what is this pilgrim badge?

[caminka]

there are a few pilgrims depicted on late medieval frescoes in and close around slovenia. one of them is in Beram, Istria (close to where the white truffles come from), in a little church of sv. Marija na Škriljinah. it was frescoed in 1474 by Vincenz iz Kastva, an almost local painter. it forms part of the Dance of Death, a motif that spread around europe after the black death of the 14C.

the depictions are quite detailed. the pilgrim is a beggar with a staff and half a leg replaced with a wooden pole, he is wearing a black shoulder bag and a purple tunic. on the head he has a hat with tree pilgrim badges sewn on with a red thread. the left one is the Veil of Veronica from Rome, the middle one are the Keys of st Peter, also from Rome. it's the right badge that is giving me problems. it's a circle with three swords/crosses/?. is it also from Rome? I searched the google but nothing similar came up. anyone seen a similar badge somewhere?

 

[DirtAmy]

Is it four swords? Thomas Becket (Canterbury) often has badges with swords (his murder weapon) or four knights. Might be a possibility....

 

[KJFSophie]

Our Lady of Sorrows also depicted with swords...?

 

[t2andreo]

The badge to the right looks, to me at least, to be a Madonna with Child. The four 'spikes' standing up from the top of the badge suggest, again to me, that this is a crown.

Taken together as a theme, a badge depicting the Queen of Peace, with Child, and wearing a crown, makes dogmatic sense.

Also, if the central badge is, and I totally agree, the keys to Heaven, as from Saint Peter and the Vatican, then the right hand badge makes more sense as a Madonna with Child wearing a crown.

I interpreted the left badge as a skull, implying mortality. But, if there is authoritative information that says this is the Veil of Veronica, that works too.

Okay, all you clerics and more religiously learned folks out there, am I on to something or all wrong.

 

[t2andreo]

Our Lady of Sorrows also depicted with swords...?
View attachment 67056View attachment 67057

Surely you have seen the lifesize version of this in the Chapel of Corticela at the Cathedral in Santiago? There, the arrangement of the daggers is asymmetrical.

I always wondered why, and thought this was because one or more daggers had been broken off. That IS what it appears to look like. This made logical sense, as other parts of this epic sculpture / altarpiece are also missing.

Several years ago, I asked Fr. Joseph Coughlin from Dublin, when he was at Santiago as the English language chaplain. After serving the daily English language Mass, I asked him about this... specifically, where the other apparently missing daggers were.

He 'splained the seven sorrows of Mary to me. It took me over 60 years to come to this knowledge. But, knowledge is GOOD!

Hope this helps.

 

[SYates]

Could the third badge be palm branches (symbol for pilgrimage to Jerusalem)?
@Kathar1na Do you know more?

BC SY

 

[Kathor1]

Could the third badge be palm branches (symbol for pilgrimage to Jerusalem)?
@Kathar1na Do you know more?

No clue. But I, too, have been wondering how @caminka identified the items as four swords and whether they could be something else. I guess the ring is just holding the items together and allows the badge to be stitched to the hat and is not part of the imagery?

 

[caminka]

Is it four swords? Thomas Becket (Canterbury) often has badges with swords (his murder weapon) or four knights. Might be a possibility....

I looked at the bacges for thomas beckett (on google) and none seem to have swords on. he usually wears quite typical bishop's hat that is hard to miss.

 

[caminka]

Our Lady of Sorrows also depicted with swords...?
View attachment 67056View attachment 67057

that is a possibility, although the swords are all around the heart or the virgin in the middle.
the one badge from the middle ages that I found is this:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/539024649139078381/

. it does not look quite the same.

 

[caminka]

The badge to the right looks, to me at least, to be a Madonna with Child. The four 'spikes' standing up from the top of the badge suggest, again to me, that this is a crown.

Taken together as a theme, a badge depicting the Queen of Peace, with Child, and wearing a crown, makes dogmatic sense.

Also, if the central badge is, and I totally agree, the keys to Heaven, as from Saint Peter and the Vatican, then the right hand badge makes more sense as a Madonna with Child wearing a crown.

hmm, now that you described is so, I can see what could be madonna with child.

I interpreted the left badge as a skull, implying mortality. But, if there is authoritative information that says this is the Veil of Veronica, that works too.

I interpreted the veronica's weil via medieval paintings and illumination. eg. this hans memling's painting from c. 1470: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veil_of_Veronica#/media/File:Hans_Memling_026.jpg

a 15C badge with veronica's weil is this, for example:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/530791506079332715/

 

[caminka]

Surely you have seen the lifesize version of this in the Chapel of Corticela at the Cathedral in Santiago? There, the arrangement of the daggers is asymmetrical.

I always wondered why, and thought this was because one or more daggers had been broken off. That IS what it appears to look like. This made logical sense, as other parts of this epic sculpture / altarpiece are also missing.

Several years ago, I asked Fr. Joseph Coughlin from Dublin, when he was at Santiago as the English language chaplain. After serving the daily English language Mass, I asked him about this... specifically, where the other apparently missing daggers were.

He 'splained the seven sorrows of Mary to me. It took me over 60 years to come to this knowledge. But, knowledge is GOOD!

Hope this helps.

