Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: flute

Edinburgh has been the capital of Scotland since the 15th century. With a population of around 525,000, it is the second largest city in Scotland after Glasgow. The city is a cultural centre, and is the home of institutions including the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The National Museum of Scotland was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum. Both parts of the museum are located right next to each other on Chambers Street. The Royal Museum is a museum of natural sciences, technology and art. It is housed in a building dating from 1888. The Museum of Scotland deals with Scottish history and culture. It is located in a new building completed in 1998 right next to the 1888 building. Bridgeness Slab The Bridgeness Slab is a Roman distance slab marking a portion of the Antonine Wall built by the Second Legion. The sandstone tablet was found at Bridgeness in Bo'ness, Scotland in 1868. The slab was erected 142 CE to mark the completion of a section of the Antonine Wall. The inscription in the centre panel reads "Imp CaesTito Aelio / Hadri Antonino Aug Pio p p legII Aug / per m p ĪĪĪĪ DCLII / FEC" (= "Imp(eratori) Caes(ari) Tito Aelio Hadri(ano) Antonino/ Aug(usto) Pio p(atri) p(atriae) leg(io) II Aug(usta) per m(ilia) p(assuum) IIII(milia)DCLII fec(it)". This translates as "For the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Father of his Country, the Second Augustan Legion completed [the Wall] over a distance of 4652 paces". On the left is a victorious, Roman cavalryman with four naked Britons. On the right panel is a depiction of the "suovetaurilia", a ceremony undertaken before important campaigns or in this case before the wall was built. The arch top of a temple is depicted. Four soldiers are shown, one carrying the flag. A man in a toga is depicted pouring a libation on an altar as a preliminary to sacrificing a bull, a pig and a sheep. During this a flute is played.

In the Middle Ages, the town was called Castrum Berzoriacum. During the Hundred Years' War, it was temporarily caught between the English and French fronts; it was destroyed during the Huguenot Wars. It was also fought over during the Vendée Uprising at the time of the French Revolution. The church was mentioned as early as 1090, and parts of Notre-Dame date back to the 12th century. The late Gothic, square choir area dates back to the 15th century. At the mid of the 16th century, the 56m-metre-high massive tower was added. Details of the capitals. On the left, shepherds carrying sheep on their shoulders. An icon that is frequently found in Auvergne. On the right, a musician with a double flute. This icon was very common in the 12th century.

In the Middle Ages, the town was called Castrum Berzoriacum. During the Hundred Years' War, it was temporarily caught between the English and French fronts; it was destroyed during the Huguenot Wars. It was also fought over during the Vendée Uprising at the time of the French Revolution. The church was mentioned as early as 1090, and parts of Notre-Dame date back to the 12th century. The late Gothic, square choir area dates back to the 15th century. At the mid of the 16th century, the 56m-metre-high massive tower was added. Details of the capitals. On the left, shepherds carrying sheep on their shoulders. An icon that is frequently found in Auvergne. On the right, a musician with a double flute. This icon was very common in the 12th century.

The town of Toro lies on a plateau above the Duero River about 40 km east of Zamora. In medieval times Toro had some importance. Ferdinand III of Castile was crowned king in Toro in 1230, his wife Elisabeth of Swabia died here five years later. The large collegiate church Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor, whose construction began in 1160 under Alfonso VII, but lasted possibly even until the end of the 13th century. During the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, it was elevated to a collegiate church. The architectural highlight of the church building is the two-story crossing tower (“cimborrio”) with its sixteen-sided floor plan, with four sides being particularly highlighted by round corner towers, which serve both for architectural decoration and for static stabilization. While the corner towers in the lower part hardly have any architectural decoration, the two levels of the central tower with their windows - accompanied by small columns and ending in oriental-looking multi-aisle arches - are designed in exactly the same way. The west portal ("Portada de la Majestad") is an important achievement of Spanish Gothic architecture. The portal itself is dated to the time of Sancho IV (1258-1295), the colored version comes from the 18th century. In the stone lintel there is a depiction of the death and ascension of Mary. The tympanum shows the scene of her sitting at God's right hand and being crowned. In the six archivolts above are a total of 78 individual figures. A virtuoso flute player

Vilnius is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of about 600.000. Before WWII, Vilnius was one of the largest Jewish centers in Europe which led to the nickname "the Jerusalem of Lithuania". The city was first mentioned in written sources as Vilna in 1323 as the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, built a wooden castle on a hill in the city. The city became more widely known after he wrote a circular letter of invitation to Germans and Jews to the principal Hansa towns in 1325, offering free access into his domains to men of every order and profession. At this time Vilnius was facing raids of the Teutonic Order, although they never captured the castle, large portions of the town were burned down between 1365 and 1383. English king Henry IV spent the full year of 1390 supporting the unsuccessful siege of Vilnius by Teutonic Knights with his 300 fellow knights. Between 1503 and 1522, the city was surrounded by a city wall to protect it from Crimean Tatar attacks. The city reached the peak of its development during the reign of Sigismund II. Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, settled here in 1544. After the foundation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, the city experienced a further boom, as Stephen Báthory, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, founded the Jesuit College of Vilnius (= Vilnius University) in 1579. The three musical bears give a concert at the shoe shop.

