Little sculptures

[David Tallan]

There's another thread elsewhere on the forums called "The Long and Winding Road" where people are posting their landscape photos of the long and winding road that we walk. I thought I'd start another photo thread of my own for a different kind of photo that I like to take - of the little sculptures that adorn buildings along the way.

I will start the thread with two of my own photos, one from my first Camino, the other from my most recent.

From the first, a little sculpture of Roland and Ferragut on the Palace of the Kings of Navarre in Estella, a great example of civil (non-religious) Romanesque architecture on the Camino and one of the earliest depictions of Roland, signed by Martin of Logroño.


The other is from my last Camino, from Santa María la Real de Nieva on the Camino de Madrid. It is significantly less martial in its depiction.


Is there anyone else who likes to take photos of these little sculptures. Which are your favourites?

 

[James van Hemert]

There's another thread elsewhere on the forums called "The Long and Winding Road" where people are posting their landscape photos of the long and winding road that we walk. I thought I'd start another photo thread of my own for a different kind of photo that I like to take - of the little sculptures that adorn buildings along the way.

I will start the thread with two of my own photos, one from my first Camino, the other from my most recent.

From the first, a little sculpture of Roland and Ferragut on the Palace of the Kings of Navarre in Estella, a great example of civil (non-religious) Romanesque architecture on the Camino and one of the earliest depictions of Roland, signed by Martin of Logroño.
View attachment 165147

The other is from my last Camino, from Santa María la Real de Nieva on the Camino de Madrid. It is significantly less martial in its depiction.
View attachment 165148

Is there anyone else who likes to take photos of these little sculptures. Which are your favourites?

fountain creature in Estella. April 2022

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

This was easy. My CF pictures are somewhat in the wrong order. This was #3 in the list. At the Basilica de la Virgen del Camino in ... Virgen del Camino.

 

[Bradypus]

A set of strange cartoon-like capitals in the remarkable church in Eunate.

 

[Purky]

Via Campaniensis: Laines-Aux-Bois (between Troyes and Eaux-Puiseaux). The remains of the church portal of St-Pierre-es-Liens (16th century).



Via Campaniensis: Reims cathedral. The famous Smile of Reims (Le Sourire de Reims).



Plus, cheating in a big way because I haven't walked the Camino de Levante, but I was in Valencia this month and secured this detail of the entrance of the Marqués de Dos Aguas Palace:

 

[lalaone]

Very small but very memorable, arresting my footsteps in Castrojeriz - "O death," "O Eternity."

 

[mspath]

Villamayor de Monjardin
Iglesia de San Andrés Apóstol
capital detail

photo taken October 26, 2013



This Romanesque capital which depicts fighting knights represents
Charlemagne and a Navarrese Prince.

 

[dick bird]

Did someone say ¨statues¨? Be warned, there are plenty more where these came from.
Estella

Segovia

Diamante


San Juan de la Peña

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

The cloister of the old monastery of San Juan de la Peña has a number of columns with Romanesque capitals. Here are closeups of one side of two of them, Cain slays Abel and The Dream of St. Joseph.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Basilica at Pontevedra, Portugal

 

[Dani7]

Not sure if this counts as a little sculpture but it was sculpted by nature. Out of Navarette 2023 I looked down and saw this

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Monastery cloisters in Moissac, France

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Fromista
Iglesia San Martin

February 8, 2008

Atop the many interior columns are stunning even shocking capitals.




This one, la Concordia, located inside the south entrance is quite explicit!

 

[Bradypus]

Looking through all the capitals and grotesques my mind kept wandering to the opening titles of the 1968 film of The Lion in Winter. One of my favourites.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Did someone say ¨statues¨? Be warned, there are plenty more where these came from.

So true. I'm sure the majority of members who post on this forum have a plethora of both "little statues" and big ones...I know I do.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Some more from San Juan de la Peña.

 

[DreamWeaver]

Santo Domingo dela calzada

 

[Editha]

oldest sculpture in stone of Jacobus in Santa Croya de Tera camino de la Plata

 

[David Tallan]

@mspath posted one that was perhaps explicit. This one is even more explicitly crude, but I did like it. Not a capital but a water spout on a church in Azurara, Portugal on the Coastal Route before Vila do Conde. Consider yourselves warned.