I have seen it. but this could be interpreted as any kind of madonna with child. I don't see any obvious swords.

 

[caminka]

No clue. But I, too, have been wondering how @caminka identified the items as four swords and whether they could be something else. I guess the ring is just holding the items together and allows the badge to be stitched to the hat and is not part of the imagery?

I was trying to identify possible alternatives. the tops above the circle look to me to be three-part. thus swords or crosses. they are not the part to sew the badge to clothing, these are the little circles to the sides and at the bottom.
I think that the circle/ring is part of the badge itself, it's too prominent to be just a support item. then again, it could be part of the painter's interpretation.

 

[caminka]

Could the third badge be palm branches (symbol for pilgrimage to Jerusalem)?
@Kathar1na Do you know more?

BC SY

I don't see palm branches. they would probably look more featherly?

 

[JabbaPapa]

During the Middle Ages, instead of collecting sellos on their credenciales, which did not exist, pilgrims collected these sorts of badges as proof of passage, and they attached them to their clothing.

The various churches and shrines "competed" to create the most beautiful badges, but more important was the individuality of each one so that the hospitales and churches etc along the Way to Santiago could recognise the pilgrims as genuinely following the Way, and so that at the end the pilgrims could receive their official pilgrimage document, from those proofs of passage.

But truth be told, having your credencial and collecting your sellos in the modern way is a far better system.

 

[Kathor1]

I enlarged the image a bit and rotated it. It's difficult for me to see what is image and what is paint that came off.

 

[Kathor1]

I was intrigued to learn that the vera icon, ie Veronica's cloth with the imprint of the face of Jesus, on pilgrim's hats is not always a metal badge but can be a drawing. There is a painting of Saint Sebaldus of Nuremberg where the decoration on his hat is described as "three pilgrim badges and a vera icon on parchment" (see below).

 

[David]

The classic Saint Thomas of Canterbury pilgrim badge was a round shield or 'buckler' with a sword - the sword to represent the sword he was murdered with. It was a gang of four knights who attacked him so it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that there was a design with four swords ... but three? I see four objects, not three.

 

[David]

I enlarged the image a bit and rotated it. It's difficult for me to see what is image and what is paint that came off.

View attachment 67063

Oh - so . maybe they aren't swords as the blades aren't there? ... and I see four objects. I'm intrigued!

 

[Kathor1]

I looked at the badges for thomas beckett (on google) and none seem to have swords on.

There are Becket pilgrim badges with swords on them, some have the whole murder scene with the four knights. But I don't think it fits the fresco and it also doesn't fit the location of the fresco (just my gut feeling).


The badge on the left is reproduction.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

In the treasury of the Burgos Cathedral is a relic of St. Thomas; a hand or finger. It is in a hand shaped reliquary. And Becket had his pilgrimage also so a symbol for him wouldn't be out of the question.

I also remember seeing Becket in a painting in the museum of Astorga's cathedral.

 

[Kathor1]

The more I look at the fresco and the more pilgrim badges I look at , the more I think that it is indeed some image inside the ring and something else on top, a bit similar to the badges shown below. Each of the first two badges shown has two towers on top of the ring and Mary and child and other figures or items inside the ring. The third badge has a different kind of decoration on top of the ring.

 

[Kathor1]

there are a few pilgrims depicted on late medieval frescoes in and close around slovenia. one of them is in Beram, Istria (close to where the white truffles come from), in a little church of sv. Marija na Škriljinah. it was frescoed in 1474 by Vincenz iz Kastva, an almost local painter. it forms part of the Dance of Death, a motif that spread around europe after the black death of the 14C.

I forgot where you are from, @caminka, so perhaps you know all this already ☺: there is quite a bit of literature about this church and the frescoes, including about its Dance of Death. There is no Wikipedia article in English but for example in German, Slovenian and Croatian. I find it sometimes useful to look at an article in several languages. Apparently, images of the Dance of Death are rarely found south of the Alps (such as Croatia where this church is located), and in this case it has been shown that the fresco of the Dance of Death and of the Kiss of Judas is based on a copy from a printmaker from the Low Countries known as Master with the Banderoles. Pure speculation on my part but that would make a pilgrim badge from a lesser known Dutch/German/Belgian Marian pilgrimage site or similar pilgrimage site not unlikely.

 

[Kathor1]

I think we are closing in on it ☺. Quote from an article about the The Istrian Danse Macabre: Beram and Hrastovlje by Tomislav Vignjevic: "Similarly, in the Beram Danse Macabre one finds the ambivalent figure of a lame Beggar or Pilgrim wearing a pilgrim's hat decorated with a vera icon, St Peter's keys, and another pilgrim's badge, probably a small image of the Virgin."

Full marks to @t2andreo who saw a Madonna with Child right away.

Source: (PDF) THE ISTRIAN DANSE MACABRE: BERAM AND ...https://www.researchgate.net › publication › 329522774_THE_ISTRIAN_D...

 

[Kathor1]

am I on to something or all wrong.

@t2andreo, you were on to something. I can see it, too, now. Quite clearly, actually.

 

[Kathor1]

This pilgrim badge is in a Düsseldorf museum. An identical badge is in Prague and very similar badges are in Cologne. Mary with Child plus crown. So such badges did exist.