A hermitage was founded here by Géraud de Salles, a friend of Robert de Arbrissel, the of the Cistercian abbey of Fontevrault. In 1119 the hermitage was made an abbey, connected to the Abbaye de Pontigny. The Abbaye de Cîteaux ceded twelve monks to Cadouin for the first settlement of the monastery. Around 1200 the monastery came into possession of the "Saint-Suaire de Cadouin". This was believed to be the facecloth from the tomb of Christ, said to have been brought from Antioch by a priest after the first crusade. This relic made the abbey an important place of pilgrimage on the way to Santiago and brought it great prestige and wealth. Even Louis IX of France ("St. Louis"), Richard I of England ("Richard the Lionheart") and Emperor Charles V ("Charles Quint") visited Cadouin to see the relic. The war of the 14th century let the pilgrimage come to an end and let the abbey decline. In 1357 the abbey was ruined and only two monks stayed to guard the shroud, that was transferred to Toulouse in 1392. This transport of shroud to Toulouse deprived the abbey of donations. The shroud returned and with the strong support of the French Kings, the abbey recovered after 1455. Thanks to royal protection, the cloister was rebuilt in an extravagant way. The abbey was affiliated to the Cistercian order, but not founded by it. This is one reason, that may explain the enormous creativity here, as "normally" the Cistercian art is very sober. Though the authenticity of the shroud was attested in 1644, the abbey did never fully recover after the Wars of Religions. During the French Revolution, the abbey was dissolved and got looted. In 1793 the abbey, apart from the church, was sold as a national property. The mayor of Cadouin hid the shroud during the Revolution until it was returned to worship in 1797. It was the Bishop of Perigueux in the mid 19th century, who "relaunched" the pilgrimage, that prospered again up to 1934. That year, a historian dated the shroud thanks to the presence of decorative bands decorated with a text. An inscription was found in Kufic style, opened by the "fatiha", the Islamic profession of faith, the text then indicates that the veil was woven at the time of Al-Musta'li, the caliph of Fatimid Egypt, at the end of the 11th century. The extravagant cloister has many very interesting carvings. This imaginative work reminded me of Arthur Miller´s "Death of a Salesman", but here the story is a little different - and much older! The salesman has already died. He was still able to place is merchandise below him, his bag hanging from the tree. His soul has left the body and was carried up to heaven by two angels, where it can now be seen, sitting in Abraham´s bosom. Two angels are placed next to Abraham´s head, to back the transfer with music.

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 musician playing a kind of flute

Cologne is the fourth-largest city in Germany - and one of the oldest. A Germanic tribe, the Ubii, had a settlement here, this was named by the Romans "Oppidum Ubiorum". In 50 AD, the Romans founded "Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium", the city then became the provincial capital of "Germania Inferior". A city with such a history has -of course- many museums. One is the "Museum Schnütgen", devoted to medieval art. In 1906, the collection of Alexander Schnütgen, a theologian and passionate art collector, was donated to the city. Since 1956, the museum has occupied the Romanesque church of St. Cäcilien (1130-1160), that was once part of a monastery founded in 881. An annex was added in the 1950s, but even now only about 10% of all artefacts can be displayed as of course the collection has expanded since Schnütgen´s donation. www.museum-schnuetgen.de/Info Angels playing drums, tambourin and flute. Northern France 1325/1330.

A priory had existed here already from 768 on. The Benedictine abbey was founded 1088, the church of today was built in the 12th century replacing a previous, smaller church, erected probably in the 10th century. The abbey belonged to the Sacra di San Michele Abbey in Piedmont (more than 700 kms east). The church was strongly fortified and had battlements, watchtowers and even moats at that time. The facade got heavily vandalized during the French Revolution, when the rioting revolutionists used hammers to destroy sculptures and carvings. Obviously the vandals could not enter the interior. All the capitals along the nave are undamaged. Here are three flutists. Actually I have never seen such complex flutes. Maybe one of the "pre-1800"-experts can tell me something about.

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.

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.