 

[mspath]

Santo Domingo de Silos
Cloister
Doubting Thomas, detail

photo taken January 23, 2013



".... reach hither thy hand, and thrust into my side and be not faithless, but believing."
John 20: 27

Especially splendid at Silos was the two story Romanesque cloister embellished with extraordinary sculpted panels such as the Doubting Thomas. ...Perfection to remember forever.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Doubting Thomas, detail

I think the majority of us are doubting Thomas's at some time or another in our lives. I love your choice of a little sculpture submission.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

This guy isn't little but he's also not quite life sized and he's interesting. Located in a niche in a wall facing the plaza in front of the monastery at Monserrat the internet identifys him as Sant Jordi, Saint George, the patron saint of Catalonia.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

This guy isn't little but he's also not quite life sized and he's interesting.

He sure is interesting and unique, having been carved/chiselled in nearly all linear lines. Do you know if he is an ancient statue, or a newer modernistic representation of the saint?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

He sure is interesting and unique, having been carved/chiselled in nearly all linear lines. Do you know if he is an ancient statue, or a newer modernistic representation of the saint?

Modern. I didn't notice until after I posted that Google Maps had the sculptor's name (mostly) shown. Here's the slightly edited introduction to his Wikipedia page:

Josep Maria Subirachs i Sitjar (11 March 1927 – 7 April 2014) was a Spanish sculptor and painter of the late 20th century. His best known work is probably the Passion Facade of the basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona.

 

[Theatregal]

These little carvings of heads on the interior walls of the Iglesia de Santa Maria la Blanca in Villácazar de Sirga. They are likely from an earlier destroyed doorway of the western facade - the Puerta del Ángel. These and other carvings from the door were relocated to other spaces in the church after the wall collapsed in1888. I learned this while eavesdropping on a guided tour of the church : )

 

[Camino Chrissy]

His best known work is probably the Passion Facade of the basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona

Rick, could this possibly be the one of that artist's work? I took this photo on my tour of the basilica in October 2019, when I met up with you for coffee before you started your Camino.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Rick, could this possibly be the one of that artist's work?

That's it. As I remember, you visited the Basilica after our breakfast meeting on the day I started my Camino Catalan. Here's my pic from a few weeks earlier.

 

[CWBuff]

This guy isn't little but he's also not quite life sized and he's interesting. Located in a niche in a wall facing the plaza in front of the monastery at Monserrat the internet identifys him as Sant Jordi, Saint George, the patron saint of Catalonia.

View attachment 165275 View attachment 165276

Modern. I didn't notice until after I posted that Google Maps had the sculptor's name (mostly) shown. Here's the slightly edited introduction to his Wikipedia page:

Josep Maria Subirachs i Sitjar (11 March 1927 – 7 April 2014) was a Spanish sculptor and painter of the late 20th century. His best known work is probably the Passion Facade of the basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona.

LOL! I was just about to comment on the initial post that this is very much Gaudi-esque and reminiscent of La Sagrada. Reckon this explains it

 

[CWBuff]

Rick, could this possibly be the one of that artist's work? I took this photo on my tour of the basilica in October 2019, when I met up with you for coffee before you started your Camino.
View attachment 165286

Thats Veronica with her veil\towel\blanket (whatever folks think - tke your pick)
I also LOVE Christ's head being The Bible - an Open Book
The Passion side

 

[Camino Chrissy]

LOL! I was just about to comment on the initial post that this is very much Gaudi-esque and reminiscent of La Sagrada. Reckon this explains it

@CWBuff, you were in Barcelona at almost the same time as Rick and I. You and I communicated by pm about our upcoming , taking off just a few days apart.

 

[CWBuff]

I dont know how "little" we have to go; some of these are somewhat big, but here is a couple:
Arco de Santa Maria Burgos San Martin Fromista Melide Cathedral Museum SdC

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Cirauqui
Iglesia San Román
detail

photo taken October 23, 2013



This small figure wearing the robes of a bishop is amidst the extraordinary carved archivolt which enframes the major doorway of the San Román church.

 

[dick bird]

This is one of my favourites. It is in the church of San Bento on Plaza Cervantes in Santiago.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

This is one of my favourites. It is in the church of San Bento on Plaza Cervantes in Santiago.

So colorful!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

This was easy. My CF pictures are somewhat in the wrong order. This was #3 in the list. At the Basilica de la Virgen del Camino in ... Virgen del Camino.

View attachment 165150

I've since come across a detail for this.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Do details count?

The doors at the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia have a nature motif (eastern transcept?). Do these count as little sculptures?



Perhaps these details from other doors there count too. (Western transcept?)

