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No clue. But I, too, have been wondering how @caminka identified the items as four swords and whether they could be something else. I guess the ring is just holding the items together and allows the badge to be stitched to the hat and is not part of the imagery?Could the third badge be palm branches (symbol for pilgrimage to Jerusalem)?
@Kathar1na Do you know more?
I looked at the bacges for thomas beckett (on google) and none seem to have swords on. he usually wears quite typical bishop's hat that is hard to miss.Is it four swords? Thomas Becket (Canterbury) often has badges with swords (his murder weapon) or four knights. Might be a possibility....
that is a possibility, although the swords are all around the heart or the virgin in the middle.
The badge to the right looks, to me at least, to be a Madonna with Child. The four 'spikes' standing up from the top of the badge suggest, again to me, that this is a crown.
Taken together as a theme, a badge depicting the Queen of Peace, with Child, and wearing a crown, makes dogmatic sense.
Also, if the central badge is, and I totally agree, the keys to Heaven, as from Saint Peter and the Vatican, then the right hand badge makes more sense as a Madonna with Child wearing a crown.
I interpreted the left badge as a skull, implying mortality. But, if there is authoritative information that says this is the Veil of Veronica, that works too.
I have seen it. but this could be interpreted as any kind of madonna with child. I don't see any obvious swords.Surely you have seen the lifesize version of this in the Chapel of Corticela at the Cathedral in Santiago? There, the arrangement of the daggers is asymmetrical.
I always wondered why, and thought this was because one or more daggers had been broken off. That IS what it appears to look like. This made logical sense, as other parts of this epic sculpture / altarpiece are also missing.
Several years ago, I asked Fr. Joseph Coughlin from Dublin, when he was at Santiago as the English language chaplain. After serving the daily English language Mass, I asked him about this... specifically, where the other apparently missing daggers were.
He 'splained the seven sorrows of Mary to me. It took me over 60 years to come to this knowledge. But, knowledge is GOOD!
Hope this helps.
I was trying to identify possible alternatives. the tops above the circle look to me to be three-part. thus swords or crosses. they are not the part to sew the badge to clothing, these are the little circles to the sides and at the bottom.No clue. But I, too, have been wondering how @caminka identified the items as four swords and whether they could be something else. I guess the ring is just holding the items together and allows the badge to be stitched to the hat and is not part of the imagery?
I don't see palm branches. they would probably look more featherly?Could the third badge be palm branches (symbol for pilgrimage to Jerusalem)?
@Kathar1na Do you know more?
BC SY
I enlarged the image a bit and rotated it. It's difficult for me to see what is image and what is paint that came off.
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There are Becket pilgrim badges with swords on them, some have the whole murder scene with the four knights. But I don't think it fits the fresco and it also doesn't fit the location of the fresco (just my gut feeling).I looked at the badges for thomas beckett (on google) and none seem to have swords on.
I forgot where you are from, @caminka, so perhaps you know all this already ☺: there is quite a bit of literature about this church and the frescoes, including about its Dance of Death. There is no Wikipedia article in English but for example in German, Slovenian and Croatian. I find it sometimes useful to look at an article in several languages. Apparently, images of the Dance of Death are rarely found south of the Alps (such as Croatia where this church is located), and in this case it has been shown that the fresco of the Dance of Death and of the Kiss of Judas is based on a copy from a printmaker from the Low Countries known as Master with the Banderoles. Pure speculation on my part but that would make a pilgrim badge from a lesser known Dutch/German/Belgian Marian pilgrimage site or similar pilgrimage site not unlikely.there are a few pilgrims depicted on late medieval frescoes in and close around slovenia. one of them is in Beram, Istria (close to where the white truffles come from), in a little church of sv. Marija na Škriljinah. it was frescoed in 1474 by Vincenz iz Kastva, an almost local painter. it forms part of the Dance of Death, a motif that spread around europe after the black death of the 14C.
@t2andreo, you were on to something. I can see it, too, now. Quite clearly, actually.am I on to something or all wrong.