 

[t2andreo]

Ah HA!

 

[NorthernLight]

In the treasury of the Burgos Cathedral is a relic of St. Thomas; a hand or finger. It is in a hand shaped reliquary. And Becket had his pilgrimage also so a symbol for him wouldn't be out of the question.

I also remember seeing Becket in a painting in the museum of Astorga's cathedral.

Henry II & Eleanor of Aquitaine's daughter Eleanor married Alfonso VIII of Castile and died in the castle in Burgos. Henry being responsible for Becket's death, she may have contributed the Spanish link.

 

[Vacajoe]

LOVE this site and the crowd-sourced research!

 

[Deleted member 73526]

Perhaps madonna with child, and four angels?

 

[wayfarer]

Excellent research as always Kathar1na.

 

[caminka]

There are Becket pilgrim badges with swords on them, some have the whole murder scene with the four knights. But I don't think it fits the fresco and it also doesn't fit the location of the fresco (just my gut feeling).

View attachment 67072
The badge on the left is reproduction.

they do have swords, yes, but not in the kind of pattern as in the beram badge.
we do know of 'slovenian' pilgrims going on long-haul pilgrimages (jerusalem, santiago, köln, aachen, rome) but I have not yet come across one going to british isles.
I would thing the badge would indeed be from somewhere closer. perhaps italy.

 

[caminka]

I enlarged the image a bit and rotated it. It's difficult for me to see what is image and what is paint that came off.

View attachment 67063

that is certainly a problem. I was there this september. because of the preservation of the frescoes there is no artificial lighting in the church and what comes from the small door and a few windows is not at all sufficient for good photos. (besides, I was forbidden to take photos, because my camera measures available light with a small green light, and the caretaker has been told that no lights whatsoever are permitted on the frescoes. I never flash frescoes, anyway, but even that tiny green dot was too much.) the photos on internet must have been made with a special permission.
even so, it seemed to me, that colours have significantly faded since the photos available on the internet were made. perhaps the colours come out in the artificial light, but it was very difficult to see any details on the fresco up on the upper part of the wall in the dimmest past of the church. I was quite miffed.

 

[caminka]

I was intrigued to learn that the vera icon, ie Veronica's cloth with the imprint of the face of Jesus, on pilgrim's hats is not always a metal badge but can be a drawing. There is a painting of Saint Sebaldus of Nuremberg where the decoration on his hat is described as "three pilgrim badges and a vera icon on parchment" (see below).

View attachment 67068

indeed. I found other examples of vera icon being worn on hats next to other pilgrim badges.

 

[t2andreo]

We, collectively, still know far more than we did when the OP / OQ was posted and posed.

So, what do we DO with that knowledge? Is there anyone worth discussing it further with or providing it to, so they can take it forward?

All knowledge is GOOD.

 

[caminka]

The more I look at the fresco and the more pilgrim badges I look at , the more I think that it is indeed some image inside the ring and something else on top, a bit similar to the badges shown below. Each of the first two badges shown has two towers on top of the ring and Mary and child and other figures or items inside the ring. The third badge has a different kind of decoration on top of the ring.

View attachment 67084

this is a really nice collection. it may be that the badge from beram originally looked something like this, but the painter cound not transfer it to the fresco.
despite my nonexistant dutch I gather these are the badges from rijksmuseum? does it say which pilgrim site they bbelong to?

 

[caminka]

I forgot where you are from, @caminka, so perhaps you know all this already ☺: there is quite a bit of literature about this church and the frescoes, including about its Dance of Death. There is no Wikipedia article in English but for example in German, Slovenian and Croatian. I find it sometimes useful to look at an article in several languages. Apparently, images of the Dance of Death are rarely found south of the Alps (such as Croatia where this church is located), and in this case it has been shown that the fresco of the Dance of Death and of the Kiss of Judas is based on a copy from a printmaker from the Low Countries known as Master with the Banderoles. Pure speculation on my part but that would make a pilgrim badge from a lesser known Dutch/German/Belgian Marian pilgrimage site or similar pilgrimage site not unlikely.

that is exactly right. I will add that this dance of death and the one from the church of Hrastovlje which is on the slovenian side of the border and the work of Vincenz's son, are thought to be the only two dances where the dancers are going right. in all other dances the dancers are going left.
the skeletons are practically a copy of the banderole's skeleton.
going from this, if vincenz used other templates from the same region, maybe he copied that badge from there too.

the closest badge depicted in art I found in the dutch region, too, on the ghent altar. it could be argued that it has a similar-looking top, even though the inside is clearly a crucifixion.

 

[caminka]

This pilgrim badge is in a Düsseldorf museum. An identical badge is in Prague and very similar badges are in Cologne. Mary with Child plus crown. So such badges did exist.

View attachment 67087

o, o! very nice!
perhaps the painter omitted the background around the virgin to make it more clear what he intended to present.

 

[caminka]

We, collectively, still know far more than we did when the OP / OQ was posted and posed.

So, what do we DO with that knowledge? Is there anyone worth discussing it further with or providing it to, so they can take it forward?

All knowledge is GOOD.

enjoy it? enjoy the thrill of unanswered, of the search and of the possible answers?
I always liked such little puzzles and the search for their answers.

