of "Notre Dame de l'Assomption". are some interesting romanesque carvings. There are three sculptures, telling a story. A story I cannot tell, as I could not find the necessery parts to stitch it together and I could not find anybody in Rouffach who knew it. Here is the second of the sculptures. The collegue of the guy with the horn. He wears the same in simple clothing. He as well is standing under a piece of "symbolic" architecture", but here it is a zigzag arch. He could be, like his collegue, a servant, but he is holding or carrying something probably important. His left hand is "strange", there is no right arm. There is a sceptre? Or maybe a rolled document? He probably as well is a kind of herald, announcing the approaching of - the king? Or the archbishop? Or the emperor? Or the pope.

Saint-Nazaire was erected in the 12th century. The church has a very elaborate southern portal. The geometrical design of the archivolts is typical for the "style saintongeais". Above the archivolts are some interesting corbels. Asses playing harps are very common "animal-musicians". A monkey playing horn or flute is rarely seen.

One of the first printed records about this gate stated in 1859 "Of all old monuments in the Rhine valley, none as mysterious as the portal (...) near the church in Remagen". The Pfarrhoftor (= Gateway to the parish close) still is enigmatic. It may have been erected for a nearby monastery, that centered around an St. Apollinaris shrine, it may have been in deed a gate to a parish close. Actually it known since the 17th century, when parts of it were found, walled in between the rectory and the encircling wall. The parts were recovered and like pieces of a puzzle joined together. Though the cope stone was lost, the large arch was easy to reconstruct. Wether the smaller side portal originally was left or right is unclear. The 22 carved reliefs here have triggered more than a dozend different theories. I will quote some. The carving style was not appreciated by the art-historians. Already Wilhelm Bode ("Geschichte der Deutschen Plastik") wrote in 1887 that the carver was "without any artistic ambition". For me this portal has parallels in Linden and Goegging. All three portals are roughly carved - and enigmatic, blending christian, pagan and ancient icons. The only point, that is undisputed is, that the portal was erected in the second half of the 12th century. It may be, that the reliefs, seen here, are just single icons, that are not interconnected to a certain "iconographic program". This is claimed by Paul Clement (1938), Georg Dehio (1933) and Josef Minn (1942). In 1947 Albert M. Koeniger published the results of his research, interpreting the reliefs at the large gate as icons of eight (!) deadly sins as described by Bishop Burchard of Worms (965-1025), author of a canon law collection (aka "Decretum Burchardi"), while the reliefs at the smaller entrance, stand for "hubris". A mounted hunter - blowing the horn. The mounted hunter blows the horn, giving a signal to the other hunters. He is accompanied by his dog (a dachshound?). Koeninger sees another hubris, as the noble hunter often destroyed the fields of the peasants. Some authors have identified Nimrod here, but the scene may stand as well for the month of November.

In 831 an "ecclesia plebeia" is mentioned here, dedicated to Saint Martin. Excavations proved, that earlier churches did exist on the same spot from about 500 on. The church of today was erected in the early 12th century. St. Martin is world famous for the painted ceiling inside, created by an unknown artist around 1109 to 1114. It is still almost complete. Only very few of these works have survived the times in Europe. The only such ceiling I have ever seen is in St. Michael, Hildesheim, Germany. The ceiling here consists of 153 square panels (9 rows of 17 panels) of about 90 cm sides. They were painted upright and then inserted into the ceiling. Actually the painting reads like a map. There is a kind of frame, as the 48 panels outer panels (apart from the corner fields) show scenes on water - an ocean. The corners have angels, that may symbolize the four winds (directions). The "inner" 105 panels depict scenes on "land". Here themes are the life of Jesus - and Saint Martin, whom the church is devoted to. The sea, that runs all around the ceiling, is populated with many more horrible sea-monsters and this lovely trio of mermaids. They are very gifted in music.

Bourbon-l'Archambault is the place of origin of the House of Bourbon, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. In Roman times a settlement, named "Bituriges" existed here, and where Saint-Georges is now, once was temple, dedicated to Apollo. The church was erected in the second half of the 12th century and belonged to a monastery of Benedictine nuns in Saint-Menoux (10kms east). The church, that has parallels in Burgundy and in the Auvergne, got altered and enlarged over the centuries. During the enlargments many of the medieval capitals got destroyed, but along the nave and around the crossing are still some interesting (multicoloured) ones, strongly influenced by the carvings style common in Auvergne. A medieval orchestra! The musician to the very left blows the horn - and hold a kind of harp. The tall guy next to him plays the vielle, followed by two flute players. The large one has a double flute. In the right corner either a dancer, clapping her hands. I remember having seen similar double flutes traveling in, what was Yugoslavia at that time. Youtube has many videos of "double flautists" www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xFqZxJNPIo There is a little spiked head between the large fiddler and the small flautist.

