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Unknown Artist Blinding of St. Leodegar of Poitiers

Reverse glass painting, 20,5 cm x 16 cm, 17th or 18th century

#saint #leodegar #martyr #martyrdom #blinding #17th century #18th century #baroque #reverse glass painting

The Main Stairs and the Church of Saint #Leodegar above Saint Leodegar Street, #Luzern, #Switzerland - photo by Andrew Bossi, wiki. Till 19th century, people in the #Swiss #Alps preserved many legends of dragons and worms. They say that long ago, those creatures had lived in the mountains but often came down to the valleys causing catastrophe. Whenever a violent wild stream plunged on the mountains, carrying uprooted trees and rocks with it, people used a proverb to describe the devastation: "A dragon is on the run." A cooper from #Lucerne went out to collect stavewood for his barrels. He went lost in a deserted area. Night fell; suddenly he fell into a deep pit. The pit was muddy like the damp floor in a well. He saw two openings to large caverns on both sides of the floor. Wanting to check those holes more closely, he proceeded. The sight of two gruesome dragons in each of the holes shocked him. The man devoutly prayed, but all went in vain. The dragons wrapped around his body several times even though they did not harm him. One day passed; then several. From November 6th to April 10th, he lived like that with the dragons. He had to nourish himself by licking salty moisture that was leaking from the rock walls of the pit. At the end, when the dragons sensed that the winter was over, they had to fly out of the caves. One of those began humming and the other began preparing to fly. The captivated cooper grabbed one of the dragon’s tails without delay, held it tightly till he came out of the well with the dragon. Letting the creature fly till the top, he released his grasp. It was time for him to go back to the city. The man embroidered the entire story on a priestly ornament as a souvenir, which still can be seen in Leodagar's church at Lucerne. According to the church records, the incident took place in 1420. *#Dragons, #worms and #snakes were once synonymous and all these creatures were often found in #Norse, #Viking and later #English #mythology. In fact the English word “worm” is derived from Old Norse “Orm”. Worm was differentiated from dragons only in 18th century English lexicons. Some of them lived in netherworld and some in seas and lakes. #Folktale https://www.instagram.com/p/CdXF27KrHt8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=