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Little sculptures

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Camino Frances
Leon
Parador San Marcos
cloister garden

photo taken March 7, 2007



These two saints guard the cloister garden within the Parador.

When clad in my winter pilgrim garb I dared enter the Parador to ask if the famous Renaissance cloister garden could be visited the elegant maitre de answered that I might faire le tour but must NOT enter it!

Thus while I slowly walked the periphery arcade those saints and he intently watched every footstep!! This photo is proof of my peripatetic quest!
 

Those are wonderful. There are actually several of them on Hospital de los Reyes Catolicos in Santiago and they pee/poo on you if it rains. These are baroque additions to medieval hospice/hospital.
 
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Santiago de Compostela
Cathedral interior
Alpha-Omega disc

photo taken December 9, 2012



Amongst the multitude of splendor within the cathedral is this handsome disc displaying a four arm cross set with symbols of the sun/moon in the upper quadrants and alpha/omega in the lower quadrants.
 
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Sol Invictus in the visigothic chapel (c680AD) of Santa María de Lara, Quintanilla de las Viñas. Camino de San Olav.
31 October 2018.



The barely Christianised Sol is paired with a (to my eye) entirely pagan Selene/Isis/Luna. 800 years after they were created they would have induced a fit of the vapours in any sharp-eyed Inquisitor.
 
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Camino Frances
east of Nájera near Aleson
guardaviñas

photo taken February 18, 2007



This small circular stone shelter for la Rioja vintners is a guardaviñas. To form the conical roof stones would have been laid flat in concentric circles diminishing in size.
 
Camino Frances
Ponferrada
markers

photo taken November 20, 2011



These handsome small markers are attached to the south side of the Iglesia de San Andrés at the busy crossing of the Avenida el Castillo and Calle el Temple.
 
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Camino Frances
Burgos cathedral
Matamoros

photos taken February 24, 2007



From afar through a camera lens the Matamoros or Moor Slayer can be seen in isolation but viewed in situ the vast scene



covers one wall of the Capilla de San Juan Bautista y Santiago visited as part of the cathedral museum.
 
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Camino Frances
O Cebreiro
Santa Maria a Real

photos taken November 28, 2014



The magnificent chalice in the church was a gift from royalty commemorating a medieval miracle of faith when a parishioner experienced the transformation of wine and bread.



The sculpted shape of the chalice is repeated in this contemporary embroidered panel hanging in a side chapel.
 
This totally does not belong here but I wanted @mspath to wake up to some more color that her post above inspired. Titled "Royal Heart" this is my picture of a Sacred Heart inspired jewelry sculpture designed by Dalí on display at an annex at his museum in Figueres. A motor causes the heart to beat. Details follow.



The Royal Heart | Collection | Fundació Gala - Salvador Dalí

Technique: 18 karat yellow gold; Natural rubies (corundum), mixed cut (round and oval), of 3.0 to 5.0 mm, approximately; Small stones on the crown; Natural rubies (corundum) (8); Natural sapphires (corundum) (4); Natural emeralds (beryl) (4); Aquamarines (beryl) (4); Peridots (2); Hessonite...
www.salvador-dali.org
 
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The other day some robot at Google went through my photos and selected a bunch of small sculptures that it considered should belong together. There was one from New Zealand and a couple from the Rock of Cashel in Ireland but the bulk were from Spain. At the end it allowed me to save them in a collage. Here it is.

 
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Camino Frances
Columbrianos
Iglesia de San Esteban
marker

photo taken November 21, 2011



At the Iglesia de San Esteban de Columbrianos located on the CF north of central Ponferrada this sculpted ceramic marker pointed the way.
 
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Camino Frances
Carrion dos Condes
Real Monasterio Santa Clara

photo taken November 13, 2014



The view of a prominent cross in the monastery entrance courtyard is repeated on their sello.

 
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Camino Frances
Melide

photo taken March 24, 2006



This marker is at the junction of the rua principal and travesia principal, a pedestrian passage which leads to rua San Antonio where the Melide municipal albergue is located.
 