 

[caminka]

The badge to the right looks, to me at least, to be a Madonna with Child. The four 'spikes' standing up from the top of the badge suggest, again to me, that this is a crown.

Taken together as a theme, a badge depicting the Queen of Peace, with Child, and wearing a crown, makes dogmatic sense.

Also, if the central badge is, and I totally agree, the keys to Heaven, as from Saint Peter and the Vatican, then the right hand badge makes more sense as a Madonna with Child wearing a crown.

I interpreted the left badge as a skull, implying mortality. But, if there is authoritative information that says this is the Veil of Veronica, that works too.

Okay, all you clerics and more religiously learned folks out there, am I on to something or all wrong.

this is what I believe is the badge of the lady of the sorrows - on the left.

 

[Kathor1]

Excellent research as always.

Thank you, @wayfarer! Similar to what @caminka said about herself, I, too, like tackling these little riddles and I enjoy the search for answers and the sheer pleasure of making a tiny discovery as well as learning something new in an area that I find interesting. The synergy of the contributions in a thread is an added bonus. More often than not it is an answer where I know "nah, that's not it" that is the impulse to look in another and completely different direction of which I hadn't thought before. So, as the saying goes, there may be no wrong answers ☺.

 

[Kathor1]

I gather these are the badges from rijksmuseum? does it say which pilgrim site they belong to?

Yes, correct, all three badges are in the Rijksmuseum Het Catharijneconvent in Utrecht.

It is not certain where the first of the Marian badges comes from, perhaps Aachen (aka Aix-la-Chapelle to English speakers) or more likely from a pilgrimage site dedicated to Mary in the Netherlands, first half of the 15th century. The second Marian badge has an inscription that points to today's Aardenburg in the Netherlands which was a very popular Marian pilgrimage site, 15th century.

The third badge depicts St Andrew, so perhaps from Scotland but it is not certain, also 15th century.

PS: The website of a non-profit Dutch collector's foundation (available in EN and NL) attributes the first badge to the town of Hertogenbosch but as already mentioned, the Rijksmuseum doesn't seem to confirm it. But the website has some interesting information on the use and purpose of the tiny mirror that was held by small clamps in the badge's frame. Apparently, in Aachen in the first half of the 15th century a new type of pilgrims’ badge was devised – the mirror badge. That was news to me.

 

[Delphinoula]

Just a ,thought contact the local curator? If none is available there then contact the national Slovenian Museum they could point you in the right direction of a scholar who’s iconographical knowledge may help you. Usually art historians are helpful. It is in Slovenia ? If this is to far fetched start with your local professor and ask if they know maybe a mediavist who could help you and then string from one to another, well that’s maybe a too scientific approach, but can have lots of fun as well.

 

[Kathor1]

o, o! very nice!
perhaps the painter omitted the background around the virgin to make it more clear what he intended to present.

I thought you might like it ☺. And I had the same thought about the background as you had. In the meantime I found out that the British museum has also a copy of this same badge, see here. They provide a view of the back of the badge. No indication where it's from, though.

If I were to write a historical novel, the badge shown on the fresco would be the badge that comes from the church in Beram itself, of course . It was, after all, a Marian pilgrimage site at the time. But we will never know ... In any case, I think it is very fitting that the artist chose these three badges: all of them familiar to the contemporary viewer and one perhaps directly related to the church!

 

[Kathor1]

So, what do we DO with that knowledge? Is there anyone worth discussing it further with or providing it to, so they can take it forward?

I guess that person would be @caminka herself . I suspect that she is way too modest about it but she did talk a bit about herself once and I remembered it, see here.

She also had a fabulous website that I remember visiting but I no longer have the link.

 

[Kathor1]

@caminka, how about that? Found in Slovenia! From Loreto, Italy! Mary with child and assorted other items, crown on top. Not the badge itself but a cast on a bell. The motif was definitely known in the area and Loreto is not so far away and an obvious stop for a Rome pilgrim ...



And here is a pilgrim badge from Umbria in Italy, with an unknown saint, which I think is interesting because the ring is so thick and there is not much detail, similar to the badge in the fresco. Obviously, bits have broken off, including the loops. It is now in a museum in Baltimore.

 

[caminka]

Yes, correct, all three badges are in the Rijksmuseum Het Catharijneconvent in Utrecht.

It is not certain where the first of the Marian badges comes from, perhaps Aachen (aka Aix-la-Chapelle to English speakers) or more likely from a pilgrimage site dedicated to Mary in the Netherlands, first half of the 15th century. The second Marian badge has an inscription that points to today's Aardenburg in the Netherlands which was a very popular Marian pilgrimage site, 15th century.

The third badge depicts St Andrew, so perhaps from Scotland but it is not certain, also 15th century.

PS: The website of a non-profit Dutch collector's foundation (available in EN and NL) attributes the first badge to the town of Hertogenbosch but as already mentioned, the Rijksmuseum doesn't seem to confirm it. But the website has some interesting information on the use and purpose of the tiny mirror that was held by small clamps in the badge's frame. Apparently, in Aachen in the first half of the 15th century a new type of pilgrims’ badge was devised – the mirror badge. That was news to me.

wow, I have never heard of mirror badges before. how quaint!

aachen was (at least in the 16C, 17C and 18C) very popular with pilgrims from slovenian lands. they even had group guided pilgrimages there and it could take them more then two months for the whole journey. if I remember correctly, they may have their own priest in the 15C already.