Henry II & Eleanor of Aquitaine's daughter Eleanor married Alfonso VIII of Castile and died in the castle in Burgos. Henry being responsible for Becket's death, she may have contributed the Spanish link.In the treasury of the Burgos Cathedral is a relic of St. Thomas; a hand or finger. It is in a hand shaped reliquary. And Becket had his pilgrimage also so a symbol for him wouldn't be out of the question.
I also remember seeing Becket in a painting in the museum of Astorga's cathedral.
they do have swords, yes, but not in the kind of pattern as in the beram badge.There are Becket pilgrim badges with swords on them, some have the whole murder scene with the four knights. But I don't think it fits the fresco and it also doesn't fit the location of the fresco (just my gut feeling).
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The badge on the left is reproduction.
that is certainly a problem. I was there this september. because of the preservation of the frescoes there is no artificial lighting in the church and what comes from the small door and a few windows is not at all sufficient for good photos. (besides, I was forbidden to take photos, because my camera measures available light with a small green light, and the caretaker has been told that no lights whatsoever are permitted on the frescoes. I never flash frescoes, anyway, but even that tiny green dot was too much.) the photos on internet must have been made with a special permission.I enlarged the image a bit and rotated it. It's difficult for me to see what is image and what is paint that came off.
View attachment 67063
indeed. I found other examples of vera icon being worn on hats next to other pilgrim badges.I was intrigued to learn that the vera icon, ie Veronica's cloth with the imprint of the face of Jesus, on pilgrim's hats is not always a metal badge but can be a drawing. There is a painting of Saint Sebaldus of Nuremberg where the decoration on his hat is described as "three pilgrim badges and a vera icon on parchment" (see below).
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this is a really nice collection. it may be that the badge from beram originally looked something like this, but the painter cound not transfer it to the fresco.The more I look at the fresco and the more pilgrim badges I look at, the more I think that it is indeed some image inside the ring and something else on top, a bit similar to the badges shown below. Each of the first two badges shown has two towers on top of the ring and Mary and child and other figures or items inside the ring. The third badge has a different kind of decoration on top of the ring.
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that is exactly right. I will add that this dance of death and the one from the church of Hrastovlje which is on the slovenian side of the border and the work of Vincenz's son, are thought to be the only two dances where the dancers are going right. in all other dances the dancers are going left.I forgot where you are from, @caminka, so perhaps you know all this already ☺: there is quite a bit of literature about this church and the frescoes, including about its Dance of Death. There is no Wikipedia article in English but for example in German, Slovenian and Croatian. I find it sometimes useful to look at an article in several languages. Apparently, images of the Dance of Death are rarely found south of the Alps (such as Croatia where this church is located), and in this case it has been shown that the fresco of the Dance of Death and of the Kiss of Judas is based on a copy from a printmaker from the Low Countries known as Master with the Banderoles. Pure speculation on my part but that would make a pilgrim badge from a lesser known Dutch/German/Belgian Marian pilgrimage site or similar pilgrimage site not unlikely.
o, o! very nice!This pilgrim badge is in a Düsseldorf museum. An identical badge is in Prague and very similar badges are in Cologne. Mary with Child plus crown. So such badges did exist.
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enjoy it? enjoy the thrill of unanswered, of the search and of the possible answers?We, collectively, still know far more than we did when the OP / OQ was posted and posed.
So, what do we DO with that knowledge? Is there anyone worth discussing it further with or providing it to, so they can take it forward?
All knowledge is GOOD.
this is what I believe is the badge of the lady of the sorrows - on the left.The badge to the right looks, to me at least, to be a Madonna with Child. The four 'spikes' standing up from the top of the badge suggest, again to me, that this is a crown.
Taken together as a theme, a badge depicting the Queen of Peace, with Child, and wearing a crown, makes dogmatic sense.
Also, if the central badge is, and I totally agree, the keys to Heaven, as from Saint Peter and the Vatican, then the right hand badge makes more sense as a Madonna with Child wearing a crown.
I interpreted the left badge as a skull, implying mortality. But, if there is authoritative information that says this is the Veil of Veronica, that works too.
Okay, all you clerics and more religiously learned folks out there, am I on to something or all wrong.