The parish church Saint-Sulpice in the village of Marignac was erected within the 12th century as part of a priory, founded here by the Charroux Abbey (120kms southeast). The church has a remarkable cloverleaf layout. The eastern part with the side chapels and the apse and the western portal still date back to the first church here, while the outer walls of the nave have been rebuilt, after destruction by war. - As I have uploaded already many photos taken here previously, I will just add a few "new" ones. - An elaborate frieze runs around the "cloverleaf" apse. Here is a corbel with a person, blowing the horn.

consecrated by Pope Calixtus II in 1119. The same pope, who two years later could imprison his rival "Antipope" Gregory VIII. Four years later, Calixtus ended the Investiture Controversy by agreeing with Emperor Henry V on the Concordat of Worms. During the times of medieval pilgrimage this cathedral was an important place on the "Via Podiensis", as the "Sainte Coiffe" could be venerated here. This "Holy Headdress" was believed to have been used during Jesus' burial. It had been given to Aymatus, Bishop of Cahors, by Charlemagne. A relic similar to the "Shroud of Turin". On the northern side of the cathedral and intricate Romanesque portal faces the "Via Podiensis". This was what the pilgrims saw first - and this portal they used entering the basilica. The carvings are very soft and elegant. The tympanum depicts Christ in a mandorla, surrounded by angles. Very interesting are the archivolts. One of them is populated with hunters and craftsmen. A helper at a battue. His task is, to scare the animals by blowing the horn and beating sticks into an ambush.

The Jaca Cathedral is one of the oldest of the Iberian peninsula, dating back to the 1070s. The building, that was altered many times later, was commissioned by King Sancho Ramírez, who established an episcopal seat in Jaca, then the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon. The Romanesque cathedral was completed around 1130. In 1395 a blaze destroyed large parts of the cathedral. The ceiling had to be reconstructed in the following decades and got renovated in the 16th century, when the aisles were added and the nave got enlarged. The cloister, adjoining the cathedral hosts the "Museo Diocesano de Jaca". Here is the museum´s website: www.diocesisdejaca.org/index.php/museo-diocesano-de-jaca I had once admired the capital depicting "King David and his musicians" on the southern porch of the cathedral. This porch was added to the structure later, "reusing" capitals that probably had been before part of a Romanesque cloister. I did not know at that time, that I saw a copy. This is the original, a masterpiece of the Master of Jaca. King David, is accompanied by an orchestra of 11 musicians, playing different instruments. This is a close up the left side, where 5 of the 11 musicians are gathered. On the right is a flautist (pan flute) and a below him is a hornist. The musician to the left holds a string instrument, probably a small lute. The instrument below him will be better seen on the following upload.

The Jaca Cathedral is one of the oldest of the Iberian peninsula, dating back to the 1070s. The building, that was altered many times later, was commissioned by King Sancho Ramírez, who established an episcopal seat in Jaca, then the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon. The Romanesque cathedral was completed around 1130. In 1395 a blaze destroyed large parts of the cathedral. The ceiling had to be reconstructed in the following decades and got renovated in the 16th century, when the aisles were added and the nave got enlarged. The cloister, adjoining the cathedral hosts the "Museo Diocesano de Jaca". Here is the museum´s website: www.diocesisdejaca.org/index.php/museo-diocesano-de-jaca I had once admired the capital depicting "King David and his musicians" on the southern porch of the cathedral. This porch was added to the structure later, "reusing" capitals that probably had been before part of a Romanesque cloister. I did not know at that time, that I saw a copy. This is the original, a masterpiece of the Master of Jaca. King David, is accompanied by an orchestra of 11 musicians, playing different instruments. This is the left side, where 5 of the 11 musicians are gathered.

The Jaca Cathedral is one of the oldest of the Iberian peninsula, dating back to the 1070s. The building, that was altered many times later, was commissioned by King Sancho Ramírez, who established an episcopal seat in Jaca, then the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon. The Romanesque cathedral was completed around 1130. In 1395 a blaze destroyed large parts of the cathedral. The ceiling had to be reconstructed in the following decades and got renovated in the 16th century, when the aisles were added and the nave got enlarged. The cloister, adjoining the cathedral hosts the "Museo Diocesano de Jaca". Here is the museum´s website: www.diocesisdejaca.org/index.php/museo-diocesano-de-jaca I had once admired the capital depicting "King David and his musicians" on the southern porch of the cathedral. This porch was added to the structure later, "reusing" capitals that probably had been before part of a Romanesque cloister. I did not know at that time, that I saw a copy. This is the original, a masterpiece of the Master of Jaca. King David is accompanied by an orchestra of 11 musicians, playing different instruments. Again the right side (just like the previous upload) but from a different pov, as now all musicians can be seen. One of them play a tubelike curved object.