 

[caminka]

Just a ,thought contact the local curator? If none is available there then contact the national Slovenian Museum they could point you in the right direction of a scholar who’s iconographical knowledge may help you. Usually art historians are helpful. It is in Slovenia ? If this is to far fetched start with your local professor and ask if they know maybe a mediavist who could help you and then string from one to another, well that’s maybe a too scientific approach, but can have lots of fun as well.

national museum has published their collection of pilgrim badges in 2001 (Darko Knez, Svetinjice : iz zbirke Narodnega muzeja Slovenije = Pilgrimage badges : from the collections of the National Museum of Slovenia). unfortunately, there are no medieval badges and only a few possibly 16C ones. none that would look like the badge from beram.

most badges from slovenia that I've seen date from 17-19C. possibly older are a few scallop shells found in graves in kranj.

there were some badges excavated in a medieval-renaissance cemetery around the church of st Peter in Ljubljana, but there has been no publication yet. when the city musem put up an exhibition about medieval ljubljana last year, a golden badge of st james from compostela was displayed, too. I think it was 16C. very neat, but I was unable to get the temporary exhibition catalogue because apparently there was a battle for them after the exhibition ended.

 

[caminka]

If I were to write a historical novel, the badge shown on the fresco would be the badge that comes from the church in Beram itself, of course . It was, after all, a Marian pilgrimage site at the time. But we will never know ... In any case, I think it is very fitting that the artist chose these three badges: all of them familiar to the contemporary viewer and one perhaps directly related to the church!

not that I have ever seen it mentioned or found even from later periods, but it would be really cool.

the closest (and only) pilgrimage site in/close to Istria I've come across so far which a pilgrim badge is tiny Trsat, a fortress above Rijeka. it was a popular pilgrimage site since the end of the 13C (1291) when the angels who were allegedly transporting Mary's house to Italy (now in Loretto) stopped here and deposited the house for three years on a wooded hillside. the badges that I've come across from here do not precede 16C.

this is how the badge from trsat looks like. it was found at the excavations around the church in Semič (there was a cemetery around the church), a small town in Bela Krajina. I dated it to the 16C based on the fact that it is flat and forged but it already has an image on both sides. it is one of the earliest badges from Semič.
the inscription on the left side (the side with Trsatska Marija) reads: IMAGO∙V∙M∙TARSACT∙AS∙LVCADEP. the ridght side has a popular protective inscription. from the 16C badges found in/around slovenia were cast and mostly oval or round.

 

[caminka]

I guess that person would be @caminka herself . I suspect that she is way too modest about it but she did talk a bit about herself once and I remembered it, see here.

She also had a fabulous website that I remember visiting but I no longer have the link.

o my gosh, you remember that.

ay, the website. I keep saying I will make a new website soon but there are so many things that it keeps being pushed forwards again and again. (I am going to hide under the table now.)

 

[caminka]

@caminka, how about that? Found in Slovenia! From Loreto, Italy! Mary with child and assorted other items, crown on top. Not the badge itself but a cast on a bell. The motif was definitely known in the area and Loreto is not so far away and an obvious stop for a Rome pilgrim ...

View attachment 67120

how did you find that?!! it certainly looks like a badge. on a church bell! ... and after I somehow managed to persuade this dutch site to work, it says lower down that it is indeed on a bell. although I don't understand if this bell is now in GNM in nürnberg or still in the church of st Sebastian in Predgrad. indeed there appear to be lots of badge representation on bells in slovenia! (obviously taken from this one publication cited on the page: Anton Gnirs, Alte und neue Kirchenglocken. Katalog der Kirchenglocken im österr. Küstenlande und in angrenzenden Gebieten mit Beiträgen zur Geschichte der. Gußmeister)
a little bit about the church: http://www.jozef-starotrski.net/podruznice/sv-sebastjan-predgrad.html but no mention of a bell.
I would have never thought to look on bells for a representation of a pilgrim badge.

depending on the history of the bell, this may well have represent a close marian sanctuary, like Trsat, for example.

 

[Kathor1]

how did you find that?!!

If I knew afterwards how I found something on the net and if I saved the more interesting links I would be a happier person . When I look for something, I click on all sorts of links, try entering (in Google) promising combinations of words in the paltry number of languages I know fairly well and even in those I barely know and sometimes I'm just lucky.

managed to persuade this dutch site to work

An easy way to just look around on www.kunera.nl is to activate all the search parameters in the fields on the left side and then work with the map. +/- (top right) zooms in and out, double-click on a marked location brings up the finds. I did this just now and was actually a bit amused when two finds came up for the Sebastian church in Stari Trg ob Kolpi, both of them as casts on church bells: the Marian badge already mentioned and a second one that is described as a "papal coat of arms with crossed keys as attributes of Peter and a Vera Icon surmounted by tiara" ... ! A less skeptical person than me might say that this is a mighty hint and no coincidence.

this bell is now in GNM in Nürnberg or still in the church of st Sebastian [?]

