Does anyone know the bas-relief of this archer in the medieval castle of Loarre (Spain)?
http://www.jpdugene.com/images/espagne/a...archer.jpg
The archer seems to be wearing a "lorica segmentata", a Roman helmet, roman shoes and carrying a quiver on his shoulder.
Despite all this, the artistic quality of the bas-relief does not seem to Roman times... :?
What do you think?
ciao,
emilio
It's not unusual for builders to use existing material when building a more modern construction. The wall around the Istanbul University in Beyzit Square being a prime example as it was quite plainly constructed using material from a variety of Roman sources as you can see bits of column and frieze's in the wall. The same goes for the Old Beyazit bath house which has most of the Column of Arcadius built into its foundations.
I would not be surprised to find out that the bit of stone with the archer on was salvaged from a Roman ruin and incorporated into the castle walls.
I agree with you VV, but I must agree that the Artistic style of the piece generally does not match the Roman style of the time. It could of course be a local variation.
It looks to me like modern decorative art (19th-20th century), made to look 'ancient'. Loarre castle was apparently renovated in 1913, and I wouldn't be surprised if this relief was added around then. Almost certainly not Roman anyway, I'd say.
If it is Roman I would say it is of such a unique style we would have heard an awful lot more about it.
I would argue the bow is a give away - wrong for the period - period!
All three blade shapes are based on actual knives from the fortress finds. C would be the most common one for utility knives, but B (straight blade with a drop point) is a type much found with bronze handles. What is left of the blade suggests a B shaped blade, but somehow that just didn't look as nice as the alternatives. A is a distinct shape, but much, much less common then the other two. However, looking at the onset of the blade clearly angling down from the handle, I would say it was meant that way and is not an "oversharpened" C. That is a distinctive feature setting it apart from the C style blades.
On a sidenote, as far as I know, there is only one small "seax" ever found with this (B) shape, what in seax we call the broken back. Any larger broken back knife called a seax is artistic licence, only when the seax reaches sword length does the broken back shape come into it's own.
Agreed, it must have been an addition.
Sadly no romans involved, or even aliens :mrgreen:
I have an answer from the castle, it was made some years ago by a keeper, and currently is not there.