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

A "sculpture" garden in Agés on the Camino Francés, 2015

 

[CWBuff]

Do details count?

The doors at the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia have a nature motif (eastern transcept?). Do these count as little sculptures?

View attachment 165373

Perhaps these details from other doors there count too. (Western transcept?)

View attachment 165375 View attachment 165374

To my best knowledge it is The Lord's Prayer in many different languages.
I don't have the photo handy but I took one during my 1st trip to Barca in November 2019

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Two photos that belong only if you stretch things a bit.

Iglesia de San Juan de Ortega

Iglesia de San Juan de Ortega · 09199 Barrios de Colina, Burgos, Spain

âââââ · Historical landmark

maps.app.goo.gl

El Papamoscas, Burgos Cathedral

 

[eeddowes]

An astronaut carved into the portico of Salamanca's cathedral.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Rabanal del Camino

photo taken November 24, 2012



These small figures were sculpted in an imperament sandpile.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Burgos
cathedral
interior detail

photo taken November 8, 2012



This small memento mori features a child/putto holding a skull. The themes of this infantile combo are not playfulness and childhood but life's fleetingness and the universality of death.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Not sure where this was taken, but it is a picture of many little sculptures all all in a single photo.

 

[Bradypus]

Not sure where this was taken, but it is a picture of many little sculptures all all in a single photo.
View attachment 165582

Looks like the cathedral in Tui on the Portugues

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Looks like the cathedral in Tui on the Portugues

Thanks. I just checked the sequence of where my picture is and you are correct!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

1) Definitely Fromista 2) Probably Fromista 3) I don't know 4) I don't care 5) Who cares?

 

[Bradypus]

I've always found the 1993 Holy Year mascot Pelegrín a bit creepy. Those huge blank staring eyes! That one's not too bad though.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Redecilla del Camino
Iglesia Nuestra Señora de La Calle
font

photo taken October 16, 2004



This handsome 12th c. baptismal font depicts the towers and windows of Heavenly Jerusalem.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Carrión de los Condes
Iglesia de Santiago

photo taken November 14, 2012



Christ is the center of a broad frieze surrounded by symbols of the four Evangelists flanked by the Apostles.

 

[David Tallan]

These are from the Iglesia de Santa Maria de Mediavilla in Medina de Rioseco on the Camino de Madrid.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Santo Domingo de la Calzada
Cathedral
musician

photo taken November 1, 2012



The musician seated between two pillars amidst the lavish riches of the Santo Domingo de la Calzada cathedral is King David.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Not quite on the Camino but if you're going to start the Catalan from Barcelona you may want to visit Dalí's museum in Figueras. This was a Dalí designed piece in the jewelry annex.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Santo Domingo de la Calzada

photo taken November 2, 2013



Above this doorway distinctive figurative escutcheons, akin to 3D armorial devices, celebrate one family's history/heritage.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Camino Frances
Santo Domingo de la Calzada

photo taken November 2, 2013

View attachment 165748

Above this doorway distinctive figurative escutcheons, akin to 3D armorial devices, celebrate one family's history/heritage.

I am always amazed by the embellished details you often provide to go with the photos you share.

 

[mspath]

Camino Argones
Muruzábal
Santa María de Eunate

photo taken October 22, 2014



On the slope at Eunate just beyond the now closed albergue is this enigmatic stelle. I have never learned when, why or by whom the stelle was carved.

 

[Theatregal]

Built in 1917 - the home of sculptor J. López Pedre. View from the Alameda park. Santiago de Compostela.

 

[David Tallan]

Here's another one from my 1989 Camino:

 

[Bradypus]

Camino Argones
Muruzábal
Santa María de Eunate

photo taken October 22, 2014

View attachment 165819

On the slope at Eunate just beyond the now closed albergue is this enigmatic stelle. I have never learned when, why or by whom the stelle was carved.

@mspath I may be experiencing deja vu but I think we had this conversation last year A local sculptor called Pello Iraizoz.
Post in thread 'On the Camino: One Day at a Time, one Photo at a Time 10.0' https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...e-one-photo-at-a-time-10-0.76705/post-1119232

 

[mspath]

@mspath I may be experiencing deja vu but I think we had this conversation last year A local sculptor called Pello Iraizoz.
Post in thread 'On the Camino: One Day at a Time, one Photo at a Time 10.0' https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...e-one-photo-at-a-time-10-0.76705/post-1119232

Thanks for your update and also your first comment! Carpe diem!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

On the slope at Eunate just beyond the now closed albergue is this enigmatic stelle. I have never learned when, why or by whom the stelle was carved.

