Portugal, Coimbra, Old Cathedral Se Velha 1140 - A History of Romanesque Architecture 300 - 1300 (sitios de interés)

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This marker is part of an illustrated Survey of Romanesque Architecture, 300 to 1300 AD. To see and read all comments you have to download the post to your hard disk.

Portugal, Coimbra, Old Cathedral Se Velha 1140



Photo Wikipedia

The most remarkable aspect of the Romanesque decoration of the Old Coimbra Cathedral is the large number of sculpted capitals (some 380), which turns it into one of the most important ensembles of Romanesque sculpture in Portugal.
The main motifs are vegetal and geometric and reveal Arab and pre-romanesque influences, but there are also pairs of quadrupeds (including centaurs) or birds facing each other.
There are virtually no human representations, and no Biblical scenes. The absence of sculptured human figures may be due to the fact that many of the artists that worked in the Cathedral were mozarabic, i.e. Christians who lived in Arab territories and that had settled in Coimbra in the 12th century. These artists were perhaps not used to human representations, which are forbidden in Islam.

Mapa del lugar de interés Portugal, Coimbra, Old Cathedral Se Velha 1140

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