Shhh. Don't mention slow-roasted St.Lawrence to shroudie authenticists - or the peculiar imagery on the Lirey pilgrims' badge

(More) graphics to be added in due course.

I see someone has made reference to the martyred St.Lawrence of Rome on 'shredstory.com' aka Troll Central.

O.K.

April 2, 2014 at 11:04 am | #2

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Dan and everyone:
Haven’t you seen this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Chalice ?
There is a publication by Janice Bennett, Saint Laurence and the Holy Grail, which is on my long list of books to be read in the (hopefully nerby) future. Also today in a bookstore I have seen the new book by Górny&Rosikoń duo, about the same topic.

 
That was in connection with his treasure-protecting  propensity in the early days of Christianity - 3rd century AD - for which he finally paid with his life by being slow-roasted over hot coals.

The manner of his death prompted a vast outpouring of devotional imagery, invariably showing him naked or near-naked, spread-eagled on a metal grill, often with some kind of restraint - either static like a rope around the waist (see above) and/or men with sharp-pointed tridents forcing him down onto the hot grill.

Am I the only one to have spotted a connection in the imagery of St.Lawrence's manner of death, and that of the Man on the Turin Shroud, one that is reinforced by the Lirey Pilgrim's badge, released it is said to coincide with the first recorded appearance of the Shroud in western Europe (Lirey being a small village near Troyes in the Champagne region of France).

Lirey Pilgrims' Badge, mid 14th century, dorsal view, curious restraint. (rope?)

Points of comparison to note are the restraining rope around the waist, the upturned head of a still live man enduring agony, and, on the reverse side of the Lirey badge, a diamond-shaped trellis that might well represent a roasting grid.

Sorry, Mario. Your Shroud Scope is brilliant - where would we be without it?  But I don't buy into your interpretation of that trellis pattern. I say it's a representation of a barbecue- for slow-roasting of assorted heretics and martyrs.

OK, I've previously suggested that the Shroud was created as a memorial to the last of the Knights Templar. But their leaders - Jacques de Molay, Geoffroi de Charney etc.-  were also slow-roasted on the banks of the Seine in Paris in 1314 in a manner similar to that of St.Lawrence of Rome in AD 258.

Here's another depiction in medieval (?) art of the martyrdom of St.Lawrence.  Note the almost identical posture with that of  the man on the Turin Shroud (hands crossed to preserve modesty, legs crossed).

Methinks the Shroud of Turin is, or was originally a depiction of a man being, or having been, slow-roasted to death - not crucified, But don't tell anyone I told you so.

Just kidding. The ideas here were expressed on my specialist Shroud of Turin blog almost two years ago and picked up again more recently on spotting those images of St.Lawrence, diamond trellis grid irons etc,


Link to that more recent posting

See also: "Is the Lirey badge telling us that the man on the TS had been barbecued on a horizontal grill like St. Lawrence.