Our Lady of the Pillar (Nuestra Señora del Pilar). CC BY-NC-ND by Zaragoza Turismo.
The presence of columns supporting votive sculptures in Ancient Greek temples is well attested since at least the Greek Archaic period. The Christian adaptation is the Marian column, attested from at least the 10th century (in Clermont-Ferrand in France). The image of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza dates to the 15th century.
The column itself is below the conical red “skirt”.
The celestial glory on her apex and the conical support are recurrent shapes around the world:
The sun-holder is made of bronze and amber. It comes from Denmark but unfortunately it's find place is unknown. When held up against the light, a sun cross appears in the middle of the amber disc. The sun was an important element in Bronze Age religion. Via National Museum of Denmark.
In the Al-Hayit region in Saudi Arabia near Medina, keyhole and pendant shapes vary in size from a few meters to dozens of meters, and they are often found arranged along “avenues”. © Imagery GeoEye. See it on Google Maps. Via Myths are History and Saudi Aramco World. They are probably burial structures from as old as 7000 BC, as similar late Neolithic and the early Bronze ages structures from Jordan.
Coptic Tombstone, El-Badary (Assiut), 6th century. © Coptic Cairo. Inv. No. 8566
This gravestone is carved with a looped cross, formerly the Egyptian “Ankh” (the Pharaonic key of life). It is decorated with a wreath-like pattern and flanked by Greek crosses. Another Greek cross is set inside the loop which is surrounded by a palm branch, which symbolizes victory.
This gravestone is carved with a looped cross, formerly the Egyptian “Ankh” (the Pharaonic key of life). It is decorated with a wreath-like pattern and flanked by Greek crosses. Another Greek cross is set inside the loop which is surrounded by a palm branch, which symbolizes victory.
Archaic Axis Mundi (Talbott Column), c. -8347 via Myths are History.
"Altarbild nr 1" by Hilma af Klint.
Guishan Guanyin of the Thousand Hands and Eyes in Changsha, China. CC BY-SA by Alexandre Afanassiev via Wikimedia Commons
'Façana del monestir de Sant Cugat del Vallès', fotografia d'Heribert Mariezcurrena (~1878). Estampa núm. 8, acompanyada de text explicatiu, a l'Album Pintoresch-Monumental de Catalunya: aplech de vistas dels més notables monuments i paisatjes d'aquesta terra acompanyadas de descripcions y noticias históricas y de guias pera que sían fácilment visitats, publicat per l'Associació Catalanista d'Excursions Científiques el 1878. De disposició lliure al dipòsit digital de documents de la UAB. PD By Pedraferit.
The Great Mosque. Touba, Senegal. © Rocio Garcia via The Arabesque Tumblr.
This stele comes from the Tophet in Carthage (today Tunisia)
Such grave markers were set up over burial urns for small children and animals which had been sacrificed to the goddess Tanit and her consort Baal Hammon.Canaanite symbolism: sun,crescent moon and triangle; the goddess below. ANE 125117. © lessing-photo.com
Two pigeons and a hand lifted in prayer - Sign of Tanit Votive stele from Carthage.
Gold Mask. National Museum of Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador. The Qurikancha (the Temple of the Sun in Cuzco, Peru) was covered with gold and filled with golden statues. The sun mask in this image, from the La Tolita culture in northern Ecuador, has survived the vicissitudes of time. La Tolita culture lasted from ca 600BC to 400AD and produced some of the finest pre-Columbian gold artifacts. Via Proyecto Inti. Edited to correct perspective.
The Queen of the Night Scene still from Amadeus, directed by Miloš Forman. © Copyright 2002 - Warner Brothers.
Elements for designing primitive art (african, art, africa). © Viktoriia Protsak via 123rf.com.
愛染明王像
Aizen Myōō
Period: Nanbokuchō period (1336–92)
Date: 14th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink, color, gold, and cut gold leaf on silk
Dimensions: 53 5/16 x 32 7/16 in. (135.4 x 82.4 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchase, Mary Griggs Burke Gift, 1966
Accession Number: 66.90
Open Access for Scholarly Content (OASC) via the Met's Website.
Shield from Solomon Islands. Image credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. See it on its website.
Date: early to mid-19th century
Geography: Solomon Islands, Possibly New Georgia or Guadalcanal Island, Western province
Culture: Solomon Islands
Medium: Fiber, parinarium-nut paste, chambered-nautilus shell, pigment
Dimensions: H. 33 1/4 × W. 11 × D. 1 1/2 in. (84.5 × 27.9 × 3.8 cm)
Classification: Shell-Implements
Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1972
Accession Number: 1978.412.730
Dream Boats and Other Stories written and illustrated by Dugald Stewart Walker, 1920. Public Domain.
Columbia Pictures.
Earth Wind and Fire - Electric Universe album cover art. © Columbia Records.
Christmas Tree
The undated photo shows an ancient Buddhist statue that a Nazi expedition brought back from Tibet shortly before World War II. The statue was carved from a meteorite which crashed on Earth thousands of years ago. The existence of the statue _ known as "iron man" _ was only revealed in 2007 when its owner died and it came up for auction. (AP Photo/University of Stuttgart, Elmar Buchner)
Manish Arora show during Paris Fashion Week A/W 2011. © Paris Girl Couture - France 24.
Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) heretic Egyptian pharaoh. Relief originally in the Temple of the Sun, Thebes, showing Akhenaten with his wife Nefertiti and their two daughters offering gifts to the Sun. After he ascended to the throne in c1353 BC Akhenaten set about transforming the religion of Ancient Egypt, replacing the existing polytheism with a monotheistic cult of worshipping Aten, the god of the disc of the Sun. In addition, he decreed that Egypt's capital was to be moved from Thebes to a new site 180 miles to the north, to be named Akhetaten (modern El-Amarna). These massive upheavals generated growing opposition to Akhenaten, particularly amongst the priesthood. In c1334 BC Akhenaten died and Egypt turned its back on his reforms. The city of Akhetaten was abandoned and Egyptians returned to worshipping their traditional gods.
Tikal (Guatemala), temple 1. CC BY-SA 2.5 Raymond Ostertag via Wikipedia. Temple I (also known as the Temple of Ah Cacao or Temple of the Great Jaguar) is a funerary pyramid dedicated to Jasaw Chan K'awil, who was entombed in the structure in AD 734.
Philosophical tree Philosophical tree representing all branches of knowledge, from Ars Magna Sciendi, p. 251. Kircher, A.
Jacob's Ladder
Alchemical Emblems, Occult Diagrams, and Memory Arts: Bruno’s Execution, Jacob’s Ladder
The Burning Man
Followers of the Sufi Mysticism. Two different groups give concerts at the Sirkeci Railway Station in
İstanbul on different days of the week. One hour session starts with a Sufi concert and is followed by the ceremony called Sema. CC BY-SA 2.0 by
Vladimer Shioshvili
via Wikipedia
