Bearded man wearing a crown holds a casket in his right hand. Possibly one of the Three Wise Men, Kings from the East or Magi who came with precious gifts to pay homage to the Christ Child. Lombard Romanesque stone capital on lower level of cloister at the Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll in Girona province, Catalonia, Spain.
Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll, Girona province, Catalonia, Spain: carved stone capital on the lower level of the cloister at the Benedictine monastery of Ripoll. The monastery was founded by Count Wilfred “The Hairy” (Count Guifré el Pelós) and his wife Guinedilda in the 800s and consecrated in the 900s. The monastery’s basilica was established by Abbot Oliba in 1032 and is a great example of First Romanesque or Lombard Romanesque architecture. The monastery’s cloister was built between the 1100s and 1500s in a variety of styles. It has two levels, with the upper level completed in the 1500s. The earlier lower level is typical of a Lombard Romanesque cloister, with semicircular arches resting on paired or double columns. Human and fantastical figures, animals and plant motifs are represented on the capitals. At the beginning of the Romanesque period, around the year 1000, Catalonia moved away from Carolingian and Mozarabic artistic influences and, unlike the rest of the Iberian Peninsula, was influenced during the medieval period by Italy rather than France. Catalan art and architecture included features of a style referred to as “Lombard”. The builders were nomadic artists known as Lombardi who began to build in Catalonia in the 1000s and remained prevalent in this region well into the Gothic period. In the 900s, the Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll prospered. It became a cultural centre of reference in medieval Europe, its library being home to valuable religious, technical and legal documents. However, the monastery was damaged over the centuries by, for example, the 1428 earthquake and armed conflicts in the 1700s and 1800s, including looting and fire in 1835.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll, Girona province, Catalonia, Spain
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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