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The Green Man of Cercles

GREEN MEN & SNAKES STRANGELY PLACED :

Fig 1 : Green Man of Olite I sent a copy of this picture to Christian Bougoux, a writer on marginal art, to ask his advice on the (to me) surprising placing of this image : “En Olite nous avons trouvé cet étonnant "Homme Vert" : Que fait notre bonhomme à la place reservée pour le bon Dieu sur l'entrée principale de l'église???

Fig 2 : GM & foliage over dove Les gens de Olite ont l'air de l'aimer puisqu'ils ont fait une sorte de reproduction sur la place en face de l'église. . . » (Translation : We found this extraordinary Green Man in Olite. What’s our man doing in the place reserved for God, above the main entrance of the church? The people of Olite seem to like him as they’ve made a sort of reproduction in the Square in front of the church . . . )

Fig 3 : Modern GM of Olite MORE . . . click here for more Christian replied : « Votre Green man : très gracieux en définitive, il y a une visiblement évolution typologique de la "face", dans le temps et l'espace ; à parcourir toute l'Europe en quête des variantes, ceci va pouvoir vous occuper un bout de temps.

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The Green Man of Cercles

ô ingratitude de la recherche ! (à ce propos le logo des éditions Bellus comporte lui aussi une tête-feuille, empruntée pour partie à l'album de Villard de Honnecourt) :

Fig 4 : Villard 1 Fig 5 : Villard 2 Ne vous inquiétez pas sur la hiérarchie des figures sur la façade des églises, selon le lieu ou la mode le poids du profane avait tôt fait d'expulser le sacré des façades d'église, cela ne pose de problèmes qu'aux historiens actuels , pas aux générations de paroissiens qui étaient moins formalistes. » (Your Green Man : very beautiful and well-defined, there is a clear evolution of the type of face in time and space ; running around Europe in quest of different varieties could keep you busy for some time (research is a thankless task!) By the way, the logo of Bellus (his publisher) also consists of a foliate head, borrowed in part from Villard de Honnecourt’s album. Don’t worry about the hierarchy of the figures on church façades, that’s only a problem for modern historians, not for the generations of parishioners who were more informal. WHAT DO YOU THINK about the relevance of position? René Crozet, a writer and teacher of Romanesque sculpture, thought that the placing of each piece of sculpture was important and had to be studied as part of the understanding of its significance.

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The Green Man of Cercles

The façade of Notre Dame la Grande at Poitiers is a riot of Green Men of several different varieties. There are so many that it is difficult to count them all! Some of them are half-masks disgorging foliage. One of these is situated just above the Adam and Eve sculptures, with a second one next to it :

Fig 6 : Notre Dame la Grande, Poitiers, Adam & Eve & Green Men At Loupiac in the Gironde, a fine Green Man is placed above Adam & Eve on the façade, as though he were the “Old Adam”, presiding over the story of Man :

Fig 7 : Loupiac, Gironde, Green Man above Adam & Eve

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The Green Man of Cercles

Here is a close-up of the Green Man :

Fig 8 : Loupiac, Gironde, Green Man above the entrance and Fig 9: Cellefrouin, between Angoulême and Poitiers, capital to the right of the altar in the Priory Church. A similar image and juxtaposition is on the tympanum above the entrance to the church at Mars-sur-Allier in the Nièvre:

Fig 10 : Green Man on the tympanum above the entrance to the church of St Julien, Mars-sur-Allier, Nièvre The entire tympanum is shown below:

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The Green Man of Cercles

Fig 11 : Green Man on the tympanum above the Christ in Majesty, Mars-sur-Allier Another Green Man with pride of place over the entrance to a church can be seen at Leyvaux, in the Haute Auvergne :

Fig 12 : Leyvaux church, photograph by Pierre Moulier Here is that detail of the head, a bearded old man like a prophet, spewing out vegetation to left and right to make a frieze :

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The Green Man of Cercles

Fig 13 : detail of frieze A sketch by Pascale Moulier can be seen on p. 77 of their book, “Eglises Romanes de Haute Auvergne” vol. III. There is a link to their web site on the links page. Much nearer to Cercles is this Green Man frieze by the entrance to the church of Sainte Colombe in the Ruffec region not far from Angouleme :

