A sea nymph or nereid, a female spirit of the sea, rides a fish as a symbol of God’s power over water. Alsatian Romanesque sculpture on the sarcophagus of Adeloch (786-823 AD), Bishop of Strasbourg, created in the 12th century, long after the bishop's death. This sarcophagus is now in the church which Adeloch founded, the Église Saint-Thomas, in Strasbourg, France.
Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, Grand Est, France: a nereid or sea nymph, a female spirit of the sea, rides a fish - a symbol of God’s power over water - in an early 12th century sculptural detail on the side of the Romanesque sarcophagus of Adeloch, bishop of Strasbourg in the early 9th century and founder of the church in which it now rests, the Église Saint-Thomas. The carvings on the sandstone sarcophagus, dated to around 1130 to 1144, are regarded as gems of Alsatian Romanesque art. They are attributed to an artist identified only as the Master of Eschau, whose name derives from the sculptured cloister capitals and baptismal font at the Church of St Trophimus in Eschau, Bas-Rhin, a few miles south of Strasbourg. The sarcophagus is said to have been commissioned long after Adeloch’s death by monks grateful for his revival of their monastery. It rests on crouching lions and the other carvings on its sides include a depiction of Adeloch kneeling before Christ and an angel, and a man fighting two dragons. According to some writers, however, the human figure seen here astride the fish may actually be male - and the fish may be a dolphin. Adeloch or Adelochus (786-823) replaced the original Benedictine church and convent dedicated to St Thomas on this site with a new church and monastery. It burned down in 1007 and again in 1144, but was twice rebuilt. The present Église Saint-Thomas was begun in 1196 and the interior was completed in the 14th century. It converted to Protestantism in 1524, and it now hosts the Lutheran congregation in Strasbourg, which has been predominantly Roman Catholic since 1681.
Size: 3815px × 2488px
Location: Église Saint-Thomas, Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, Grand Est, France.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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