Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: fisherman

Already Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, may have funded a church, erected over the tomb of Saint Zeno, who, following the legends, was born in Mauretania and died around 380 in Verona. The erection of the present church began in the 9th century. Soon after San Zeno´s relics were translated into the new church. At that time Charlemagne´s son Pepin (aka "Pepin of Italy") resided in Verona and a large Benedictine monastery grew all around the church. When the Magyars invaded Italy in the early 10th century, the church got severely damaged, but the relics were not harmed, as they had been taken out and were hidden. In 967, a new church was built with the patronage of Otto I. On January 3, 1117, the church was damaged by an earthquake, that ruined so many buildings in Northern Italy. The church was restored and got enlarged in 1138. It may well be, that soon after panels of a bronze door from another (destroyed?, damaged?) church were transferred to San Zeno - and so got reused here. Today the famous bronze door consists out of two panels on which the plates are fixed. The older ones (~ 1100) are often compared with the bronze works in Hildesheim, and Saxon Masters may have worked here. The younger ones (1200) are "smoother" and some scholars connect them to Benedetto Antelami, who worked in Parma 1178 ("Deposition"). Unfortunately the room is so small, that I was unable to take an "overview", so I could only take photos of panels and details. Some of the panels depict scenes of legends around San Zeno. They tell, that before he became bishop of Verona, he lived as a hermit near the river Adige, where he went fishing. His attributes are a fishing rod and a basket - and he is still patron saint for fishermen and anglers.

Civaux, a village with a population of about 1000, has a history rooting very deep. Humans populated the area already, when stepp bisons and mammoths were hunted. Many "pre-historic" artefacts have been excavated in and around Civaux, proving that this place was inhabited over tens of thousands of years. A settlement stood on the site of the village in Gallo-Roman times, and there are still traces of Roman temples. Excavations have revealed the sites of a theater (capacity 3000), a fortified camp, and the foundations of many villas. This has been a place of very early christianisation. A funeral stele has been found dating to around 400, a pagan temple and a very early baptisterium were excavated next to the church. A polygonal apse was probably built as will around 400, what actually means that this church, dedicated to Saint Gervais and Saint Protais is one of the oldest in France. At that time a kind of pilgrimage must have developed. The relics of Saint Gervais and Saint Protais had been miraculously discovered by Saint Ambrose in Milan in 386, so the saints got very popular in Merovingian times, but that does not explain the enigma of Civaux. The village stands in the center of a huge merovingian necropolis. As many sarcophagi were sold as water basins or troughs in later time, the exact number of graves is unknown. Serious estimations are between 15.000 and 20.000 graves. There are parallels to nearby Saint Pierre in Cauvigny (16 kms north). The same colours as in Chauvigny were used here during the restauration of the interior. At least one of the capitals is very similar to one in Saint Pierre, but some carvings are absolutely unique. Seen here is only one capital, but as it is close to the wall and I was unable to get the whole "story" into one photo. A mermaid has entered a small boat (let) and the fisherman is falling overboard (right). The mermaid here stands for lust - and the fisherman stands for the poor sinner, who could not withstand - and now he will fall straight into hell.

The "Église Sainte-Foy de Sélestat" was built in only 10 years between 1170 and 1180, succeeding an earlier ("Holy Sepulcre")church from around 1085 built by Hildegard von Egisheim. Of this church only the crypt and some carvings remained. Hildegard´s famous grandson Frederick I Barbarossa funded the construction of this new church, that was the center of a benedictine monastery, affiliated to the abbey St. Foy in Conques. Outside all around the main and the right apse runs a lombard band with carved capitals, Under the roofs here are corbels. I had taken (and uploaded) a photo of this mermaid some months ago, but then Paul G.M. asked be about the lateral carvings - and I had no photos of them. So this time, I was more carefully. Robert Will, author of "Alsace romane" (Éditions Zodiaque), who describes these carvings as of "lower artistic value" connects this carving to an illustration of the "Physiologus", a very common medieval bestiary. Around 1170 the "Physiologus" even got translated into local Alemannic in Hirsau (150kms southeast). One copy from the 9th century is the "Bern Physiologus", where I found the illustration, that Robert WIll probably had in mind. This illustration depicts two men rowing a boat - and catching pearls with the help of a swimming woman. This woman is naked - but she clearly has two legs, so this woman is not a mermaid. Here is an illustration: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:77-Fisiologo_di_Berna_-_rappor... The influence of the Physiologus during medieval times can hardly underestimated, but here, I think it is just "farmer - mermaid - fisher". And "farmer" and "fisher" stand for the common population of a town or village of that time. Here is general wikipedia-information about the "Physiologus" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiologus