Science, Strength and Love...

Science, Strength and Love - La Science,  La Force et L'Amour...

The above is part of a beautiful sculpted façade that I came across in the Musée Historique de Saint-Remi which is situated next to the Basilique Saint Remi in Reims. Each September, the museums and historical/ religious sites that make up the cultural heritage of France are open free of charge to the public over a long weekend, Les Journees du Patrimoine .
This year, I visited the museum, which is the former royal abbey of Saint Remi and is a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site. The collection features many periods in the history of the city, with special emphasis on its gallo-roman past, when it was the capital of the imperial province of Belgium, and was known as Durocortorum. However, there are more 'recent' items on display, and the rooms themselves are very atmospheric.

Sculpted roman capital in the chapterhouse - Salle capitulaire

Although most of the details concerning the piece Science, Strength and Love were rather vague, the date cited was fairly precise, at around 1160-1180. Apparently it was part of a tympanum ie. a semi-circular or triangular decorative relief above an entrance, in this case a geminated window that originally adorned the home of a 'wealthy Rémois'.

 Vaulted ceiling - Salle capitulaire

Each city has its own unique past, the traces of which can often be seen almost intact, in the usual places such as the old, historic urban centres. Sometimes, however, these traces seem to appear in the most unlikely ones too, and almost go noticed as we hurry past in our modern-age rush. Otherwise, we discover the remains of our distant past, preserved in museums, and are obliged to link these to everything that makes up our lives today. This may occasionally seem a difficult task indeed! Whilst it is fairly easy to imagine the past when we can still see impressive architecture or artifacts in our urban landscape, it is far harder to do so when there are few of these left. To see Roman mosaics and sculptures that were unearthed in parts of town that merely seem to reflect concrete late-20th century urbanism is incredible. Although the hard historical facts can be observed in any history book, actually seeing the human aspect of this past is another matter....

Science...

The practical elements of these earlier lives does not necessarily astound me, even if the relative sophistication of their civilisations might at times be surprising, given the limited technical means. However, the painstaking drive towards the aesthetic always amazes me.

Strength...

I don't know if the work on this window was commissioned by the home-owner himself, to express his world view and/or reflect his social status or by someone else with the means to finance such a project. Nevertheless, the result expresses the significance of Science, Strength and Love from a life some 800 years ago! This beautiful sculpted relief has long been uprooted from its original site - literally its 'home' - yet still speaks to us, not just of material wealth but also the love of Beauty.

Love...