Saint-Georges is located in the center of the village Saint-Jeanvrin (pop. ~200), what means probably since the early times "la fête" is celebtrated right here. We arrived, when the preparation were still ongoing. The church was erected in the first half of the 12th century and then was dedicated to Saint Janvier (= Januarius) hence the name of the village. Like many other churches/priories in the area, it was depended on the Notre-Dame de Déols (about 60kms northwest). Pope Pascal II confirmed this ownership in 1115. The single nave church was erected on the blueprint of a "Latin Cross" and embellished with some nice carvings. These two musicians will join the annual fête pretty soon. The left one plays a dolio, his confrère a flute.

The peninsula on which Castelsardo was built, was inhabited already in megalithic times. Some thousands of years later Romans lived here. The town originates from a castle built in 1102 by the wealthy (and later very powerful and important) Doria family of Genoa. It was named then "Castel Genovese". The Aragonese conquered the place in 1448 and renamed it to "Castillo Aragonés". The current name "Castelsardo" was given to the town in the 18th century by Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, who was Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia. A capital in the "Concattedrale di Sant'Antonio abate". The capital is placed quite high. The person, who gave the music making angel a "felt pen make up", must have used a ladder.

I had been here before and I have uploaded many photos already in 2013, but I just had to return to this church. And add some more photos.. -- The Iglesia de Santiago stands surrounded by macchia at the end of a dust road about a kilometer southeast of Agüero. This isolated place is probably why it is named as well "Ermita de Santiago". It is a very strange structure and I did not have much information about. At one time within the 12th century somebody had started to build a pretty large basilica (- in the middle of nowhere). Obviously money was not an issue, as gifted sculptors and experienced builders left their marks here. Then - some decades later, the building process stopped, the church was never completed. No wonder, that the artist/workshop known as "Master of San Juan de la Peña" is even better known under the name of "Master of Agüero". I had seen his works in San Juan de la Peña and Sangüesa, but what he created here are real masterpieces. Here are capitals of the portal´s right side. A female dancer, flanked by two musicians. To the right is a flautist and another very flexible dancer. -- You´ll find more photos in the album "Aragon".

The abbey "Sainte-Marie d'Arthous" was founded around 1160. This was filiation of the Premonstratensian "Abbaye de la Case-Dieu" in Gers (120 kms east). The building of the church, seen here, was started soon after. It got already consecrated in 1167. The neighbouring bastide Hastingues was founded in 1289 by John Hastings, seneschal of Gascony. This was done following a treaty between Edward I of England, Duke of Aquitaine and the monks of the Abbaye d'Arthous. During the War of Religions the abbey got ruined and lost the importance it once had. Though restored, only 5 monks lived here in 1766, so after the Revolution the abbey was sold by the state - and used as a farm. A bear or wolf on the right and a talented flute player to the left. Does he play a "double flute", known as "diple" or "dvojnice" in Croatia and Serbia?

Saint-Aulais-la-Chapelle, a village with a population of not even 300, hosts three Romanesque churches! One of these is Saint-Jaques in the tiny Hamlet of Conzac. Erected within the 12th century as a Cluniac priory church when pilgrims took a break here on their way to Santiago de Compostella. They still had about 1000 kms to walk from here. The priory and the church got severely damaged during the Wars of Religions. The church, once built on the blueprint of a Latin Cross, lost one arm of the transept, the facade and a large part of the nave. The nave got rebuilt, but now is shorter, that it was once. The Romanesque apse survived the times, so the corbels are still "in situ". These two may be musicians as well (previous upload), but I doubt that. The left person does not play a saxophone, as that was invented by Belgian Adolphe Sax in the 19th century. Does he play a kind of flute? What is the stick like object, the right person has in his hand?

A priory, dependent from the Abbaye Royale in Saint-Jean-d'Angély, existed here in the 12th century, the church Saint-Germain was erected end of that century. The church is known for the southern portal, which is a Romanesque masterpiece. Some of the corbels of the transept and all around the apse are as well beautiful. Here is goat, playing the pan flute.

Legends tell, that Saint Vigor, Bishop of Bayeux, founded a convent here within the 6th century. In 1032 Robert I, Duke of Normandy, (aka "Robert the Magnificent", "Robert le Magnifique"), father of William the Conqueror, who became a pious man in his older age (and died during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem), sponsored the Benedictine abbey and so the erection of the abbey-church started the same year. The abbey was wealthy and important in medieval times, but declined like most other convents. It existed upto the French Revolution, when the last six monks were forced to leave. The abbey got sold and most of the conventual buildings got demolished. The church was in a bad state after an earthquake (!) in 1775. It got renovated within the 19th century, since then serves the parish. The younger, Gothic carvings are much more elegant, than the rough Romanesque. Here are two carvings, depicting musicians. A bagpiper to the left.