Thank you, @wayfarer! Similar to what @caminka said about herself, I, too, like tackling these little riddles and I enjoy the search for answers and the sheer pleasure of making a tiny discovery as well as learning something new in an area that I find interesting. The synergy of the contributions in a thread is an added bonus. More often than not it is an answer where I know "nah, that's not it" that is the impulse to look in another and completely different direction of which I hadn't thought before. So, as the saying goes, there may be no wrong answers ☺.Excellent research as always.
Yes, correct, all three badges are in the Rijksmuseum Het Catharijneconvent in Utrecht.I gather these are the badges from rijksmuseum? does it say which pilgrim site they belong to?
I thought you might like it ☺. And I had the same thought about the background as you had. In the meantime I found out that the British museum has also a copy of this same badge, see here. They provide a view of the back of the badge. No indication where it's from, though.o, o! very nice!
perhaps the painter omitted the background around the virgin to make it more clear what he intended to present.
I guess that person would be @caminka herselfSo, what do we DO with that knowledge? Is there anyone worth discussing it further with or providing it to, so they can take it forward?
wow, I have never heard of mirror badges before. how quaint!Yes, correct, all three badges are in the Rijksmuseum Het Catharijneconvent in Utrecht.
It is not certain where the first of the Marian badges comes from, perhaps Aachen (aka Aix-la-Chapelle to English speakers) or more likely from a pilgrimage site dedicated to Mary in the Netherlands, first half of the 15th century. The second Marian badge has an inscription that points to today's Aardenburg in the Netherlands which was a very popular Marian pilgrimage site, 15th century.
The third badge depicts St Andrew, so perhaps from Scotland but it is not certain, also 15th century.
PS: The website of a non-profit Dutch collector's foundation (available in EN and NL) attributes the first badge to the town of Hertogenbosch but as already mentioned, the Rijksmuseum doesn't seem to confirm it. But the website has some interesting information on the use and purpose of the tiny mirror that was held by small clamps in the badge's frame. Apparently, in Aachen in the first half of the 15th century a new type of pilgrims’ badge was devised – the mirror badge. That was news to me.
national museum has published their collection of pilgrim badges in 2001 (Darko Knez, Svetinjice : iz zbirke Narodnega muzeja Slovenije = Pilgrimage badges : from the collections of the National Museum of Slovenia). unfortunately, there are no medieval badges and only a few possibly 16C ones. none that would look like the badge from beram.Just a ,thought contact the local curator? If none is available there then contact the national Slovenian Museum they could point you in the right direction of a scholar who’s iconographical knowledge may help you. Usually art historians are helpful. It is in Slovenia ? If this is to far fetched start with your local professor and ask if they know maybe a mediavist who could help you and then string from one to another, well that’s maybe a too scientific approach, but can have lots of fun as well.
not that I have ever seen it mentioned or found even from later periods, but it would be really cool.If I were to write a historical novel, the badge shown on the fresco would be the badge that comes from the church in Beram itself, of course. It was, after all, a Marian pilgrimage site at the time. But we will never know ... In any case, I think it is very fitting that the artist chose these three badges: all of them familiar to the contemporary viewer and one perhaps directly related to the church!
o my gosh, you remember that.
@caminka, how about that? Found in Slovenia! From Loreto, Italy! Mary with child and assorted other items, crown on top. Not the badge itself but a cast on a bell. The motif was definitely known in the area and Loreto is not so far away and an obvious stop for a Rome pilgrim ...
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If I knew afterwards how I found something on the net and if I saved the more interesting links I would be a happier personhow did you find that?!!
An easy way to just look around on www.kunera.nl is to activate all the search parameters in the fields on the left side and then work with the map. +/- (top right) zooms in and out, double-click on a marked location brings up the finds. I did this just now and was actually a bit amused when two finds came up for the Sebastian church in Stari Trg ob Kolpi, both of them as casts on church bells: the Marian badge already mentioned and a second one that is described as a "papal coat of arms with crossed keys as attributes of Peter and a Vera Icon surmounted by tiara" ... ! A less skeptical person than me might say that this is a mighty hint and no coincidence.managed to persuade this dutch site to work
Sadly, there is a third possibility and that is that the bell is lost forever and that a drawing or a photo in an old book from 1917 is all that is left. I came across a review of Anton Gnirs' book, published in a Theologische Literaturzeitung 1919 (the Internet is a marvellous tool) where the reviewer says that Gnirs' book is a catalogue that will serve to inform and to remind future generations of the numerous church bells of historic and artistic value that had to be melted to make weaponry of war during the previous year, because of their metal content.this bell is now in GNM in Nürnberg or still in the church of st Sebastian [?]
that is in all probability the case for these bells. I am sure I would have come across some mention of them otherwise. according to the badges they were probably medieval and that is not easy to ignore.Sadly, there is a third possibility and that is that the bell is lost forever and that a drawing or a photo in an old book from 1917 is all that is left.
