We leave behind Carcastillo and the monastery of Saint Mary of the Olive, with its beauty, its long history and its supernatural anecdotes to return to that metaphorical main course that for any glutton of Romanesque architecture is always, without a doubt, that impressive region of Aragon, known as the Five Villages.
We also leave behind Sos del Rey Católico, as we already had the opportunity to visit the town and take a close look at the peculiar doorway of its church of Saint Stephan and twenty kilometres further on - at the bottom of the unknown to find the new, as Baudelaire would say - we stop in a town, whose church is also not bad: Biota.
There, in the historic centre of its intricate streets, attached to a small square, a simple glance at the sculptural imagery is enough to know that the skilful craftsmanship of a Master bricklayer who was especially active in the area also left its mark here and who, in the absence of other data on his affiliation, is generally known as the Master of Agüero and Saint John of the Peak.
As was usually the case in this type of architecture, the church of Saint Michael has two doorways, spectacular in their execution and extraordinarily well preserved: one facing south and the other, the main one, facing west, a detail which, not in vain, reminds us that the entrance to the temple was made, symbolically speaking, from darkness to light.
It is precisely in them and above all in their genuine illustrated tympanums where the paradigms that, in a certain way, obsessed this singular and anonymous Master become more evident: a Psychostasis or Weighing of Souls, where angels and demons maintain their eternal rivalry to benefit souls and an Epiphany, where the attitude of detachment of Saint Joseph always surprises.
Regarding this, I have always seen in this uprooting, very present in the interpretive sculpture of this Master, the same attitude of indolence and detachment that assails many of us when we reach a certain age, thinking, like the good Saint Joseph, that we no longer have any role in this world, but that we are still here because of the demands of the script.
Another of the paradigms that also define the work of the Master of Agüero - apart from the monsters that regurgitate human beings and that beyond the simple appearances of sin or crime and punishment, as Tolstoy would say, we can see in them veiled allusions to a fascinating incursion into the unconscious, a psychological adventure followed later by artists such as Bosch until leading to the eminent work of a contemporary figure, such as C.G. Jung - is another of the fixations that appear habitually in his work and that we will have the opportunity to comment on in more depth when we continue our route and reach another of the essential capitals of the Five Villages of Zaragoza: Ejea de los Caballeros.
It is, however, the singular theme of the musician and the dancer, he old and young and she fresh, whose background is perhaps less lustful than it seems at first glance and hides, in reality, much deeper and more relevant connotations.
Both are located on the capitals of the south portal, which are worth taking a close look at, if the wasps allow it, because in the heat of the day they seem to have a special predilection for this portal and to admire this generous and careful workmanship, which denotes a singular skill with the chisel and which results in the spectacular carving of the columns that support them.
NOTICE: Both the text and the accompanying photographs are my exclusive intellectual property and therefore, are subject to my Copyright.
You can check out this post and your own profile on the map. Be part of the Worldmappin Community and join our Discord Channel to get in touch with other travelers, ask questions or just be updated on our latest features.
Thank-you very much
Congratulations, your post has been added to the TravelFeed Map! 🎉🥳🌴
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
- Go to TravelFeed Map
- Click the create pin button
- Drag the marker to where your post should be. Zoom in if needed or use the search bar (top right).
- Copy and paste the generated code in your post (any Hive frontend)
- Or login with Hive Keychain or Hivesigner and click "create post" to post to Hive directly from TravelFeed
- Congrats, your post is now on the map!
PS: You can import your previous Pinmapple posts to the TravelFeed map.Opt Out
Thank-you very much
Thank-you very much
Amazing article and shots @juancar347 friend!... Applause!
!PIZZA
Thanks, friend
$PIZZA slices delivered:
(2/15) @jlinaresp tipped @juancar347
Thank-you
Congratulations @juancar347! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out our last posts:
Thank-you