I was intrigued by the stela and looked it up. Spending time I didn't too if I had gone on to read the rest of the posts and visit the post linked to by @Bradypus. Anyway, so I haven't completely wasted my time, I post this excerpt from
https://thefogwatch.com/uterga-to-cirauqui-via-puente-la-reina/

One stone stands out covered in mysterious symbols. It took me a while to make the connection between the symbols and the masons’ marks on the church stonework — but the stone records the builders of the church through the marks they made to record the work they did when building the church. This was at a time when builders didn’t typically sign their work, so they have been recorded for posterity known only by their mark.​

 

[David Tallan]

Another one from San Martin in Fromista, one of my favourite Romanesque churches. 2016.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I can't be sure but this may be at or near Mercado de Abastos de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela.

 

[mspath]

Valcarlos alternate route
Parish church
Calle Elizaldea, 7
church altar

photos taken October 16, 2012



Saint James Matamoros or Moor slayer rides a spirited white horse beneath which lie slain Moors. This altarpiece dates from 1908, see
luzaide-valcarlos net.

 

[mspath]

Camino Argones
Muruzábal
Iglesia de Santa María de Eunate

photo taken Octotber 22, 2014



This distinctive angular mark was left by a stonemason when constructing the Iglesia.

For an English description of the working methods of architectural craftsmen in medieval Spain see the subsection entitled Artists and Professionals, Stonemasons, anonymity and artists' signatures in this Wikipedia article.

 

[David Tallan]

This one is from Naranco by Oviedo. Not the usual Romanesque ones I like to share. A bit earlier.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

thought I'd start another photo thread of my own for a different kind of photo that I like to take - of the little sculptures that adorn buildings along the way.

Santiago cathedral.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Santiago cathedral.
View attachment 165931

An interesting double little sculpture and it looks like it may even be a bronze.

 

[duncanwhyte]

Salamanca

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Salamanca

A stunning, perfectly crafted statue with lots of detail.

 

[David Tallan]

In the Cathedral in Tui, 2018.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Alto de Mezkiritz

photo taken October 13, 2011



At the Alto de Mezkiritz where the CF crossed the route N-135 this stele honored the Virgin of Roncesvalles.

 

[TerryB]

On the Primitivo from the Monasterio in Cornellana above the main doorway. The 'bear' on the upper right is stood over a 'child'. eating it? or protecting it?



Just off the Primitivo after Lugo is Santa Eulalia de Boveda. The crypt is a romano/ celtic temple dated to the 3rd / 4th century. As old as they come in Northern Spain. Photos of carvings from the entrance. The interior is famous for its wall paintings.



Blessings
TerryB

 

[TerryB]

More from the Primitivo!
Small statue of a Roman soldier on the church in the Cathedral square in Oviedo.



A replica Roman Milestone at San Roman (after Lugo)



Blessings
Terry B

 

[Roland49]

In an Albergue on the CP:


Last weekend I visited the city of Hamelin (Hameln in German) and on the decorative frieze of a halftimbered house I did find this:
View attachment Jakob_Hameln.jpg

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

King David, Adam and Eve and others at
the entrance to the south transcept of Santiago cathedral.

The Cathedral of Santiago: The porch of Platerías - Fundación Jacobea

In the days of its archbishops Diego Peláez (1070-1088) and Diego Gelmírez (1070? -1140), the Romanesque basilica of Santiago was conceived- and conceived as a whole, as a perfectly interlocking structure where nothing was left to chance. Its architecture and sculpted covers followed a very...

www.fundacionjacobea.org

 

[David Tallan]

Over an arch leading from the cathedral square in Lugo, while people are sharing Primitivo photos (having been beaten to the ones from the exterior of Sta. Eulalia in Boveda):

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Rabanal del Camino
Iglesia de la Asunción

photo taken November 17, 2011



This small stone displays the Order of Santiago insignia, a red cross resembling a sword, with the shape of a fleur-de-lis on the hilt and the arms.

 

[Theatregal]

A fading but still surviving cherub on an arch of the ruins of the Iglesia de La Trinidad in Canfranc Pueblo on the Aragonés.

 

[David Tallan]

From the Iglesia San Gervasio y San Protasio in Santervás de Campos, 22 June 2023.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

This photo doesn't show off the sculptures much but I like the abstract look of the pic.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

This photo doesn't show off the sculptures much but I like the abstract look of the pic.