I see the keys but not the vera icon, unless that is a face below the keys in a halo. I don't know what they saw under the tiara but I don't see any faces there. would be an intersting (rare?) blending of these images.I did this just now and was actually a bit amused when two finds came up for the Sebastian church in Stari Trg ob Kolpi, both of them as casts on church bells: the Marian badge already mentioned and a second one that is described as a "papal coat of arms with crossed keys as attributes of Peter and a Vera Icon surmounted by tiara" ... ! A less skeptical person than me might say that this is a mighty hint and no coincidence.
Thank you for your comment as it caused me to look into this a bit further. The pilgrim badges (made of silk or paper or similar) on pilgrims' hats that we see in the photos of the fresco and of other late medieval paintings in this thread and that show the face of Jesus have nothing to do with the Shroud of Turin. Shroud of Turin = from the grave; Veronica veil / cloth / handkerchief = on the way to Crucification. And let's not get into any discussion about what is genuine and what is not genuine. I try to look at things from the point of view of medieval men and women: a divine image can appear miraculously on a piece of cloth, not made by human hands.The Image of Veronica’s Veil probably derived from the folded shroud. I remembered seeing a beautiful small fresco of the Mandylon/Veronica’s Veil in the chapel of Bled castle. In my mind, I could see it commemorating the shroud coming through...but I digress into historical whimsy....
The one on the right looks like St. Andrew (diagonal cross) superstructure is architectural IMHOThe more I look at the fresco and the more pilgrim badges I look at, the more I think that it is indeed some image inside the ring and something else on top, a bit similar to the badges shown below. Each of the first two badges shown has two towers on top of the ring and Mary and child and other figures or items inside the ring. The third badge has a different kind of decoration on top of the ring.
View attachment 67084
I find it hard to believe that pilgrim badges affixed to hats and clothing were really made of such perishable materials. I mean, they would be cheap, but a few rain showers and there would be no badge anymore. I was thinking maybe linen or woolen fabric or thin leather with a harder background/frame, and the face painted(?)/embroidered on it. silk would work, too.The pilgrim badges (made of silk or paper or similar) on pilgrims' hats that we see in the photos of the fresco and of other late medieval paintings.
that is probably the most likely representation, yes. it would be nice if an actual such badge would turn up, too.We studied this out here a bit and believe it to be Madonna and child (Jesus) surrounded by the crown, a typical view of Mary. Zooming in, you can see two lines representing the two figures, one holding the other.
Thanks for posting these images. We were in Slovenia a few years back. The region was on the Medieval trade route between Western Europe and the Middle East (including Constantinople). The Shroud of Turin likely followed this route. The Image of Veronica’s Veil probably derived from the folded shroud. I remembered seeing a beautiful small fresco of the Mandylon/Veronica’s Veil in the chapel of Bled castle. In my mind, I could see it commemorating the shroud coming through...but I digress into historical whimsy....
o my!Wow, just wow ... a group of enthusiasts and scholars from different research disciplines created a website (in Italian) about Veronica iconography throughout the ages: https://veronicaroute.com/ . Click on ricerca avanzata (advanced search) to browse by century, for example the 1400s, or click on le mappe (map) to browse by location (with differently coloured icons depending on the century).
The badges on the pilgrim hat in the frescoes of the Beram church are included, as is another fresco from this church. It just shows that there was so much more to medieval pilgrimage than the Camino de Santiago - sorry, Camino folks. Amazing work ... !
