Statue in Burgos Cathedral

[Wombat]

Hi All,

In September 2009 I took this photograph in Burgos Cathedral. At the time I took it to be of St James because of the staff, gourd and scallop shells. Then at home I wondered wether it was in fact St James. The exposed leg and red ulcer(?) suggest that it may be San Roche. The other things that puzzle be are the wings and fish in his right hand.

Can someone explain these to a poor prodestant not well versed in these things.

Thanks

Kevin

 

[Peter Robins]

yes, it'll be San Roque, tho he's generally pointing to the wounded knee. The wings will represent the angel (tho normally he's shown with his dog). Not sure about the fish
http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-roch/

 

[Trudy]

When I was in Burgos, in 2005, I was quite taken by this statue and took a photo which now hangs on the wall next to my Compostela.

I thought this was St Roch, but the fish confused me. After much Googling I found out that the statue actually depects the Archangel Raphael who is also a patron saint of travellers. http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/raphael.html

 

[sillydoll]

I took many photographs of San Roch (aka Saint Rocco, Rochus; Roc; Roque; Rochus; Rok; Roko; Rókus) on my walks and was always amused by the different sites of his wound. Sometimes on the left leg, sometimes the right, sometimes on the thigh and sometimes below. And the size of his dog - sometimes small and often large.

 

[Peter Robins]

After much Googling I found out that the statue actually depects the Archangel Raphael who is also a patron saint of travellers.

yes, that makes sense. So the bared knee is presumably not damaged/infected at all. St Roch is often depicted with an angel, tho when I look more closely at this image, it's clear the wings are attached to the figure depicted, not separate, so the figure is an angel.

The scallops would seem to be used here as part of a general pilgrim/traveller iconography. You'll often see the claim that 'scallop' means 'St James', but this is a fallacy; many if not most scallop depictions have nothing to do with St James or Santiago.

 

[Wombat]

Hi All,

Thank you Peter, Sil and especially Trudy. I can see why you have a photo of this statue on your wall Trudy. Of all the pictures that I say of Raphael on the web I like the statue the best.

Given this list of his patronage:

apothecaries; blind people; bodily ills; druggists; archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa; eye problems; guardian angels; happy meetings; insanity; lovers; mental illness; nightmares, nurses; pharmacists; physicians; archdiocese of Seattle, Washington; shepherds; sick people; travelers; young people

He would be a guardian angel for the Camino.

Once again the forum provides the answer.

Kevin

 

[james o conor]

The writings from all of you are brillant and blessed.

 

[henrythedog]

Pretty much certain that’s San Roque with his attributes of a leg wound and dog. Being on the Camino route the scallop shells are a bit of an added extra - I’m fairly sure I’ve seen a couple of Santa Maria Perigrina statues en-route. I just think of it as the sculptor covering all the angles.

 

[Kathar1na]

I was fascinated by this statue when I saw it for the first time. It is indeed an archangel, apparently St Raphael.

St. Raphael the Archangel

Photograph and note on the iconography of a statue of St. Raphael in Burgos Cathedral, with a link to our study of the iconography of St. Raphael.

www.christianiconography.info

I think that the fish gives him away. See also for example Wikipedia:

Iconography​

Raphael is said to guard pilgrims on their journeys, and is often depicted holding a staff. He is also often depicted holding or standing on a fish, which alludes to his healing of Tobit with the fish's gall.​

​

And as the formidable @Peter Robins noted earlier in this thread: “You'll often see the claim that 'scallop' means 'St James', but this is a fallacy; many if not most scallop depictions have nothing to do with St James or Santiago.”.

 

[frjuliangreen]

Hi All,

In September 2009 I took this photograph in Burgos Cathedral. At the time I took it to be of St James because of the staff, gourd and scallop shells. Then at home I wondered wether it was in fact St James. The exposed leg and red ulcer(?) suggest that it may be San Roche. The other things that puzzle be are the wings and fish in his right hand.

Can someone explain these to a poor prodestant not well versed in these things.

Thanks

Kevin

As others have said it is St Raphael the Archangel who appears in the deuterocanonical book of Tobit. Raphael is the fellow pilgrim of Tobias who uses a fish to save his human companion from death on his wedding night and restore the sight of Tobias' father, Tobit. There is an almost identical image at the English College in Valladolid where I trained for the priesthood. We used to regularly nick the fish

 

[caminka]

my companion (a hospitalera from albergue Emaus) and I enquired about this statue of a guide in the cathedral that she knew - I was of course curious who might this be, with wings and a fish, as I don't remember seeing it before and I have been collecting pilgrim representations for years now - and he said it is indeed archangel Raphael.

there is another statue of him, together with st Roch, in the church of st Esteban in Burgos.