Pair of Langobardi men tugging at their long beards and elephants standing head-to-head. Sculpted capitals in Italian Lombard Romanesque style on the outside of the apse of the 1100s AD monastery church at Sant Joan de les Abadesses in Ripollès county, Catalonia, Spain.
Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Ripollès, Catalonia, Spain: sculpted capitals on the outside of the apse of the 12th century church of the town's Monestir or monastery are typical of the Italian Lombard Romanesque style that eventually reached the Catalan counties, with pairs of Langobardi men tugging at their lengthy beards as stylised elephants on another capital confront each other head-to-head. The Monestir has much earlier origins than the architecture and art of its church suggests. It was founded in 887 AD as a Benedictine nunnery - the first female religious community in Catalonia - by Count Guifré el Pilós or Pelós (Wilfred the Hairy), who wanted to repopulate frontier territories left uninhabited by the struggle against Saracen occupiers. Wilfred's 14-year-old daughter, Emma, was appointed its first abbess and she governed the nunnery until her death in 942. In 1017, the nuns were expelled, supposedly for moral laxity, and were replaced my monks - at various times under either Augustinian or Benedictine rule. The Romanesque church, consecrated in 1150, had to be partly rebuilt after an earthquake in 1428 that collapsed the bell tower, devastated an ancient bridge over the River Ter and damaged much of the walled medieval town. The original Romanesque cloister was replaced in Gothic style in 1442.
Size: 2824px × 2824px
Location: Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Ripollès, Catalonia, Spain.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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