Crozier Head, Saint Michael Trampling the Serpent ---...

Title: Crozier Head, Saint Michael Trampling the Serpent Culture: early Christian Date: 2nd quarter in 13th century Provenience: Limoges, France Material: copper-gilt and champlevá º » enamel Measurements: 10  ¾ x 2 7/8 x 5  ½ in. As a symbol of jurisdiction and authority of high ranking catholic prelates, the crozier or known as pastoral staff at times is inspired by the shepherd’s crook. It can be used as a walking stick for support in journeys and in churches before the introduction of seats. In this crozier head, Saint Michael known as an emblem of church militant and an archangel (high-ranking angel) is battling the serpent which is the demon or satan. This figure indicate the two very opposing force between the good and evil, and†¦show more content†¦A pastoral staff with crook head shape on the top was starting to emerge. This kind of pastoral staff was called a crozier. This luxurious material made type of pastoral staff was used until nowadays. Most of this kind of pastoral staff often carved with biblical character and always show two opposing force when they were fighting to each other. Saint Michael battling the demon serpent was the most popular decoration to be carved on the crozier because it was the perfect representation of good and evil. It may be true that â€Å"In art, he is most frequently shown with a sword, either battling with or standing in triumph over a dragon or the prostrate Satan† (Jones 178). Saint Michael is one of three archangels (the other two are Gabriel and Raphael) that was mentioned in the Holy Bible. He was known as the general of heaven, protector of chosen people in earth. In early Catholic church, people considered him as the defender of Christianity. He was also charged with the guidance of souls here below, to protect them from devil’s snares and to lead them to the eternal light (Englebert, 369). Saint Michael is a famous character among all Christian figures. He often gave vision to people and give solution to every problem. An appearance of him once occurred among the monks in French, who built a monastery under his name, Mont-Saint-Michael. He also appeared in the cave of mount gargano, southern Italy on may 8th 492 and until now that