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The long-suffering #donkey making the Entry Into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday in this beautiful #byzantinemosaic (c 1150) in the Palatine Chapel #Palermo
Some of my favourite #AugustAngels (even if one seems a bit risqué), Muchelney Abbey, Somerset #AnimalsInChurches
#Storytelling is often used to make teaching approachable & memorable, "[making] use of humble incidents to teach great truths" (Apollonius of Tyana on Aesop). Jesus's parables use this principle. Fables tend to have anthropomorphised animal characters. #FolkloreThursday
In Medieval Provence, the idea of Courtly Love started a long tradition of love Poetry, often celebrating an idealised & unattainable object of their desires.Troubadours serending a man's lover; various couples courting; troubadours at court. #FolkloreThursday #ValentinesDay
The donkey with a very put-upon look, in a Palm Sunday scene in the Palatine Chapel, Palermo #SnoutsAndPoutsInChurches #AnimalsInChurches (At the time, perhaps not agreeing with Chesterton's donkey that this is his "One far fierce hour & sweet"?)
Sea buckthorn has a reputation as a panacea. The generic name "Hippophae" (shining horse) reflects the belief that it gives horses a glossy coat. It also enabled Pegasus to fly. Its general medicinal qualities have been known worldwide throughout history. #FolkloreThursday
The Parthenon was extensively damaged in 1687, when an ammunition store was hit by a shell from Venetian besiegers. Before & after paintings: by Jacques Carrey (1674: detail) & Pierre Peytier (1830s); a mosque had been built inside by the Ottomans #MuseumsUnlocked Day 131
The Night-time phenomenon "Will-o'-the-Wisp" features in folklore throughout the world. Here depicted in "Das Irrlicht" by Arnold Böcklin. Also, musically in Winterreise 9:
"In die tiefsten Felsengründe/Lockte mich ein Irrlicht hin." #MuseumsUnlocked Day 124
The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633): Rembrandt's only sea-scape. It was in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston until it was stolen in 1990: it was never recovered. #MuseumsUnlocked Day122 Storms
"His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth." Leviathan in Job 41.21 #FireInChurches #AnimalsInChurches (Leviathan with the Anti-Christ, in the Liber floridus, early 12c, by Lambert, Canon of St Omer)