Fig 14 : capitals left of the entrance, Sainte Colombe church, Charente In these cases I would imagine that the decoration might represent the burgeoning and flowering of the word of God : a positive image in both cases. Such images of Green Men are sometimes referred to as “uttering” rather than “spewing”. This frieze from the church of Beaumais, South of Caen, in Normandy, has an unusual pair of Green Serpents similarly hissing out words of hope or wisdom just above the entrance and below the tympanum :

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The Green Man of Cercles

Fig 15 : Tympanum of Beaumais Church, Normandy Here is a detail of the two serpents :

Fig 16 : Two Green Serpents The snakes seem to be delivering a message of good news, flowering or renewal. In fact, the pagan view of the serpent is that it symbolises wisdom and re-birth as it sloughs off its old skin and emerges from the underworld. Peter Hubert sent this observation : I have looked at the picture of the snakes from the tympanum that is on your site. Had you noticed that the snakes have forked tails. I wonder why? The conceptual idea behind this scene reminds me of the one on the lintel inside the west door at Anzy-le-Duc (71).

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Fig 17 : Green Men uttering – lintel from Anzy le Duc As you know, that has been interpreted by some, including Gilles Rollier, a leading authority on Burgundian romanesque sculpture, as being intended as inspiration for the pilgrim leaving the church to go out and spread the Word. Note the forked tails which seem to be a reflection of the uttering heads :

Fig 18 : Green Serpent with both ends forked

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The Green Man of Cercles

West of Caen, near Bayeux, is the church at Vaux sur Aure, where similar Green snakes can be seen :

Fig 19 :Vaux sur Aure, Green Serpents lintel Serpents or dragons with a head at each end were sculpted on a lintel below the tympanum of the church at Aston, Herefordshire :

Fig 20 : lintel below the tympanum of the church at Aston, Herefordshire, photograph by “Broadsmarshman” on Flikr The Aston Master with the Kilpeck Master were among the leaders of the Herefordshire School of sculptors working for Norman patrons and probably from across the Channel. While at the church of Ste Colombe, Duras, a pair of snakes is entwined as though on a caduceus over the entrance :

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The Green Man of Cercles

Fig 21 : Ste Colombe, Duras, snakes over the entrance Fig 22 : St Lazare, Avallon A similar pair of intertwined serpents can be seen to the right of the entrance to St Lazare at Avallon, Burgundy. Far away, in Kurdish Lalesh, this photograph taken outside the 12th century church in 1967, shows a sculpted and painted snake by the entrance:

Fig 23: Lalesh, a 12th century temple in Kurdistan: a sculptured snake by the entrance, from “The Angel Peacock” by Lady E S Drower. This is how Lalish looks today:

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The Green Man of Cercles

Fig 24: The entrance to Lalesh temple today, from http://northerniraq.info/blog/?p=195 The Romanesque entrance appears to have been destroyed: only the snake is cherished. More spectacular is the serpent gate by al-Malik al-Zahir, son of Saladin, at the citadel of Aleppo:

Fig 25: Serpent Gate, Aleppo

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The Green Man of Cercles

This was constructed between 1186-1216. Picture from: http://www.sonic.net/~tallen/palmtree/ayyarch/ch5.htm

Fig 26: Details of central and right hand sections details from: http://www.discoverislamicart.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;sy;Mon01;1;en “The serpents and dragons curl backwards to bite themselves; they show the limits of the areas of a protected and controlled area.” Even more extraordinary is the Talisman Gate of Baghdad:

Fig 27: Talisman Gate of Baghdad Photos and text from: http://www.archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=7824 The Talisman gate in Baghdad was destroyed by the Ottoman army in 1917 when they withdrew from the city. Its destruction was a great loss as it had some fine thirteenth century carving and distinguishing ornamentation.

