Monday, June 26, 2017

Leon's Basilico St. Isidoro

Leon's Basilico St. Isidoro is a good Romanesque counterpart to its Gothic cathedral. Built over a temple to Mercury, then a Visigothic church, then a mosque, the present building, dating from the 10th century, was a church, a monastery, and the burial shrine of a number of Spain's earlier monarchs. That is, until Napoleon's troops used the royal pantheon as a stable in the eary 1800s. The murals adorning the royal pantheon somehow survived, and are today some of the best Romanesque art in Spain.
St. Isidore's (he was a pre-Moorish saint from Seville)
On the Camino Santiago from France, St. Isidore's has seen a
 variety of additions, renovations, etc.
Even a little Baroque
Nave
Vaulting

Mostly barrel
 
Altar

Very Romanesque
Nice carving

Maybe a bit Moorish



Cloister


Sort of funny faces

Not very, however



In the royal pantheon, where they don't allow pix (these are
pix of pix, but give a good sense of the place); referred to, by
the St. Isidore folk as the "Sistine Chapel" of Romanesque
art

Mostly New Testament scenes, the gospel writers, and, of course,
a Pantokrator

All remarkably well preserved from the 12th century

More Romanesque faces

All over, but maybe not the best we have seen

Hilariously, in the gift shoppe, they offer
slides--slides--of the "Sistine Chapel" art, in lieu
of forbidding photography there! Anyone still
have a slide projector?!

1 comment:

Tawana said...

We have a slide projector but haven't used it in years. Wonder if it still works...
Interesting that they sell slides. Maybe Europeans still use their projectors!