GREEN MEN OF ANCONA 2

Italy
GREEN MEN OF ANCONA 1
Nearby places: Loreto


GREEN MAN AS THE GATE TO ANCONA


GREEN MAN AS GUARD TO THE BASILICA

 

 


Vessel of Abundance

Looking up to the arch (ceiling) of the gate leading to the old (upper) city I suddenly saw a beautiful round mask: a true Green Man.... anc-5.jpg (20804 bytes)
anc-7.jpg (22528 bytes)
The Green Man
The Gate to Ancona!

In the horizontal line another Green Man

 

 

At the end: flowers, symbol of abundance

On the same gate three more Green Men. Their distorted faces indicate that they didn't have a good time....

The basilica of Ancona

The frontside

The backside

 

At the frontside two lions

The lions from the side

Typically, these lions symbolize the "one true Church" destroying its (pagan, "heretical") enemies. Everyone who did not submit to the Church was (is) an enemy.....Hence, very big claws are needed to wipe them out. Ancona must have been the center of much Catholic intolerance e.g. hatred toward "non-believers"!
And then the surprise. In the portal several VERY beautiful and old Green Men and Green (Wise) Women (Goddesses). The Church used them as "war rewards", making clear to every follower, that the former is victorious ("at all times"). The Church and its enemies: they are two sides of the same coin. Christian faith, despite all talk about "tolerance and reconciliation" is therefore a permanent state of war.
On top a very clear developed Green Man. While the Church abused Green Man as deterrant, the people had an opposite view. The latter considered Green Men as their hero's who were never forgotten.
A Green Beast: the predecessor of the Green Man. Originally, men identified themselves with their hunting animals. Both belonged to the MotherGoddess, though. "The Lady and Her Beasts". Beasts and men were interchangeable. The Templars introduced many hundreds of Green Beasts to the churches of Western Europe. LINK: Eunate and many others.

Green Man

Four Green Women

Green Women are a rarity in churches LINK: Ulm. In Ancona they are particularly fine and elegant. All in all one can say, that pre-Christian belief was able to hold out here for a considerable amount of time. In part 2 a very rich decorated house (Chamber of Commerce) can be admired, where once again Green Men and Women (Goddesses) are represented. Ancona therefore deserves a special status as "Green Man/Woman City!" 

Green Man

Green Man

What follows is a whole series of "man connected to nature". Today we would give this a (very) positive connotation. Not in those times. Here the meaning is: man ruled by its lowest (natural) instincts. Such people were dangerous. Especially women could be allies of the devil. Nature and devil were synonymus. Both represented sin, desire, sex, lust and greed. Not surprisingly thus, that these and similar images (unfortunately) abound in the portals of Gothic churches. It simultaneously makes clear that a Church that demonized nature for 2000 years, cannot suddenly become the "champion" of saving nature...
The notion of a sinful world in Christianity is comparable to the Buddhist "samsara". Neither can save a world that is in deep need for true connectedness with nature.....

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 © 2000-2010 Copyright Han Marie Stiekema
Last revising: 08/03/11