[Sca-cooks] OT: Mystery Object

[Huette von Ahrens]

I think that the person who wrote the commentary may have thought that the person on the left had punished the person on the right with a paddle, because it kinda/sorta looks like the person on the right is crying and using the cloak to wipe tears.  But that person might be wrong.  I like the hurley idea, although it doesn't explain the person on the right.

Huette



--- On Wed, 7/15/09, Terry Decker <t.d.decker at att.net> wrote:

> From: Terry Decker <t.d.decker at att.net>
> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OT: Mystery Object
> To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 1:02 PM
> For Europe, "sweeping out the old
> year" is primarily a custom in the north of England where
> the fires are extinguished and the chimneys swept.  I
> believe it is also Chinese custom to sweep out the bad luck
> of the old year on the Chinese New Year.
> 
> As for the figure, it looks to me as if he has a hurley
> resting on his shoulder and a ball in his left hand. 
> Of course, this being a medieval church decoration, it
> should have some relationship to the Bible or the liturgy.
> 
> Bear
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> Following the theme of "what is it" questions we've had
> lately, I'm trying to figure out this image from the Church
> of St. Lazare at Autun.
> 
> http://www.paradoxplace.com/Photo%20Pages/France/Burgundy%20Champagne/Autun/L_Medallions/L_Medallions.htm
> 
> The one I'm looking at is the enlargement labeled L1 with
> the caption "What did he do?"
> 
> This is part of a series of images showing the signs of the
> zodiac and labors of the months over the main entrance to
> the church. This image comes at the beginning of the
> sequence and is followed by images that are typically used
> to identify the start of the year.
> 
> Any ideas what the lefthand figure is holding over his
> shoulder? It just occurred to me that it might be a broom
> for "sweeping out the old year" but I don't know if that's a
> medieval concept.
> 
> This probably isn't food-related, but the folks on this
> list have such great breadth of knowledge, I thought it
> couldn't hurt to ask!
> 
> Many thanks,
> 
> Helena
> 
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