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Camino Frances
Santo Domingo de la Calzada

photo taken November 2, 2013



Over time chickens have become THE symbol of Santo Domingo de la Calzada. This historic coop complete with live chickens (changed every two weeks!) is within the cathedral.
 
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I do love going into the cemeteries along the way, paying my respects and remembering my own that have passed. Oftentimes, you'll find the most exquisite grave markers / headstones. I love how even in the tiniest of villages the cemeteries are loving cared for, clean, fresh flowers, monuments washed , crypts polished...it's not something I see here in the northeast part of the USA.

Also interesting, are the full color sculptors in chapels/churches/cathedrals. I often wonder if their restoration was researched and the determination was made that these were the original colors used ( especially in the smaller village churches ) . I know that the Portico of Glory is now all renewed in living color, but I've yet to see it, (perhaps in the coming weeks I will )

I've enjoyed this thread...have seen many, if not all of the sculptures submitted.
 

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Camino Frances
Villafranca del Bierzo
Iglesia de Santiago

photo taken November 21, 2011



Medieval pilgrims who arrived at this church door unable to continue were given the same indulgences as valid pilgrims who made it all the way to Santiago de Compostela. Hence this door is known as the Puerta del Perdón/Door of Pardon.
 
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mspath said:
A solitary vestige of a once vast pre-Romanesque monastery, the Ermita San Felices, appeared forlorn in the bleak light.
Click to expand...
I was quite taken by this. It wasn't until MUCH later that I found that it was just a tiny remnant of a much larger structure.

Pantheon of nobles at San Juan de la Peña.
 
Camino Frances
Ponferrada
Capilla de Nuestra Señora del Carmen

photo taken March 23, 2007



It was a splendid surprise to discover the many iconic figures/scenes in this new 1999 painting within the dome of the historic Capilla, adjacent to the San Nicolas de Flüe albergue.
Unfortunately my photo is of a section of the mural not the entire composition.
 
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Santiago de Compostela
Cathedral, interior
Puerta Santa /Holy Year door

photo taken December 3, 2011



In 2011, a non Holy Year, these sculpted panels could be seen on the closed Holy Door which is opened only during a Holy Year, a year when St James’ day, the 25th of July, occurs on a Sunday.
 
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Somewhat related to the theme of this thread is this reliquary for the arm of Saint Thomas Becket located in the Treasury of the Burgos cathedral. Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, was assassinated either on orders of the English King Henry II or on his behalf. He was declared a saint within years and his veneration extended to Spain partly due to Henry's daughter Eleanor who was married to Castile’s King Alfonso VIII. For Becket’s veneration in Spain see the Legacy/Legado section of his Spanish Wikipedia page.
 
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.
Camino Frances
Alto de San Roque,

photo taken November 24, 2011



This contemporary sculpture of a pilgrim in the wind faces west. Tlhe high mountains have been passed; the trail would now descend towards Triacastela.
 
Camino Frances
Villafranca del Bierzo
off route LE-713

photo taken November 7, 2004



Below this tiny figure atop the wall the sign read Estudio de Escultora A. NOGUEIRA

The above exact location was kindly provided in March 2021 by fellow forum member Chenahusky via this earlier post
 
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Camino Frances
San Justo de la Vega
Cruceiro de Santo Toribio

photo taken November 22, 2013



East of Astorga this sturdy cross rose
amidst the sweeping vista of a vast plain.
 
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Camino Frances
Cizur Menor
albergue Roncal

photo taken 0ctober 1, 2004



Seeing this scallop shell hung at the open doorway during my first CF I immediately sensed that pilgrims were welcome to just walk in.
...Camino life in 2004 was very relaxed!
 
Vézelay, France
La basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine

photo taken December 4, 2008



Entering the light of the Gothic ambulatory was spiritually and visually overwheming after walking from home.

Romanesque, Gothic, and 19th c. intervention here form timeless beauty; eternal peace is melded with man-made perfection.
...May this magnificent site always endure.
 
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Ideal pocket guides for during & after your Camino. Each weighs only 1.4 oz (40g)!
Camino Preparation Guide
Fail to prepare? reduce your risk by buying this book full of practical info.
2nd ed.
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