The terrifying figure in this photo is Paul Jackson, who is pointing at the statue of the devil inside the church at Rennes-le-Chateau. This decidedly unholy statue is to be found under the holy water stoup, and it's just one more factor in the bizarre mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau. What's even stranger (and not often mentioned) is the apparently obscene gesture the devil is making. Possibly the figure held a staff or pitchfork at one time... or then again (bearing in mind the way Victorian writers like William Acton demonized masturbation) it may be exactly what it appears to be!
Did you note the similarity between Paul and this?:
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Slightly unfair - more grandiosely you could have mentioned this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Creation-of-adam.PNG
ReplyDeleteBoth are fairly flattering :-)
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