León

 León holds two of Spain's most amazing treasures: the Catedral de León and the Basílica de San Isidoro.

The cathedral follows the French Gothic style touting 130 large windows holding 737 stained-glass panels that covers approximately 18,675 square feet. It has three large rose windows, one at the foot of the nave and one at each end of the transept. 

The window above is part of a series that suggest that as you enter the cathedral you enter the Garden of Eden. Slowly you transition towards the Main Chapel where you encounter the celestial heights in light.

The cathedral holds many amazing treasures, but I will mention only two. The first is the figure of the Virgen de la Esperanza (the Virgin of Hope), also known as the Virgen del Apocalípsis. It is a representation of a pregnant Mary that speaks to her calling as the the mother of the Savior (known as Theotokos meaning the Mother of God). This sculpture is in stone and dates from the 13th century.

I never tire of contemplating Mary's facial features with their calm, pondering lines as well as her posture, holding her hand gently on her womb. Here I think of her reflecting on Gabriel's words at the time of the Annunciation, "Hail, thou that art favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. ... And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest (Luke 1: 28, 31-32)

The second is the tomb of Ordoño II (c. 873-924) who donated the royal palace in León as the site of the Cathedral after his victory over the Muslim forces at the Battle of San Esteban de Gormuz. The tomb dates from the 13th century. I will focus primarily on the primary scene represented in the tympanum above the tomb.

The left two-thirds of the panel represents the Crucifixion. There are seven figures. The two outer figures dressed in white loin cloths are the two thieves. Notice that the one to the left looks upwards while the one to the right looks away. In religious sculpture their placement is important. The one looking away stands at the left-hand of Christ while the other to the right, symbolic of their status. The scripture tells us that one of the thieves (here to our right) chided the Savior while the other pled that he might be remembered by the Savior.  Now, moving again from the left, we find Mary with bowed head and clutching hands. Next to her is Longinus, the centurion tasked with piercing the Lord's side with a spear. Notice that he raises his hand to his eyes. According to tradition, Longinus was, because of age and infirmity, was nearly blind. When Longinus pierced the Lord's side a stream of blood trickled down the length of the spear on to his hand. Raising his hand to his face the blood healed him of his infirmities. Longinus immediately abandoned his military carer and went to Cappadocia where he devoted the remainder of his life to bringing converts to the faith. 

To the right of the Crucified Lord is Nicodemus and next to him is John the Beloved, beardless and nearly always holding his hand to his cheek in an act of sorrow. 

The remaining third of the tympanum to the right represents the Descent from the Cross. Here again you see Mary gently holding the limp arm of her Son while Joseph of Arimathea and John the Beloved hold His body as it is falls from the cross. At the far right, almost hidden, is Nicodemus who removes the remaining nail for the Savior's hand. At the bottom is a follower who removes the nail from His feet.

We also visited the Basílica de San Isidoro. San Isidoro was a significant Church figure from the 7th century who helped to define Catholicism and its practices. Sadly, the most amazing feature of the Basilica is its pantheon where 11th-century royalty was buried. You can find more on the web.

I want to focus on the tympanums of two of the Basilica's doors.

The Puerta del Cordero is the main entrance to the Basilica. 

At the top is the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) flanked by angels and encircled by a wreath. Below is the story of Abraham and Isaac Moving from the right to the left we see Abraham leaving Sarah sitting outside their tent. Next we see a young man (Isaac) with his gaze set forward while the ass his riding looks back. This element may reflect the faith of Isaac to follow his father's instructions while the ass represents the uncertainty of what is ahead.  Then, we see an interesting moment when Isaac removes his shoes. This represents an act of humility and submission thereby adding empathy and depth to what is to be seen in the central scene. Also, it reminds us of the moment when Moses is told to remove his shoes because he was about to step onto holy ground.  The center scene is of Abraham raising his knife to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:10-13). At that moment he hears the voice of the angel, "Abraham, Abraham...Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, think only son from me." Abraham's face turns to the Dexteri Domini (the hand of God) and sees the angel with the ram caught in the brambles. Note that the scene representing the interrupted sacrifice sits immediately below the Agnus Dei which represents Christ as the sacrificial lamb.

To the left of this narrative is a shorter one. Juxtaposed to Sarah and Isaac are Hagar and Ishmael. Ishmael is seen on horseback holding a bow and arrow (he was distinguished in Genesis 21:20 as an archer). He is dressed as a Saracen warrior wearing a turban and using a short-stirrup saddle. Next to him is Hagar. She is seen raising her skirt to reveal her leg and upper thigh; a licentious pose associated by early Christians with the Saracen race. Perhaps this is a reminder that Abraham was the father of two peoples.

The second door is the Puerta del Perdón. This door was used by pilgrims in the Middle Ages who, because of infirmity, were not able to make the full trek to Santiago de Compostela yet would be able to receive the blessings of the pilgrimage. The tympanum of this door has three scenes. The middle scene is that of descent from the cross. Above the scene are two angels with censors blessing the scene. Again we see Mary to the left of the Lord with Nicodemus holding the body and, in this case, John the Beloved removing the nails from His hands. To the right of the central panel is the arrival of the women (the Three Mary's) to the tomb to anoint the Lord's body only to find an angel who shows them that it is empty. To the left of the central panel is the Ascension of Christ with two disciples at either side. On the archivolt on the left side there is an inscription Ascendo ad patrum meum et patrem vestrum ("I ascend unto my Father, and your Father" (John 20:17).