Click on Interactive map to explore:
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and the bell from predgrad pri starem trgu ob kolpi. so it is the face in a circle that is the image.The badges on the pilgrim hat in the frescoes of the Beram church are included, as is another fresco from this church. It just shows that there was so much more to medieval pilgrimage than the Camino de Santiago - sorry, Camino folks. Amazing work ... !
You are absolutely right with your observation. Apologies, I'm a sloppy writer. I had copied the line about "silk, parchment or paper" from Herbers/Plötz, Der Jakobuskult in Kunst und Literatur, but they just say that pilgrim badges were made from these materials, they don't say that they all of them were pinned to hats or coats. This is such an exciting topic! Other than used for a bell cast where a metal pilgrim badge was destroyed of course and only the imprint remained, they were also displayed in the home of the pilgrim or of relatives or friends, mounted on a small block of wood for example, or sewn into books, as I've just discovered when I read about a manuscript of a Book of Hours put up for auction by Christie's:I find it hard to believe that pilgrim badges affixed to hats and clothing were really made of such perishable materials. I mean, they would be cheap, but a few rain showers and there would be no badge anymore. I was thinking maybe linen or woolen fabric or thin leather with a harder background/frame, and the face painted(?)/embroidered on it. silk would work, too.
you found another super interesting tidbit about badges.You are absolutely right with your observation. Apologies, I'm a sloppy writer. I had copied the line about "silk, parchment or paper" from Herbers/Plötz, Der Jakobuskult in Kunst und Literatur, but they just say that pilgrim badges were made from these materials, they don't say that they all of them were pinned to hats or coats. This is such an exciting topic! Other than used for a bell cast where a metal pilgrim badge was destroyed of course and only the imprint remained, they were also displayed in the home of the pilgrim or of relatives or friends, mounted on a small block of wood for example, or sewn into books, as I've just discovered when I read about a manuscript of a Book of Hours put up for auction by Christie's:
PILGRIM BADGES:It is remarkable that this manuscript retains three small images conventionally described as pilgrim badges. St Veronica with the Holy Face, painted on leather, is glued to the front [...] Sewn into the final leaf of the calendar is a smaller variant, a 'Veronica' image of the Holy Face painted in tempera on vellum. Both of these images could serve a devotional purpose: if the prayer 'Salve sancta facies' was recited while contemplating the miraculously transferred impression of Christ a thousand days' indulgence was earned [possible only in Rome, they are not clear here]. Much of the pigment has been worn away from Christ's face on both images, most probably by the repeated kissing of a devout owner [...]The extremely rare and most appealing survival from the owner's pilgrimages is the silver pilgrim's badge, now attached by a thread to the Veronica sewn into the final calendar leaf. Cherished as proof of pilgrimage or as aids to devotion, pilgrim badges were issued in huge numbers throughout the medieval period, yet only a few thousand now survive. Whilst numerous medieval manuscripts bear impressions and sewing holes attesting to the frequent and important practice of inserting badges into Books of Hours (the present example also bears evidence of at least nine more badges, mainly concentrated on the final calendar leaf), apparently only six other manuscripts are known to still contain the badges themselves. The form of the badge befits a wealthy pilgrim from a noble family; whilst the majority of badges were cast in a tin-lead alloy, this medallion-type example is stamped from a thin sheet of silver. That a hierarchy of badges existed is attested to by the habit of Philip the Good and Charles the Bold of commissioning an assortment of badges when on pilgrimages, 'of gold, silver-gilt, silver and pewter that they then distributed to relatives, courtiers and servants in strictly hierarchical fashion'.
I believe the average person in ancient times was more likely to have a book of hours than a bible. Bibles were the domain of priests and churches. A book of hours would guide the layperson in daily prayers without actually sharing the Word.you found another super interesting tidbit about badges.
I didn't know that they 'glued' them into books, although it makes perfect sense. books of hours were probably the most used books (aside from the bible).
too bad I can't see the image on christie's.
with the spread of printing pilgrimage site 'icons' or images appeared, small pieces of paper with different images of a particular saint or his deeds associated with a pilgrimage site. quite like the portraits of actors or football players today. these were very popular in slovenia in the 18C.
a whole series from Krščanski muzej / Museum of Christianity in Stična: http://www.mks-sticna.si/slo/raziskuj/razstave/zbirke/podobice.
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