Mermaid or merman with two tails and centaur, below St Michael the Archangel slaying dragon. Amid medieval marble sculpture in Pisan Romanesque style added to the west front of the Chiesa di San Michele in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy, in the 1200s.
Lucca, Tuscany, Italy: the familiar Christian motif of Saint Michael the Archangel slaying a dragon contrasts with symbols closer to pre-Christian art amid the exuberant medieval sculpture enriching the façade added in the Pisan Romanesque style in the 1200s to the Chiesa di San Michele (Church of St Michael) in Piazza San Michele. These examples, a twin-tailed merman (or possibly mermaid) and a hair-tugging centaur, are carved on the architrave of the central portal in the west front of the church. San Michele in Foro is a Roman Catholic basilica, dedicated to St Michael the Archangel. The church is mentioned for the first time in 795 as ad foro (in the forum). It was rebuilt after 1070, as commanded by Pope Alexander II. Construction of the present church began in the late 1000s, the campanile was begun in the 1100s, and the Romanesque lower part of the facade was added in the 1200s (the upper part is Gothic). Until 1370, the church was the seat of the Consiglio Maggiore (Major Council), the commune’s most important assembly.
Size: 3872px × 2592px
Location: Chiesa di San Michele, Piazza San Michele, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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