You have turned "little sculptures" into a plethora of tiny ones brought together.

 

[mspath]

Camino Portugese
Padron
Fuente del Carmen

photo taken December 10, 2011



Legend says that water flowed here miraculously when James struck three times with his staff. In the niche his figure baptizes Queen Lupa, whom he converted to Christianity. The panel below depicts
the " traslación del apóstol Santiago por sus discípulos". Traslación is the act of moving Saint James' body in a stone boat.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I've got a picture that doesn't quite fit either thread category of life-size bronze statues or little sculptures that adorn buildings along the way. In the first mentioned thread there have been some photos of the bronze statue of the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. That statue has him looking at his creation, the Casa Botines in León, and the sculpture of Catalonia’s patron saint, St. George, over the main entrance. George and his dragon are life-sized, not little, but they adorn a building so I decided to submit my photo here to even Gaudí related things out between the two threads.

Casa Botines was created as a residence above a fabric shop then turned into a bank and now serves as an art museum.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/GxA4YW6hEc8sRjBU9

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Rabanal del Camino
Iglesia de la Asunción

photo taken November 17, 2011



This small pilgrim grasping his staff wears over his left shoulder a tiny traveling bag known as a scrip and on his feet what appear to be practical boots!

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Redecilla del Camino

photo taken February 21, 2007



On the calle Mayor, aka Camino Frances, a simple window was decorated with a folkart cutout depicting Saint James astride his white horse.

 

[Theatregal]

You have turned "little sculptures" into a plethora of tiny ones brought together.

Chrissy, when I read "plethora" I immediately thought of the astonishing facade of the Iglesia de Santa Maria la Real in Sangüesa on the Camino Aragonés. The epitome of a plethora of Little Sculptures!

The church of Santa María la Real in Sangüesa - VisitNavarra

The church of Santa María la Real de Sangüesa, declared a National Monument in 1889, magnificent façade, authentic stone altarpiece.

visitnavarra.info

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
near Roncesvalles
spring with statue of the Virgin

photo taken October 12, 2011



It was a pleasure to stop here and offer silent thanks for a safe arrival after my 5 hour slog through the Valcarlos pass.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Lameiros
Crucifix, detail

photo taken November 29, 2011



These bones and skull provide an evocative memento mori.
... Tempus fugit.

 

[Theatregal]

I liked this little donkey on one of the capitals in the cloister of San Juan de la Peña on the Aragones.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I liked this little donkey

He is a cutie for sure. The big ears and short legs give him away without needing much detail.

 

[duncanwhyte]

Lubian

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Logroño
Iglesia de Santiago el Real

photo taken January 27, 2008



Looking small vewed from Calle de Santiago these figures depict Saint James in two guises associated with his hagiography; on the lower level he is a pilgrim, the upper level depiction is as Matamoros or Moor slayer.

 

[dick bird]

It wasn´t until I started scrolling through to find the photo of the blue tin man that I realised how much sculpture and how much whimsy there is in rural Spain. These were all taken on the Lana in 2022. If you needed more reasons to walk the Lana - here they are.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

@mspath, thank you for the Logrono pic. I sometimes remember that impressive Santiago Matamoros sculpture but never its location. If I took my own picture of it it's not among my survivors. It nice to see it again.

And Dick, for some reason, more than being smile producing, that last pic grabs me.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Larrasoaña

photo taken October 18, 2015



This pathside Virgin was photograhed on a crisp October morning the last time I walked through Larrasoana.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Since we've gotten a dinosaur I feel okay with something bigger, a bull (though it doesn't look so large at this distance).


And also a dog

Spoiler

The large collection of flowers that got the nickname Puppy. Bilbao, in front of the Guggenheim Museum.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/attachments/puppy-01-jpeg.92340/

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Camino Frances
Larrasoaña

photo taken October 18, 2015

View attachment 166362

This pathside Virgin was photograhed on a crisp October morning the last time I walked through Larrasoana.

The word that comes to my mind about this one is "precious".

 

[David Tallan]

I've always been fond of the sculptures on the facade of the Iglesia del Santo Sepulcro in Estella. Here are a few of them:

 

[Willdtrout]

oldest sculpture in stone of Jacobus in Santa Croya de Tera camino de la Plata

View attachment 165224

I also took this photo. I joked that he walked so far he wore his legs down

 

[Willdtrout]

I just finished the Shikoku Ohenro. This guy said goodbye to me when I ‘closed the circle’ at Bekkaku Temple 1 Taisanji