Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Tympanum

Due to its location and importance, Benevento was an important base for Roman rule in southern Italy for centuries. After the expansion of the Lombards, Benevento became the seat of Lombard dukes but repeatedly fell into dependence on the Franks and the German emperors. In 840, Benevento was occupied by the Muslims for a few years. The city has been the seat of the Archbishopric of Benevento since 969. In 1047 it fell into the hands of Norman princes with the exception of the city, which Emperor Henry III gave to Leo IX in 1053. In the 11th and 12th centuries, four councils were held in Benevento. On February 26, 1266, in the Battle of Benevento, the Hohenstaufen Manfred, natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, was defeated by Charles of Anjou, after which the latter seized Apulia, Sicily, and Tuscia. Santa Sofia was founded by the Lombard Arechis II of Benevento around 760. The church is a rotunda 28 m in diameter with an original star-shaped outline. The church was modeled on the Palatine Chapel of the Lombard king Liutprand in Pavia and, after the defeat of Desiderius by Charlemagne and the fall of the Lombard kingdom in northern Italy in 774, it became the national church of the Lombards who had taken shelter in the Duchy of Benevento. After the earthquakes of 1688 and 1702, Pope Benedict VIII had the church rebuilt, changing it in the Baroque style. In particular, he had the course of the outer walls made circular. The Tympanum

Lügde was first mentioned in 784 in the "Annales Regni Francorum" ("Royal Frankish Annals") when Charlemagne celebrated his first Christmas in what was then the Duchy of Saxony, namely in "Villa Liuhidi". At that time a small, wooden church probably existed. It may have been built outside the settlement on a previous thing-place, at the time of the first Saxon Wars. This was, where Charlemagne celebrated the Christmas mass. The foundations of this early church were found during excavations, undertaken in and around the Romanesque church dedicated to St. Kilian. The oldest part of St. Kilian, a cruciform vaulted basilica, is the tower, built around 1100 and raised by 1200. Nave and choir were built at the end of the 12th century. The southern side portal has this tympanum his this little face with a protruding tongue. Is this a cat?

Bitonto, today a city of a population of about 55000, was probably founded by Greek settlers. Traces of a city wall dating to the 5th and 4th century BC were found. Legends tell that the name Bitonto is connected to an Illyrian king named Botone. Later "Civitas Butuntinenses" became a self-governing Roman municipium, A Paleochristian basilica existed very early. During the 9th century, Bitonto successfully withstood a Saracen raid but got destroyed by Byzantine troops in 975. The Normans took over Apulia. In the 11th and 12th century. Under the rule of the Normans of Roger II of Sicily, William I of Sicily (aka William the Wicked) and William II of Sicily (aka William the Good), the city prospered and got new walls. In 1227, Bitonto was the scene of ex-communication of Frederick II accused by pope Gregory IX of having come to terms with the sultan al-Malik al-Kamil. - The Bitonto Cathedral, dedicated to San Valentino, was erected 1175/1200 in the centre of the city. The construction was probably influenced by the "Basilica of San Nicola" in Bari and was done in the typical "Apulian Romanesque" style. It is proven that the bishopric existed in 1089, though the crypt of the cathedral has remains of a 5th-century church. There are three portals. The central one has wonderful tympanum, seen here. The lintel has the "Annunciation", the "Visitation", the "Adoration of the Magi" and the "Presentation in the Temple". Note that the Magi have their names written. The scene above is interpreted as an "Anastasia", the "Harrowing of Hell". Jesus descended to hell to bring salvation to all of the righteous who had died since the beginning of the world

Not much is known about this church. Some scholars date the building mid 11th, most mid 12th century. It may have been built by the Knights Templar, but there is no document about it. It is a small Romanesque basilica, erected on a "Latin Cross" blueprint. Within the 19th century the church was modified. There are larger windows now and a roof, that now stretches over nave and the two aisles. The portal has a 12th century tympanum. The flanking sculptures (to the right could be the donor) and St. Martin are 15th/16th century.

The construction of St. Sebaldus, named after a legendary 8th-century hermit, now the patron saint of Nuremberg, began in 1225 about two decades before the building of St. Lorenz (prev. uploads) started only about 300 meters west. That probably caused a kind of rivalry. Both churches are clearly influenced by the Bamberg Cathedral. When St. Sebaldus was completed in 1273/75 this was a Romanesque basilica. Only decades later important changes started: the side aisles got demolished and were replaced by wider Gothic ones (1309-1345). The Gothic chancel was built (1358-1379) - and a century later the two towers were added. When carpet bombings end of World War II destroyed the old town of Nuremberg, St. Sebaldus got seriously damaged. At that time most of the valuable interior (incl. stained glass windows) had been taken out - and so got saved. The rebuilding of the church started still in the 1940s, the (re-)consecration took place in 1957. St. Sebaldus has been a Lutheran parish church since the Reformation. The tympanum over the side portal depicts the Death and the "Coronation of the Virgin", a very popular icon since early Gothic times (eg. Senlis, Poitiers, Chartres..) www.sebalduskirche.de/

Not much is known about St. Peter, just 2kms north of the Reichenbach Monastery ("Kloster Reichenbach"). Heselbach was a property of the priory and the small church, with this elaborate poartal, was probably built by the monks end of the 12th century. In the center of the lintel, between the symbols of the four evangelists, the Lamb of God ("Agnus Dei"). The tympan depicts God, crowned and holding a cross as a scept in his left hand, while his right is in a blessing gesture. Below this hand is a person rising from the ground. Probably the Last Judgement.

..there is a lion, eating up somebody. The the lower part of the victim´s body is hanging out of the lion´s mouth....