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The date of its construction is not clear but it was described by Ibn Jubayr in 1185 and is mentioned in the accounts of the Mongol siege. The inscription on the building reads that it was built and restored in 1221 by the Abbasid Caliph Nasser li-din-Illah as part of the construction of a large defensive wall intended to protect Baghdad from invaders and floods. It was named "Talisman" after the unusual inscriptions and figures carved on its upper walls and gate. The inscription and the carvings are the most important features in the building. Despite the information it carries concerning the gate's construction, its sponsors and restoration by Nasser li-din-Illah, the high relief above the gate presents unfamiliar pictorial representations of human figures that must have roots in Mongol sculptural animation. The gate's arch is built of intersecting stone voussoirs set in a decorated frame. The decoration shows a pair of winged dragon-snakes and a human figure sitting cross-legged between them in a way to represent the glorious conqueror. They haven't been attributed to any sultan although they might be of a later addition carved to commemorate Sultan Murad IV entering Baghdad by. These figures are carved in stone and lie on an intricate background of floral interweaving patterns incised in stone. Sources: Langenegger F. 1911. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Baukunst des Iraq, Dresden, 88-90. Le Strange G. 1983. Baghdad During the Abbasid Caliphate. Greenwood Press. Connecticut, 291-292. However, back in Spain, not far from Jaca, the Romanesque church of San Juan de Busa with both Mozarab and Lombard influences has a very unusual feature over the entrance:

Fig 28: San Juan de Busa, arch over entrance, photograph by Batigolix

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The kufic lettering allegedly spells out “Ia ilaha illa Allah”, “there is no God but Allah”! A tiny snake can be seen coiled above the inscription, while a larger snake crawls along it to form a frame. I consulted the Circolo Romanico about this inscription, as I was mystified by the apparent mixture of Christian and Islamic culture, and received this interesting reply from Miguel Martin:

1.- I don´t speak arab so I only may argue in connection there with, but I cannot affirm if it is arab or not. In any case, it looks like cufic arab.

2.- The church building was entirely destroyed except the apse during the civil war (1936-39) and has been rebuilt and restored twice since then.

3.- All the scholars argue that it is arab based on the first statement pronounced by Cayetano Enriquez de Salamanca, who was a XX century Spaniard with a very high degree of culture in many different areas including computers and tourism. However it is only needed to speak in arab to ascertain whether it is the language used or not.

4.- The church was formerly constructed in 1060-1070. As for that date the muslim territory of Taifa de Zaragoza was no further than about 100km. The relation among christians and muslims was peaceful most of the time and arab was a language used commonly in the area where Busa church was erected. Specifically, arabic was spoken by the mozarabes who constructed the church who first lived in muslim territories. Remember that a cristian king of Aragon signed usually in arab and that there is another inscription written in arab at Leyre church. Writing the message in the door in arab should be understood as not unusual.

5.- The wording of the message is correct for a christian church. It says that There is no God other than God and nothing more and express the idea that there is only one god. The name Alláh must be understood here just like God, purely, without any confessional content. This sentence in itself is not muslim, the muslim complete key to Paradise is: " la ilaha illa Allah, anna Mohammadan rasoolo Allah" that is the phrase of the inscription in the church plus: "and Mahomma his profet", but this last part of the sentence is not in the church.

I am thus re-assured that the information is correct and – after all – not so surprising. Also in Spain, on the apse of the church at Valluerca in Vitoria-Gasteiz, we see this re-used stone showing a serpent over a sculpted arch like the representation of an arched entrance:

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Fig 28a: snake on the wall of the church at Valluerca in Vitoria-Gasteiz The photograph by Angel Beniber, from his album, http://picasaweb.google.com/abbeniber/RomanicoEnLaDiocesisDeVitoriaGasteiz3Parte# Angel indicates that more snakes can be seen on the porch of the church at Vallejo de Mena, Burgos. Little snakes can be seen on several arches over entrances to churches near Nontron, in France, such as St Sulpice de Mareuil, St Martin le Pin, and St Martial de la Valette.