Sadly, there is a third possibility and that is that the bell is lost forever and that a drawing or a photo in an old book from 1917 is all that is left. I came across a review of Anton Gnirs' book, published in a Theologische Literaturzeitung 1919 (the Internet is a marvellous tool) where the reviewer says that Gnirs' book is a catalogue that will serve to inform and to remind future generations of the numerous church bells of historic and artistic value that had to be melted to make weaponry of war during the previous year, because of their metal content.

This reminded me of the experience I had when I walked to Santiago: even when you are mainly interested in medieval and earlier history you will inevitably come across testimony and reminders of events in later times, both the great parts and the horrible parts of our shared history.

Kurt Köster who is mentioned in the description put together a huge database about pilgrim badges and after his death it was given to the GNM. There are plans to digitize it but the work is not completed as far as I can tell. There's an article about Gnirs in Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Gnirs), longer in German and shorter in Czech and in Croatian.

 

[caminka]

Sadly, there is a third possibility and that is that the bell is lost forever and that a drawing or a photo in an old book from 1917 is all that is left.

that is in all probability the case for these bells. I am sure I would have come across some mention of them otherwise. according to the badges they were probably medieval and that is not easy to ignore.

I did this just now and was actually a bit amused when two finds came up for the Sebastian church in Stari Trg ob Kolpi, both of them as casts on church bells: the Marian badge already mentioned and a second one that is described as a "papal coat of arms with crossed keys as attributes of Peter and a Vera Icon surmounted by tiara" ... ! A less skeptical person than me might say that this is a mighty hint and no coincidence.

I see the keys but not the vera icon, unless that is a face below the keys in a halo. I don't know what they saw under the tiara but I don't see any faces there. would be an intersting (rare?) blending of these images.

 

[caminka]

thanks for all the hard work, @Kathar1na!

 

[Former member 83942]

We studied this out here a bit and believe it to be Madonna and child (Jesus) surrounded by the crown, a typical view of Mary. Zooming in, you can see two lines representing the two figures, one holding the other.
Thanks for posting these images. We were in Slovenia a few years back. The region was on the Medieval trade route between Western Europe and the Middle East (including Constantinople). The Shroud of Turin likely followed this route. The Image of Veronica’s Veil probably derived from the folded shroud. I remembered seeing a beautiful small fresco of the Mandylon/Veronica’s Veil in the chapel of Bled castle. In my mind, I could see it commemorating the shroud coming through...but I digress into historical whimsy....

 

[Kathor1]

The Image of Veronica’s Veil probably derived from the folded shroud. I remembered seeing a beautiful small fresco of the Mandylon/Veronica’s Veil in the chapel of Bled castle. In my mind, I could see it commemorating the shroud coming through...but I digress into historical whimsy....

Thank you for your comment as it caused me to look into this a bit further. The pilgrim badges (made of silk or paper or similar) on pilgrims' hats that we see in the photos of the fresco and of other late medieval paintings in this thread and that show the face of Jesus have nothing to do with the Shroud of Turin. Shroud of Turin = from the grave; Veronica veil / cloth / handkerchief = on the way to Crucification. And let's not get into any discussion about what is genuine and what is not genuine. I try to look at things from the point of view of medieval men and women: a divine image can appear miraculously on a piece of cloth, not made by human hands.

It is safe to say that these badges were purchased in Rome, during a pilgrimage to Rome. Quote from a paper on Researchgate:

What is certain is that Pope Innocent III [1198-1216] gave great importance to the image of the face of Christ on cloth, “quod vocatur Veronica’ (which is called Veronica), by instituting a procession from 1208 in which this cloth was carried from its home in St Peter’s to the nearby Ospedale di Santo Spirito. After a worrying incident in which the image turned upside down at the end of one of these processions, reported by the 12th century English chronicler Matthew Paris, Innocent III wrote a prayer to be recited in front of the image, to which an indulgence was attached, reducing the amount of time one spent in Purgatory. Seeing the Veronica became one of the main reasons for pilgrimage to Rome, as several witnesses report [...]​

As so many other medieval relics, this Rome relic has today lost its former great importance.

 

[Texas Walker]

The more I look at the fresco and the more pilgrim badges I look at , the more I think that it is indeed some image inside the ring and something else on top, a bit similar to the badges shown below. Each of the first two badges shown has two towers on top of the ring and Mary and child and other figures or items inside the ring. The third badge has a different kind of decoration on top of the ring.

View attachment 67084

The one on the right looks like St. Andrew (diagonal cross) superstructure is architectural IMHO

 

[Kathor1]

Wow, just wow ... a group of enthusiasts and scholars from different research disciplines created a website (in Italian) about Veronica iconography throughout the ages: https://veronicaroute.com/ . Click on ricerca avanzata (advanced search) to browse by century, for example the 1400s, or click on le mappe (map) to browse by location (with differently coloured icons depending on the century).

The badges on the pilgrim hat in the frescoes of the Beram church are included, as is another fresco from this church. It just shows that there was so much more to medieval pilgrimage than the Camino de Santiago - sorry, Camino folks . Amazing work ... !