Fig 29: St Sulpice de Mareuil, Snake-tailed dragons on voussoirs over entrance

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Fig 30: St Martial de la Valette, snakes on voussoirs over entrance Here is a photo from Benet in the Vendée, of the Archangel Michael (sadly damaged) with foliage surrounding him and trampling on a snaky “green” dragon :

Fig 31: Archangel Michael and Green Dragon, Benet (85)

The serpent not only spews foliage from its front but also from its back end! Note a second serpent with open mouth appearing from behind Michael’s mouth and crossing in front of his left arm. Peter Hubert points out that the Archangel’s snake is supposed to be a dragon. Yes, but how often do you see a snake that is practically a dragon or vice versa in these representations?! If the Snake of Adam & Eve is Satan and so is the dragon killed by Michael, it seems reasonable that the sculptor should give either beast attributes of the other.

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I am reminded of those snakes from Normandy : Vaux and Beaumais. Michael's serpent is the Devil - so can't be a good snake by definition. Does it have any psychological connection with the presumed "good" snakes which decorate church doorways? If so, can we assume that green snakes are NEVER good? I remain unconvinced by a story that they divide good people from bad people - that sounds like a typical nun's tale to me. And why is Michael using Green Shields? I wish the figure hadn't been damaged - who knows what points of interest the upper half may have held?! The tiny tail of Michael's garment showing between his legs in the Benet sculpture is no less phallic than on the Merovingian Christ of Broc, though the former may be totally insignificant or a “Freudian slip”.

Fig 32: Merovingian Christ of Broc, Auvergne http://www.culture.gouv.fr/documentation/joconde/fr/decouvrir/expositions/merovingien/merov-croy.htm Satan is certainly a snake here! When looking at the picture from Anzy le Duc (fig. 17) I am reminded of another Burgundian head blowing out a great volume of foliage, this one on a capital at Autun :

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Fig 33 : Autun, head blowing foliage Fig 34: Green Man uttering foliage, Anzy le Duc While at Jumilhac le Grand, Dordogne, the arc of foliage is spewed out by a DOG!

Fig 35: Jumilhac le Grand, Dordogne, dog spewing foliage

Another dog-spewer is to be found at Avenas, an hour’s drive from Anzy-le-Duc, so perhaps influenced by the lintel shown in Fig 17 :

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Fig 36 : Avenas, dog spewing foliage on a pillar Stranger still is this tympanum from Tauriac in the Gironde :

Fig 37: Tauriac, Gironde, dogs spewing foliage over the Agnus Dei

Peter Hubert suggests that this tympanum may be from an earlier building (see his notes on Guyenne churches). The dogs are adossed – the opposite of affronted – and their tails curl round to become foliage not so different from the spirals of leaves which issue from their upturned mouths. There is an Agnus Dei above them, enclosed in a roundel rather than in

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the usual mandorla. It rests on a lintel. Both roundel and lintel have the remains of inscriptions on them. In the space on each side of the roundel a pair of lanky doves flank the roundel, like supporters on a shield. They are traditional paleo-Christian symbols of peace, and are usually placed on each side of a chalice or loving-cup, here replaced by Jesus in the form of the Lamb of God. Like Thaims, Tauriac has Gallo-Roman remains and is probably implanted on a pagan shrine. Both feature sculptures of wolves, and that of Tauriac is a “green” one. But the most spectacular of these Church Entrance “uttering foliage” sculptures must surely be that above the door of the chapel of St Michel d’Aiguilhe above Le Puy en Velay :

Fig 38: St Michel d’Aiguilhe, Green Men uttering foliage A pair of dramatic heads with staring eyes are spewing a rainbow of foliage over a blind tympanum which rests on a pair of sirens. The Agnus Dei in a mandorla rests above the apex of the arch, while kneeling men worship on each side. To left and right of the Lamb of God, a small Green Man, entwined in foliage, appears in the spandrels of the rather

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Mozarabic tri-cusped frame. Another Man in Foliage is carved on the supporting capital to the right, flanked by an eagle in the pose of a phoenix on the left. This striking photograph illustrates my next “Note & Query” which is about the Green Men and Sirens of St Michel d’Aiguilhe. You will also find it on “Are Harpies Sirens?” (To be continued) Julianna Lees – Montagrier 2010