Click on Interactive map to explore:

 

[NorthernLight]

Any self respecting church with the means procured a relic of some saint. If you could get something that was associated with Christ and his apostles, even better. The reformation saw the destruction of many of these. It’s wonderful that some survive.

I recall reading somewhere about how one of the medieval queen consorts in England regularly avoided her husband by making pilgrimages to the various sites there.

 

[caminka]

The pilgrim badges (made of silk or paper or similar) on pilgrims' hats that we see in the photos of the fresco and of other late medieval paintings.

I find it hard to believe that pilgrim badges affixed to hats and clothing were really made of such perishable materials. I mean, they would be cheap, but a few rain showers and there would be no badge anymore. I was thinking maybe linen or woolen fabric or thin leather with a harder background/frame, and the face painted(?)/embroidered on it. silk would work, too.

 

[caminka]

We studied this out here a bit and believe it to be Madonna and child (Jesus) surrounded by the crown, a typical view of Mary. Zooming in, you can see two lines representing the two figures, one holding the other.
Thanks for posting these images. We were in Slovenia a few years back. The region was on the Medieval trade route between Western Europe and the Middle East (including Constantinople). The Shroud of Turin likely followed this route. The Image of Veronica’s Veil probably derived from the folded shroud. I remembered seeing a beautiful small fresco of the Mandylon/Veronica’s Veil in the chapel of Bled castle. In my mind, I could see it commemorating the shroud coming through...but I digress into historical whimsy....

that is probably the most likely representation, yes. it would be nice if an actual such badge would turn up, too.

slovenia has been throughout history (incl. prehistory) a very transitable country - Postonjska vrata 'saddle' is the lowest point in the mountains between france and greece, I think. many goods travelled through here. but from constantinople, they would more likely be taken by sea to a port in italy, it would be safer.

 

[caminka]

Wow, just wow ... a group of enthusiasts and scholars from different research disciplines created a website (in Italian) about Veronica iconography throughout the ages: https://veronicaroute.com/ . Click on ricerca avanzata (advanced search) to browse by century, for example the 1400s, or click on le mappe (map) to browse by location (with differently coloured icons depending on the century).

The badges on the pilgrim hat in the frescoes of the Beram church are included, as is another fresco from this church. It just shows that there was so much more to medieval pilgrimage than the Camino de Santiago - sorry, Camino folks . Amazing work ... !

Click on Interactive map to explore:
View attachment 67221

o my! (that is supposed to be a heavily drooling smiley)

 

[caminka]

The badges on the pilgrim hat in the frescoes of the Beram church are included, as is another fresco from this church. It just shows that there was so much more to medieval pilgrimage than the Camino de Santiago - sorry, Camino folks . Amazing work ... !

and the bell from predgrad pri starem trgu ob kolpi. so it is the face in a circle that is the image.

 

[Kathor1]

I find it hard to believe that pilgrim badges affixed to hats and clothing were really made of such perishable materials. I mean, they would be cheap, but a few rain showers and there would be no badge anymore. I was thinking maybe linen or woolen fabric or thin leather with a harder background/frame, and the face painted(?)/embroidered on it. silk would work, too.

You are absolutely right with your observation. Apologies, I'm a sloppy writer. I had copied the line about "silk, parchment or paper" from Herbers/Plötz, Der Jakobuskult in Kunst und Literatur, but they just say that pilgrim badges were made from these materials, they don't say that they all of them were pinned to hats or coats. This is such an exciting topic! Other than used for a bell cast where a metal pilgrim badge was destroyed of course and only the imprint remained, they were also displayed in the home of the pilgrim or of relatives or friends, mounted on a small block of wood for example, or sewn into books, as I've just discovered when I read about a manuscript of a Book of Hours put up for auction by Christie's:

PILGRIM BADGES:​

It is remarkable that this manuscript retains three small images conventionally described as pilgrim badges. St Veronica with the Holy Face, painted on leather, is glued to the front [...] Sewn into the final leaf of the calendar is a smaller variant, a 'Veronica' image of the Holy Face painted in tempera on vellum. Both of these images could serve a devotional purpose: if the prayer 'Salve sancta facies' was recited while contemplating the miraculously transferred impression of Christ a thousand days' indulgence was earned [possible only in Rome, they are not clear here]. Much of the pigment has been worn away from Christ's face on both images, most probably by the repeated kissing of a devout owner [...]​

​

The extremely rare and most appealing survival from the owner's pilgrimages is the silver pilgrim's badge, now attached by a thread to the Veronica sewn into the final calendar leaf. Cherished as proof of pilgrimage or as aids to devotion, pilgrim badges were issued in huge numbers throughout the medieval period, yet only a few thousand now survive. Whilst numerous medieval manuscripts bear impressions and sewing holes attesting to the frequent and important practice of inserting badges into Books of Hours (the present example also bears evidence of at least nine more badges, mainly concentrated on the final calendar leaf), apparently only six other manuscripts are known to still contain the badges themselves. ​

​

The form of the badge befits a wealthy pilgrim from a noble family; whilst the majority of badges were cast in a tin-lead alloy, this medallion-type example is stamped from a thin sheet of silver. That a hierarchy of badges existed is attested to by the habit of Philip the Good and Charles the Bold of commissioning an assortment of badges when on pilgrimages, 'of gold, silver-gilt, silver and pewter that they then distributed to relatives, courtiers and servants in strictly hierarchical fashion'.​

BOOK OF HOURS, in Latin, use of Bayeux, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON

www.christies.com

​

 

[Kathor1]

Page from a prayer book, second half of 15th century (same period as Beram frescoes), with two pilgrim badges, one pasted onto the page (Veronica and Keys of St Peter) and the other one which is a metal badge of St. Martha of Tarascon is stitched onto it. The embroidery shows the Tools of the Passion.

Source: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/4837470.pdf

 

[caminka]

You are absolutely right with your observation. Apologies, I'm a sloppy writer. I had copied the line about "silk, parchment or paper" from Herbers/Plötz, Der Jakobuskult in Kunst und Literatur, but they just say that pilgrim badges were made from these materials, they don't say that they all of them were pinned to hats or coats. This is such an exciting topic! Other than used for a bell cast where a metal pilgrim badge was destroyed of course and only the imprint remained, they were also displayed in the home of the pilgrim or of relatives or friends, mounted on a small block of wood for example, or sewn into books, as I've just discovered when I read about a manuscript of a Book of Hours put up for auction by Christie's:

PILGRIM BADGES:​

It is remarkable that this manuscript retains three small images conventionally described as pilgrim badges. St Veronica with the Holy Face, painted on leather, is glued to the front [...] Sewn into the final leaf of the calendar is a smaller variant, a 'Veronica' image of the Holy Face painted in tempera on vellum. Both of these images could serve a devotional purpose: if the prayer 'Salve sancta facies' was recited while contemplating the miraculously transferred impression of Christ a thousand days' indulgence was earned [possible only in Rome, they are not clear here]. Much of the pigment has been worn away from Christ's face on both images, most probably by the repeated kissing of a devout owner [...]​

​

The extremely rare and most appealing survival from the owner's pilgrimages is the silver pilgrim's badge, now attached by a thread to the Veronica sewn into the final calendar leaf. Cherished as proof of pilgrimage or as aids to devotion, pilgrim badges were issued in huge numbers throughout the medieval period, yet only a few thousand now survive. Whilst numerous medieval manuscripts bear impressions and sewing holes attesting to the frequent and important practice of inserting badges into Books of Hours (the present example also bears evidence of at least nine more badges, mainly concentrated on the final calendar leaf), apparently only six other manuscripts are known to still contain the badges themselves. ​

​

The form of the badge befits a wealthy pilgrim from a noble family; whilst the majority of badges were cast in a tin-lead alloy, this medallion-type example is stamped from a thin sheet of silver. That a hierarchy of badges existed is attested to by the habit of Philip the Good and Charles the Bold of commissioning an assortment of badges when on pilgrimages, 'of gold, silver-gilt, silver and pewter that they then distributed to relatives, courtiers and servants in strictly hierarchical fashion'.​

BOOK OF HOURS, in Latin, use of Bayeux, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON

www.christies.com

​

you found another super interesting tidbit about badges.
I didn't know that they 'glued' them into books, although it makes perfect sense. books of hours were probably the most used books (aside from the bible).
too bad I can't see the image on christie's.

with the spread of printing pilgrimage site 'icons' or images appeared, small pieces of paper with different images of a particular saint or his deeds associated with a pilgrimage site. quite like the portraits of actors or football players today. these were very popular in slovenia in the 18C.
a whole series from Krščanski muzej / Museum of Christianity in Stična: http://www.mks-sticna.si/slo/raziskuj/razstave/zbirke/podobice.

 

[caminka]

when a friend of mine bought an abandoned house/farm somewhere in dolenjska region of slovenia, he found lots of 18C pilgrim badges in various places inside. if I remember correctly, they were mostly dedicated to mary.
there were lots of popular marian sanctuaries in slovenia at the time. some marital offenders were even sent by court to a pilgrimage to one or another before they were allowed to (re)marry, for example.

 

[NorthernLight]

you found another super interesting tidbit about badges.
I didn't know that they 'glued' them into books, although it makes perfect sense. books of hours were probably the most used books (aside from the bible).
too bad I can't see the image on christie's.

with the spread of printing pilgrimage site 'icons' or images appeared, small pieces of paper with different images of a particular saint or his deeds associated with a pilgrimage site. quite like the portraits of actors or football players today. these were very popular in slovenia in the 18C.
a whole series from Krščanski muzej / Museum of Christianity in Stična: http://www.mks-sticna.si/slo/raziskuj/razstave/zbirke/podobice.

I believe the average person in ancient times was more likely to have a book of hours than a bible. Bibles were the domain of priests and churches. A book of hours would guide the layperson in daily prayers without actually sharing the Word.

I’m prepared to be corrected.

 

[Kathor1]

I didn't know where to post this, it has nothing to do with pilgrim badges but may be of interest to those who are interested in this thread. Denise Péricard-Méa currently sends a daily newsletter to "make pilgrimage in confinement" - "Péleriner confiné". We are now on étape no 5. It's in French.

I don't know how to subscribe to the daily newsletter, I got it automatically. There is a link to a webpage that has links to the stages: https://www.saint-jacques-compostel...ion=view_nl&nl=264100&id=27787162&idnl=264100